Penney remains positive after shoot-out agony

10:09am Sunday 18th May 2008

Darlington boss Dave Penney insisted he had no complaints about Saturday's play-off exit at Rochdale.

Quakers lost 5-4 on spot kicks after the sides drew 3-3 following 210 minutes of football over two legs.

Penney's side were badley hit by injuries in the latter half of campaign, which saw their hopes of automatic promotion shattered.

"That's life,'' he insisted. "It's a fine line and they were better than us just because they scored more penalties than us.

"We've had a good season and we just couldn't finish it off. We put ourselves to be in a position to challenge the top three.

"Obviously, with the injuries and other things, we couldn't quite get there."

Dale counterpart Keith Hill, meanwhile, cut a happy figure after leading his side to Wembley for the first time in the club's centenary year.

"We're here to make history - I'm sick of hearing about the history of the football club and what we haven't done,'' he said.

"We talk about making our own history and creating history for other people to talk about. History doesn't interest me - I did it at school and I used to fall asleep.

"This club shouldn't be seen as a small club.

"We are nurturing a very good young squad here and we want to be successful.

"That's how ambitious the players and the coaching staff are. We want to be ambitious and we want to get into League One. That's our aim now."