Rochdale coach Brian Barry-Murphy believes his side deserved a replay against Tottenham, after they claimed a dramatic injury time draw with the Premier League club in their FA Cup fifth round clash.
Steve Davies struck a stoppage time equaliser to earn the League One strugglers a 2-2 draw, after Harry Kane's late penalty appeared to have put Tottenham into the quarter-finals.
Rochdale can now look forward to a money-spinning replay at Tottenham's temporary Wembley home and Barry-Murphy, son of former Cork hurler and manager Jimmy, believes it’s not more than his side deserved.
"I think the result was vindication for the way our players and the manager approached the game," he told RTÉ Sport.
Paying tribute to manager Keith Hill, the Corkman added. "He’s seen a lot of teams in these type of ties go defensively, sit in and hope for the best, kind of damage limitation.
"He wanted to be on the front foot and represent what we do as a club and I thought the lads carried out the gameplan to a tee. They were aggressive and on the front foot and I think we got the result we deserved from that display."
Rochdale will now take on Spurs in the replay at Wembley on 28 February, a game which Barry believes will be a massive occasion for his club and their players.
"For a club like ourselves, we haven’t had many days like yesterday. The ground was full, it was rocking and it looked fantastic.
"I think the players deserve that day out at Wembley for the way they played and obviously they were going crazy afterwards. The thought of playing at Wembley is a dream for players at our level.
"Some of our younger players may go on to play at venues like that, they’re that good, but at the moment it’s the pinnacle of their career so it’ll be a huge day out for them."
