ROCHDALE endured a battering far worse than the scoreline would suggest, but might have snatched an unlikely point had skipper Gareth Griffiths not missed a glorious late chance.

High-flying Rovers opened the scoring inside 90 seconds, only for Kevin Townson to peg them back less than a minute later.

From then on only a mixture of excellent goalkeeping, last-ditch defending and wayward finishing kept Alan Buckley's side in the game, until they were finally breached by Chris Brown's wickedly-deflected 75th minute shot.

Despite his side's late rally, Buckley was in no doubt that the better team won.

"We lost 2-1 going on 8-1," he said.

"They were sharper than us, more confident than us, passed the ball better than us and were more alert than us. You have to hold your hands up. We were a very poor second best."

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