Rochdale beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 on penalties to set up a first-round trip to Bradford in the 2026-27 Carabao Cup, after having came from behind twice in a 2-2 draw at Prenton Park.
Misses from Zane Okoro, Tom Ince, Charlie Whitaker and Courtney Baker-Richardson saw Tranmere crash out of the competition at the Preliminary Round stage, after Jordan Davies initially opened the shootout with the first penalty before Ed Francis and Zain Silcott-Duberry netted Rochdale’s match-winning penalties.
Whitaker initially fired the hosts into a fourth-minute lead before Ryan East equalised for Rochdale with a close-range 11th-minute finish,
Davies restored their lead with a 60th-minute finish before Silcott-Duberry sent the tie to penalties with his 85th-minute equalising strike.
Rochdale will now visit Bradford City in the first round on Saturday 8 August in a 3pm BST kick-off at Valley Parade.
Having survived a final-day relegation scrap at the end of last season, Tranmere invested heavily in revamping their squad this summer which certainly showed in a strong attacking press in the opening minutes.
Whitaker almost turned that early pressure into a second-minute opening goal as he nodded wide of the right corner from a free-kick.
Rochdale’s defensive struggles to deal with Tranmere’s intensity almost proved costly two minutes later as Bryant Bilongo clipped Jordan Davies to ground, yet referee – Oliver Mackey refused to award a penalty to the hosts.
Tranmere however didn’t dwell on that refereeing decision for too long as Joel Senior intercepted Sam Sherring’s low long-ball pass, and found Tom Conlon to tee up Whitaker to smash his shot into the net to put the hosts in front.
Rochdale soon afterwards found their footing in the game and equalised from a 11th-minute cross by Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, which was knocked down and laid off for East to smash in from close range to restore parity.
Mackey again refused to get drawn towards a penalty after Rochdale’s Cian Hayes was brought down in the 18th minute.
Rochdale’s Luke Hannant and Tranmere’s Whitaker shortly afterwards blazed shots over the bar as neither team managed to break each other down before half time.
Rochdale produced the better early second-half chances as East fired wide then Ed Francis saw a shot blocked in the 51st minute, whilst Hayes fired over three minutes later.
Those wasted chances were eventually punished on the hour mark as Davies fired in Tranmere’s second goal from Turnbull’s pass.
Whitaker and debutant substitute, Ince fired further chances wide as Tranmere attempted to wrap up victory, whilst Okoro saw a 79th-minute shot blocked by Rochdale’s Ethan Ebanks-Landell.
Rochdale hadn’t won in pre-season but for their defensive vulnerability, they still had a lot of attacking quality which reared its head in the 85th minute, as Silcott-Duberry equalised with a right-footed strike from a corner-kick to force penalties.
Davies stepped up first for Tranmere and dispatched his penalty but Emmanuel Dieseruvwe missed Rochdale’s first penalty, which was followed by misses from Tranmere’s Okoro and Ince whilst Ebanks-Landell missed the visitors’ second spot-kick in-between Okoro and Ince’s wasted penalties as Ince hit the post.
Francis equalised the shootout at 1-1 for Rochdale after the third pair of penalties which was followed by a crossbar hit from Whitaker for the hosts, which allowed Silcott-Duberry to put Rochdale in front as he dispatched their fourth penalty into the bottom left corner.
Baker-Richardson sealed Rochdale’s comeback victory after he blazed Tranmere’s fifth penalty over the bar, which meant that Rochdale now face a first-round trip to Bradford.
Teams
Tranmere: Harrison Male, Lee O’Connor (Warrington 72′), Nathan Smith, Jordan Turnbull (Faulkner 76′), Joel Senior, Sam Finley (Okoro 61′), Tom Conlon (Ince 61′), Jacob Slater, Jordan Davies, Charlie Whitaker, Joe Ironside (Baker-Richardson 72′)
Substitutes: Courtney Baker-Richardson, Patrick Brough, Bobby Faulkner, Tom Ince, Sam Mann, Zane Okoro, Olly Scott, Charlie Veevers, Lewis Warrington
Rochdale: Nils Ramming, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Sam Sherring (Moss 64′), Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Bryant Bilongo, Ed Francis, Ryan East, Cian Hayes (Silcott-Duberry 64′), Luke Hannant (Rodney 71′), Harvey Gilmour (Pettit 72′), Emmanuel Dieseruvwe
Substitutes: Sam Waller, Jake Spaven, Devante Rodney, Zain Silcott-Duberry, Casey Pettit, Dan Moss, Tom Bradley
Referee – Oliver Mackey
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