Rochdale exited the Lancashire Senior Cup on Tuesday afternoon despite a determined performance against a strong Blackburn Rovers side.
Rovers fielded several first team players for the tie at Brockhall Village, including Dickson Etuhu, Adam Henley, Ben Marshall and Leon Best.
Brendon Daniels opened the scoring for the home side on 12 minutes, before Joe Bunney equalised for Dale eight minutes later. Daniels struck again four minutes before the interval, while Ben Marshall netted from the spot on 57 minutes to give Rovers a 3-1 lead.
Andy Cannon pulled one back for Dale two minutes from time.
Blackburn XI: Eastwood, Henley, Morris, Etuhu, Songo'o, Edwards, Daniels, Marrow, Best, Marshall, Taylor.
Subs: Raya, O’Sullivan, Tumwa, Fernandez
Dale XI: Thomson, Vidal, Bennett, Eastham, O’Connor, BBM, Hery, Camps, Done, Tutte, Bunney (4-1-2-3)
Subs: Collis, Logan, Abadaki, Cannon, Martin.