Nuneaton Town 1 Forest Green Rovers 0

[dutchman]

The Boro started so much better than they did against Torquay on Saturday and they were asking questions of Forest Green in the opening stages.



The closest the Boro came to gaining a reward for their efforts, though, was in the 15th minute, but Adam Walkers effort from distance sailed harmlessly over the bar.

That chance, or half-chance, was one of the few in what was a spirited showing from the Boro boys.

They were showing battling qualities that had seemed so few and far between for most of the season, an attitude that was personified by a driving run by Gaz Dean that saw the skipper make a fine tackle in his own half before driving with the ball deep into Rovers territory.

The Boro continued to shut Forest Green out in the first half – and they took that attitude into the second.

They did get an early chance after the restart, though, but Connor Franklin saw his effort blocked on the line after a bit of pinball football in the penalty area.

That chance did not herald the start of a Boro spell of pressure as once again they played the spoling card on their quality filled opponents.

They were stopping Forest Green before they could get going, treating the game much like an away one.

It was ironic then that the Boro scored what would have been a perfect away-day goal as Jorrin John gave the home side the lead with 15 minutes remaining.

The deadlock was broken after Adam Walker fed Jack Dyer with a quick slide-rule ball from back to front. The former Burton Albion man took the gauntlet on, passing it on to John who did the rest, picking up the ball on the edge of the area before beating a man and sending a sizzling effort into the back of the net past a diving Sam Russell.

The strike was a bolt from the blue, but that hard earned lead was nearly wiped out just ten minutes later – but for the reactions of Reice Charles-Cook.

The on-loan Coventry man was at his agile best, somehow getting a hand to a Luke Oliver header from close range and pushing it out of harm’s way. It was a save that the on-looking Steve Ogrizovic would have been proud of.