ROCHDALE manager Steve Parkin felt the first penalty decision on the stroke of half time in last night's game was harsh.

At 1-1, referee Bill Burns took the advice of his linesman and gave a spot kick after Dale defender Dave Bayliss was judged to have tackled Matt Jansen inside the area.

"I thought it was a major turning point. We already had a mountain to climb, which we'd done, after they scored. I did not think we deserved to go behind but we got back into it when Clive Platt scored.

"There is no doubt it was a foul but it looked like it was outside the box. It was harsh and I think that was the general opinion of most of the players. It was a free kick not a penalty.

"But I don't think you can fault the lads, especially for their first half performance. The thing that did upset me though, and I told them, was the mistakes in defence we keep making. "I was bitterly disappointed with the goals we gave away. But we are a young side and we must learn from it. They put us to the sword when it mattered and that's why they are a good team and their players play at this level. They do not take pity on anybody."

But one positive for Dale was the 13,000 crowd gave Parkin some much-needed money to spend and now he's on a striker hunt.