Wembley joy for ex-Hatters duo as Rochdale earn Football League return

Former Luton Town duo Sam Beckwith and Casey Pettit will be playing in the Football League next season after being part of the Rochdale side who won the National League play-off final on penalties against Boreham Wood yesterday.

The pair had started on the bench at Wembley Stadium in a game that saw Dale, who finished second in the table, 16 points clear of their opponents, in fourth, fall 1-0 behind on 22 minutes when Abdul Abdulmalik’s cross was met by Matt Rush to loop a header over the defence and into the far corner.

Abdulmalik then went for goal himself, forcing Oliver Whatmuff into a fingertip save, as Rochdale tried to hit back, Devante Rodney and Tobi Adebyao-Rowling firing efforts off target for Dale, striker Mani Dieseruvwe nodding wide from a good position. After the break, Chris Bush and James Clarke were wayward, substitute Joe Pritchard’s powerful attempt also missing.

Rodney’s snapshot from the edge of the area was well blocked, but Wood pressed for a second, Whatmuff denying Rush from close range, however on 68 minutes they doubled their lead as Abdulmalik picked out the bottom corner via a slight deflection. Dale boss Jim McNulty made a triple substitution with a quarter of an hour left, as on came Beckwith, who came through Town’s academy and featured once for the first team when playing in the Carabao Cup first round tie at Stevenage in August 2021, moving to Greater Manchester in July 2024 after three years at Maidenhead.

Joining him was Tyler Smith, who had a huge impact two minutes later, a long ball from Whatmuff finding the replacement who finished calmly beyond on-loan Chelsea stopper Ted Curd to halve the deficit. Ryan East and Dieseruvwe saw shots blocked as Dale threw everything forward in search of an equaliser, as with seconds remaining of the seven minutes of stoppage time, the ball was cleared to Pettit, who was with the Hatters’ academy, captaining their U18 and U21 sides, named in eight match-day squads during Luton’s 2022-23 Championship campaign.

Like Beckwith, he moved to Maidenhead before joining Spotland, as on his 42nd appearance of the campaign, he controlled the ball with his first touch, and sent an inviting ball back into the area where Dieseruvwe leapt highest to head home and force extra time. There were no more goals in the half an hour that followed, which meant penalties were required and after Whatmuff saved Callum Reynolds’ first attempt, Beckwith crashed into the net to put his side in front.

The keeper also denied Rush, as Ed Francis and Callum Perry both netted, with Cameron Coxe hitting the bar, which was enough to signal Rochdale returning into the Football League where they last played during the 2022-23 campaign. The duo were joined by another ex-Hatter in celebrating promotion, academy graduate, Jake Burger, who played 16 times in the league this term, also with the club.

Boss McNulty said of his side’s achievement, having lost to champions York on the final day of the regular campaign: “It's a feeling of pure elation and fairly surreal. We have character and belief and I've never been part of anything like this. The game against York was wild and had everyone's eyes rightfully on it, so to go and do this at Wembley is incredible and amazing. I feel like it was destined to end this way. The season itself has been incredible - the points tally, the performances, the guts, the character, the late goals. It does feel like some sort of footballing justice was served today."