Fleetwood Town's FA Cup campaign is over after a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Rochdale at Highbury Stadium on Saturday. Ronan Coughlan's second-half penalty cancelled out Luke Hannant's opener, but Babajide Ezekiel Adeeko's 111th-minute strike sent the visitors through to the next round.
Luke Hannant gave Rochdale the lead midway through the first half, finishing from a Charlie Tasker assist. Fleetwood, who had 53% possession and 17 shots, found a way back when Ronan Coughlan converted a penalty in the 74th minute. The match went to extra time, where substitute Babajide Ezekiel Adeeko scored the decisive goal to end Fleetwood's cup run.
Both sides made numerous changes throughout the contest. Fleetwood introduced Mark Helm and Danny Andrew just after the hour mark, while Rochdale's late switch brought on the eventual match-winner. The game was punctuated by bookings, with Fleetwood's Jake Thomas Batty and Harrison Neal among those shown yellow cards.
The result adds to a period of inconsistent form for Fleetwood Town, who sit 16th in League Two with 17 points from 14 games, having recorded four wins, five draws and five losses. Their recent sequence reads one win, one draw and three losses, leaving them 14 points adrift of the automatic promotion places. They have scored 18 goals and conceded the same number this season, resulting in a zero goal difference. This cup exit follows a recent league win over Bristol Rovers, where Aaron Loupalo-Bi, R. Bennett and Josh Robertson were on the scoresheet in a 3-1 victory on Saturday 31 October.
Attention now turns fully to the league, with a key home fixture against 11th-placed Tranmere Rovers next on the schedule. That match takes place at Highbury Stadium on Saturday, 14 November. The team will look to improve on a recent run of league form that includes defeats to Exeter City and Cheltenham, as well as a draw with Arsenal, prior to the win over Bristol Rovers.
