Hall slates Rochdale display

Keith Hill was pleased to progress in the FA Cup - but criticised Rochdale for a poor display in the 2-1 win against Northampton.

Hill branded some of his stars 'prima donnas' after a lacklustre first-half display in which Ivan Toney gave the Cobblers the lead. Though Reuben Noble-Lazarus levelled in the 85th minute and Olly Lancashire headed the winner three minutes into added time Hill was less than satisfied with the showing. "I'm happy with the result and the fact we are going through to the next round, but that's all I'm happy with," he said. "What I saw in the first half was a few prima donnas and I saw the opposition do to us what we do to most teams and that's work hard, put the opposition under pressure and really get into faces. "I'm not sure it was a fair result, I was happier on Saturday night after getting beaten at Port Vale than after this game. "There are certain values, morals that we have to provide for the supporters. They are not stupid - they will forgive us for not being as good as the opposition but they won't forgive us for not working as hard as the opposition. "We were lucky at half time to be only one down. It was an embarrassment from my perspective. I feel sorry for the opposition because they deserved to win." The Cobblers had set off on the right foot, taking the lead when Darren Carter drove a free-kick from the right towards the near post and Toney rose unchallenged, glancing a firm header past Conrad Logan from six yards. That early blow had Rochdale on the ropes and with the home side at sixes and sevens, Northampton twice went close to doubling their advantage through Emile Sinclair and Marc Richards. Dale levelled in the 85th minute when Noble-Lazarus, making his home debut since arriving on loan from Barnsley, slammed a smart finish into the top corner. And deep into time added on Lancashire met Rose's cross to secure Dale's passage into the next round. Disappointed Northampton boss Chris Wilder said: "It was a fantastic start and a really disappointing finish. "The game is being a bit harsh on us at the minute in terms of results. We were a touch disappointed after the first 25 minutes not to have stretched our lead and to be fair to them they moved the ball around pretty quickly in the second half and we just couldn't get the pass out to relieve a bit of the pressure. "Unfortunately, two late goals have sealed the tie. "They brought on Calvin Andrew and went direct, and all credit to Keith Hill, that's the way to manage. If you can't play through a team you need to do something different. "We had to defend and we did it superbly, we just didn't get up the pitch enough to support the front two. That happens, you get pinned back and we were up against a good side who are going really well in League One."