Football: Rochdale AFC Youth Team 4 - 2 Wrexham

Rochdale Youth Team were 4-2 winners over Wrexham in the EFL North West Youth Alliance League on Saturday 19 January 2019.

First-half goals from Fabio Tavares, Harrison Hopper and Lewis Bradley helped Dale into a 3-2 lead at the break, with Bradley’s second after half-time wrapping up the win.

Dale were ahead inside three minutes when James Neild’s diagonal ball found Tavares on the left flank. He drove into the area and fired an effort beyond Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Tinkley.

Neild headed Florent Hoti’s right-wing cross wide of the far post before putting in a superb last-ditch challenge to deny Jake Dickerstaff at the other end.

Bradley fired a couple of efforts over the crossbar for Dale, who had Neild to thank for another fine piece of defending just before the half hour mark.

Dickerstaff got in behind the defence and poked an effort goalwards, only for Neild to turn it against the inside of his own post, with the ball falling kindly for Brad Wade to collect.

Tavares saw a curling effort well beaten away by Tinkley, but he was sent the wrong way by Hopper’s penalty in the 34th minute, who converted into the bottom corner after he was brought down in the area.

The visitors pulled one back three minutes later through Jack Thorn’s one-on-one effort, but Bradley restored the two goal advantage four minutes before the break.

A poor clearance from the Wrexham defence fell to the Rochdale player, who kept his composure to take it past a man before firing low in to the far corner.

The scoring wasn’t done there for the first period, as Wrexham halved the deficit again in added time when Max Cleworth headed home a free-kick from the left flank.

Hoti and Louis White both fired over from Tavares pull backs at the start of the second period, before White and Tavares were both denied by saves from Tinkley.

He could do nothing to prevent Bradley’s second and Dale’s fourth in the 71st minute though, when he finished first-time from Hoti’s well-weighted through ball.

Hoti himself fired two efforts off target and Tavares forced another save from the Wrexham goalkeeper in added time, as Dale ran out 4-2 winners.

Rochdale:
Wade, Martin, Neild, Dunne, Hamzat, White, Hopper, Hoti, Bradley, Tavares, Yonsian.
Subs | Piper, Kinsella, Phillips, Moreland, Kisimba.