A YOUTHFUL Bury side were heavily beaten by Rochdale in their opening group game of the Checkatrade Trophy.

Lee Clark made 11 changes as he gave his youngsters the ultimate litmus test against an almost full-strength Dale outfit.

It was the visitors who grabbed the derby clash by the throat and raced into a 3-0 first-half lead thanks to a Joe Bunney strike and Brad Inman’s brace.

Rochdale skipper Ian Henderson added a fourth after the break to sink any hope of a Shakers comeback.

Clark put his faith in the youngsters with academy graduates Callum Styles, Tsun Dai, Ryan Cooney and Saul Shotton all trusted with a starting spot, while forgotten man Neil Danns was handed his first start of the season.

But the former Wanderers midfielder gave the 1,491 inside Gigg Lane a taste of things to come when he gave away possession and picked up a fifth-minute yellow card for a crunching tackle on Jordan Williams, while trying to retrieve his loose pass.

The Shakers struggled to compete with their experienced opponents and fell behind in the 12th minute when Bunney broke through the defence and side-footed the ball past Leo Fasan.

Seven minutes later Inman doubled the advantage with a similar finish after breaking through down the left-hand side.

Bury responded with a positive spell. Dai created space for himself at the edge of the box before forcing Dale goalkeeper Josh Lillis into a fine save.

Veteran forward Ryan Lowe then crashed a shot against the post after Williams got to the byline and cut the ball back.

Danns had a glorious chance to finish a move he started in the 23rd minute when Lillis parried Mihai Dobre’s fierce effort, but he lifted the ball over from six yards out.

A long ball over the top presented Inman with his second and Dale’s third on the 35th minute. The winger burst through onto the ball and beat Fasan from close range.

Clark tried to add some fighting spirit to his side at the break as he brought on three senior pros. Greg Leigh, Callum Reilly and Harry Bunn replaced Williams, Styles and Alex Whitmore.

But it got worse for the Shakers when Rochdale skipper Henderson found space in the box before driving a low shot in off the far post six minute after the restart.

Bournemouth loanee Dobre was a livewire all evening and he came the closest to scoring for Bury but a brilliant finger-tip save from Lillis kept his in-swinging free-kick at bay.

Joe Skarz had a late scare when he went down in the centre circle and the stretcher was called on, but the defender managed to run off his injury and continue

BURY (3-5-2)

LEO FASAN 4

SAUL SHOTTON 4

ALEX WHITMORE 4

RYAN COONEY 4

JORDAN WILLIAMS 4

CALLUM STYLES 4

NEIL DANNS 4

TSUN DAI 5

JOE SKARZ 4

MIHAI DOBRE 7

RYAN LOWE 5

Subs: Greg Leigh 6 (for Jordan Williams 45), Callum Reilly 5 (for Alex Whitmore 45), Harry Bunn 5 (for Callum Styles 45).

Unused subs: Maloney, Hill, Harker, Hulme.

Rochdale (4-2-1-3): Lillis; Rafferty, McGahey, Ntihe, Bunney; Camps, Williams; Adshead; Williams, Henderson, Inman.

Subs: Slew (for Henderson 56), Cannon (for Inman 69), Rathbone (for M J Williams 73).

Unused subs: Moore, Morley, Gillam, Kearney.

Referee: Mark Heywood (West Yorkshire).

Attendance: 1,451 (498 visiting)