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Brian Barry-Murphy relishes fixture congestion after Rochdale dominate Newcastle United after break

4 years ago
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Brian Barry-Murphy was ecstatic at the final whistle.

Whilst Newcastle had dominated the opening half, Rochdale were by far the better team after the break.

The Rochdale boss taking on Premier League opposition with 16, 17 and 40 year old players!

Rochdale are only four points above the bottom three and have lost eight of their last ten League One games, yet despite that they almost won this cup-tie in the final stages.

Financially for the club, a replay was probably the perfect result, although it remains to be seen exactly how many will turn up at St James Park with so many Newcastle fans staying away whilst Mike Ashley remains as owner.

That of course doesn’t concern Brian Barry-Murphy who reflecting on the game said: ‘A trip to St James Park is fully deserved, for all of the players and our whole Club.’

The Rochdale boss adding ‘It felt like a second-half to be proud about’, something which Steve Bruce and his players couldn’t claim.

Brian Barry-Murphy:

“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.

“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.

“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 Park 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.

“It’s a huge result for the club.

“I was a little disappointed with the way we played in the first half but the way we finished was important.

“It felt like a second-half to be proud about.

“We don’t complain about the fixture congestion. We relish it in the cup.

“It’s what the club’s about and we’re delighted for that to continue.”

Stats from BBC Sport:

Rochdale 1 Newcastle 1 – Saturday 4 January 12.31pm

Goals:

Newcastle:

Almiron 17

Rochdale:

Wilbraham 79

Possession was Rochdale 34%, Newcastle 66%

Total shots were Rochdale 11, Newcastle 18

Shots on target were Rochdale 4, Newcastle 5

Corners were Rochdale 3 Newcastle 12

Crowd: 8,593 (3,200 NUFC)

Referee: David Coote

Newcastle team v Rochdale:

Dubravka, Yedlin, Krafth, Fernandez, Hayden, Atsu, Matty Longstaff, Sean Longstaff, Almiron (Ritchie 64), Muto (Ki 53), Joelinton

Unused Subs

Darlow, Lejeune, Allan, Sorensen, Cass

(3 Positives and 3 Negatives from Rochdale 1 Newcastle 1 – Read HERE)

(Rochdale 1 Newcastle 1 – Instant NUFC fan/writer reaction to Saturday’s draw – Read HERE)

(Mike Ashley on how it ended with Rafa Benitez “Joelinton was the test” – Never forget : Read HERE)

(Steve Bruce says mission accomplished “The idea was to come here and still be in the draw afterwards” – Read HERE)

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