Preston North End's 100 per cent record in the Puma Youth Alliance League came to an end on Saturday as Jamie Hoyland's men settled for a point at Rochdale.
It was a clash of the division's two form teams with North End having been in fine goalscoring form before this match which was played on a surface which didn't suit Preston's passing style.
The game was a physical affair and the home side took the lead after 15 minutes when the Lilywhites failed to deal with a corner properly and Rochdale powered the ball home.
Hoyland's men were back on level terms ten minutes later when Owens put Jamie Proctor clear down the right flank before sprinting clear into the box, Proctor found Owens and the young midfielder finished in style to make the score 1-1.
And that's how the scoreline remained for the rest of the game. North End had some good chances but they lacked real quality in the final third of the field whilst Comrie in goal for PNE also did well to pull off some fine saves.
Speaking after the draw Jamie Hoyland said: "Sometimes you need a negative result, whether that is a draw or a defeat, just so that the lads can learn. We know that we are not going to go through a season unbeaten and if we did that then the league would not be worth playing in, you don't want to win everything. There are different things coming up every week for them to learn from and the things we said on Saturday they took into the reserve game the following Monday.
"Every week now teams want to beat us, we are seven games unbeaten, six in the league and one in the cup, and everyone is dying to be the first team to beat us. That's something for the lads to set out and try and protect and try and keep our record intact.
"Next up is Burnley, the second time we have played them in a couple of weeks and they will want revenge for us knocking them out of the Lancashire Youth Cup. Even at youth level the Preston-Burnley rivalry is quite fierce and it's a game that I know that they are all looking forward to."
PNE: Comrie, McLaughlin, Hart, Miller, Holtom, Devine, Owens, Davidson, McLellan (McGreevy 55), J Proctor, Dougan. Subs: Hall, B Proctor, Clucas, Leather
