Rochdale vs Doncaster Rovers. Sky Bet League One.
Spotland.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet League One clash between Rochdale and Doncaster, as Dale's relegation to League Two is confirmed on Saturday afternoon after two Rovers goals scored by Taylor Richards.
Saturday 1 May 2021 18:32, UK
Taylor Richards' double condemned Rochdale to relegation as Doncaster won 2-1 at the Crown Oil Arena.
The home side started brightly and went close to opening the scoring, with Ollie Rathbone testing Louis James in the Rovers goal and Matt Lund heading against the crossbar.
Dale were dealt a sucker punch on the half-hour when Rovers snatched the lead. Jason Lokilo's cross from the right found Richards and though Eoghan O'Connell blocked his initial effort, the ball dropped kindly for Richards who, with the Dale defender off balance, had time to slot past Jay Lynch.
Just before the break, Conor Grant teed up Jimmy Keohane 12 yards out but a well-struck effort was saved by James.
However, when Dale lost possession cheaply in the 56th minute, Richards pounced again, the on-loan Brighton man advancing into the area on the left and clipping a neat finish wide of Lynch and into the far corner of the net.
Matty Done's 83rd-minute goal offered a glimmer of hope for Dale but Rovers saw the game out effectively.
"I'm very disappointed and I feel responsible for the end result," said Rochdale boss Brian Barry-Murphy. "All season I've been aware and understood how difficult it was but I honestly didn't feel we would be relegated.
"I always felt that with the talent within our squad we would succeed and, I suppose, prove everybody wrong. When that didn't materialise, today and over the course of the last few weeks, I just feel sorry for our supporters and our players - it's very difficult in this moment.
"It's very hard for the players because they genuinely believed all season that we'd succeed - and by succeed I mean getting out of the position we were in in the league table. We felt in the last few weeks we'd found form and our home form had finally given us the results we needed. So today was a bit of a shock to us."
