Alex Newby admits it “feels fantastic” to have scored the winner in Rochdale’s EFL Trophy win over Morecambe on Tuesday night.
Dale were trailing 1-0 until late in the game, when Fabio Tavares levelled the scoring with four minutes to play and Newby netted in stoppage time to secure the three points from the Group Stage match.
“It feels fantastic,” he said after the game.
“It’s good to get off the mark early on in my Rochdale career, and hopefully there’s many more to come.
“We had a lot of young lads out tonight and everybody has applied themselves really well. We dug in and probably got what we deserved in the end, especially in the last 20 minutes.
“You want to play every game and this competition is no different. Everyone did a great job tonight and everyone worked as we would do in a league game, and we got our rewards.
Newby, who joined Dale in the summer from Chorley, made his professional debut against Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup on Saturday. The 24-year-old said getting to that moment is something he has been working towards for many years.
“It felt brilliant to make my debut. It didn’t really dawn on me until after the game, when Jim McNulty said about it being my professional debut. It’s a fantastic feeling, as it’s something that I’ve been working towards for a long, long time. People who know me, know how hard I’ve worked to get to this level, so I just want to kick on now and continue.”
Having joined Barry-Murphy’s side last month, he says that he has settled well into life at Rochdale and can’t wait for Dale’s first Sky Bet League One game of the campaign this weekend.
“All the lads are brilliant - it’s one of the best changing rooms I’ve been in. All the players and staff have made me feel so welcome right from the start, so it has been ideal.
“I’m looking forward to Saturday’s game, away at Swindon. We’ve built up some good momentum, having won our first two games, so there’s no reason why we can’t kick on this season and hopefully continue our good start.”