Paul Stancliffe felt his Rovers U18 side deserved to get something out of Saturday’s visit of Oldham Athletic.
A bright start for Rovers saw an effort from forward James Morris go low and saved by Joe Boyling, but Chinedu Uche’s smart shot after 20 minutes gave the young Latics the lead and a goalmouth scramble just before the break saw the same man find the back of the net via a deflected effort.
Rovers’ heads didn’t drop in the second half, with them playing high-tempo attacking football but unable to get on the scoresheet.
Stancliffe said: “That’s what’s frustrating about the defeat – because, once again, they’ve proved what they can do it. They just need to do it for longer spells during the game.
“We started well, though they played well too and I thought it was a decent game. We lost our way a little bit after their first goal and once it went to 2-0 we were chasing the game, but in the second half they put a good performance in again and it is frustrating because it shows what they can do.”