Brian Barry-Murphy says he is extremely proud of how his players applied themselves against Premier League side Newcastle United in the Emirates FA Cup third round.
Dale scored a late equaliser through Aaron Wilbraham to force the tie to a replay, and reward the Dale players for a valiant display.
Barry-Murphy was pleased with how his players responded to going a goal down against Premier League opposition.
“I think the lads were amazing in the second-half. All I wanted in that second-half was for us to play like we have been all season, on the front foot and creating chances.
“We didn’t do that in the first-half for a number of reasons.
“The lads embodied everything we want to be about as a Club in the second-half and provided everyone with a day to remember, and we can’t ask for much more than that.
“It was really good to see that the players really hung in there when things were going against them in the first-half. The second-half is all you remember at the end of the day.”
The Dale boss was also happy with the impact his substitutes made to help Dale on their way to a memorable result.
“I admit that I probably got things wrong at the start really, and put a lot of pressure on the likes of Kwadwo Baah who is one of our more potent attacking players. He had to do a lot of defensive work because we were so under the cosh, likewise with Tyler Magloire.
“Luke Matheson was brilliant. He’s had a lot of games, especially league games, where I think he’s found certain aspects of games tough, but he’s learning on every passage of his game.
“He came on against Gillingham and found it very difficult, but he came on today with a real intent and focus and really helped the team.
“I’m very proud of the way he responded with a performance that was brilliant throughout the second-half.
“All three changes helped us to establish a momentum and an attacking threat which was evidenced in the goal.”
Barry-Murphy felt the Dale fans played a huge part in creating an atmosphere that drove his players on, to get the result their performance deserved.
“The fans were unbelievable; it was unbelievable scenes really.
“It ties in to what I said at half-time, in that I felt we hadn’t been able to generate any energy in the first-half to give them something and any chance we had to attack in the second-half the noise went through the roof.
“You could see our lads grew into that and responded by creating good chances, one of which we took, and could’ve easily taken more.
“A trip to St. James’ is fully deserved, for all of the players and our whole Club.
“That will be another amazing journey and I hope we can bring the same numbers that we brought to Old Trafford, because that was an incredible occasion.”
The full interview with Barry-Murphy is available to watch on iFollow for FREE HERE.