Stanley Youth suffered a disappointing defeat at home to Rochdale this afternoon, losing 1-0.

Despite dominating the opening 45 minutes, Stanley were hit with a sucker punch in injury time as Dale hit the Reds on the counter attack with the ball deflecting in over the goalkeeper.

The second half saw Stanley continue to force the play, but the youngsters were unable to find a breakthrough as they missed a couple of late opportunities.

Academy Manager John Townson said: “We dominated the first half and I think going in 3-0 up at the break would not have flattered us.

“We were unfortunate not to come way from the game with something.”

Despite the loss, Townson refused to be downbeat and was pleased with what he saw from his side.

“After a disappointing first half performance and overall result against Bury recently, a 4-0 loss, we asked for a reaction and we most certainly got it,” he added.

“However, that is not reflected in the scoreline, which does not do our performance justice.

“Given our good performances of late against Fleetwood, Burnley and now Rochdale, we can put the Bury game down as a blip and we hope to carry our level of performance over to our next game on Tuesday.”

Stanley Youth are next in action on Tuesday afternoon away at Blackpool in the Youth Alliance Cup third round. Kick-off is 2pm at Squires Gate FC’s training ground.