AKINDE’S PAIR SINKS ROVERS TO FUEL IMPS
Cooper then hits out at Cowley after loss
FOREST GREEN Rovers boss Mark Cooper blasted rival Danny Cowley after leaders Lincoln City rubber-stamped their title credentials.
Cooper reacted angrily to Cowley’s pre-match money-bags jibe after John Akinde’s double made it six wins on the spin against their bitter rivals.
Cooper said: “I saw a comment from their manager that we have been amazingly financially backed, so that must be the £10,000 we spent in the summer for Liam Shephard.
“If you go to Morrisons and I’ve got £10 and you’ve got £50, who is going to get the best steak, but fair play to Lincoln they’re good at what they do.”
Rovers started brightly, Reece Brown’s deflected strike giving Cooper’s side the lead on eight minutes, before Akinde netted first-half parity
Cooper added: “We gave a good account of ourselves and were out of the traps and got out in front, but when you play against Lincoln you know a lot of balls are going to come into your box and to leave Akinde free in the six-yard box is going to give any team a problem and that’s what one of our defenders did.
“He’s marking him and he leaves him free in and two minutes later we leave Matt Rhead free and we’ve conceded the goal and make it difficult for ourselves.”
Rovers started the second-half on the frontfoot, but a key moment of profligacy in front of goal proved costly.
He added: “George Williams had a golden chance to put us in front, he had to score, but he hit the goalkeeper when he should have rolled it in the corner, but those are the key moments in big games.”
Earlier, a helter-skelter opening saw play-off chasing Rovers draw first blood after seven minutes – Brown’s free-kick taking a wicked deflection off the Lincoln wall to see Matt Gilks completely wrong-footed.
Rovers surrendered the early initiative and Lincoln were back in it six minutes later. Neal Eardley stood up a cross for Akinde to set himself and plant a precise header over James Montgomery.
Rovers were a bundle of anxiety as the leaders cranked up the pressure. Montgomery showed strong wrists to glove a Rhead header to safety.
It was nip and tuck. The effective Harry Toffolo pulled the trigger from the edge of the box to force Montgomery to palm away
The game was captivating as it swung from end-to-end – Gilks did well to finger a Williams effort over the bar as the first-half ended.
Lincoln had strong claims for a second-half penalty when Joseph Mills appeared to hinder Harry Anderson.
However, two minutes later speedster Bruno Andrade was clipped by Lee Collins and Akinde made no mistake from the spot, sending Montgomery the wrong way with 11 minutes to go. Meanwhile, Cowley was delighted to get another victory over Cooper. He said: “For 90 minutes we were excellent. We
had a plan and had to adapt our style and play on the playing surface.
“Forest Green didn’t have a game in the week and we did, and this is one of the toughest places to go after a midweek game, because of the way they play.
“We’re are down to earth people and there’s a reason why we keep beating Forest Green because we’ve got really hardworking diligent people and in ways of implementing our game plan, that was the best we have been.”
And Cowley was fulsome in his praise of Akinde, adding: “For John to get his goals, I’m pleased for him after his critics came for him for missing the penalty against Notts County – maybe that will shut a few people up.”
FOREST GREEN ROVERS: Montgomery 8, Rawson 6, McGinley 5 (Collins 46, 6), Gunning 6, Mills 6, Digby 6, Brown 7 (Grubb 87), Winchester 7, Williams 7, McCoulsky 6 (Mondal 80, 6), Doidge 6. Subs not used: James, Liddle, Godwin-Malife, Ward.
LINCOLN CITY: Gilks 8, Eardley 7, Shackell 8, Bostwick 8, Toffolo 7, O’Connor 6 (Pett 64, 6), O’Hara 8, Andrade 7 (Bolger 89), Rhead 7 (McCartan 70, 6), Anderson 8, Akinde 9. Subs not used: Vickers, Angol, Roberts, J Smith.