Cooper left livid after fiery deadlock

IRATE Mark Cooper had some harsh words for referee Darren Drysdale as his promotion-chasing Rovers were held to a draw by bottomof-the-table Stevenage.

Cooper felt former Forest Green striker Kurtis Guthrie should have been handed a straight red card in the first half for an aerial challenge on defender Farrend Rawson, with the Stevenage attacker incurring a booking instead.

Rawson failed to returned after the break following the challenge, to leave the Rovers’ boss incandescent with rage after losing Bournemouth loanne Kyle Taylor to a second yellow four minutes from time.

He said: “If we are going to get a red card then Kurtis Guthrie should get one.

“The referee spoke to me before the game and made all the right noises and said; ‘I see you’ve had a lot of fouls against you’.

“I’m not going to get myself in trouble, but it’s clear to everyone in the stadium to see.”

Searching for their first win of the season, Stevenage hit the straps inside two minutes – Luther James-Wildin arrowed a ball across the box for Jason Cowley to flick the ball towards the bottom corner, but the alert Lewis Thomas struck out a long lever to touch the ball wide.

Thomas had to be on his mettle to glove away a strike from former Forest Green striker Guthrie as the bottom of the table side cranked it up.

Guthrie forced Thomas to drop on the ball as Stevenage looked to break the deadlock.

Rovers had Liam Kitching to thank for a clearance off the line on 51 minutes – the former Leeds defender stuck out a leg to clear a towering Charlie Carter header off the line and from the corner, the Rovers keeper showed sharp reflexes to block Guthrie’s pointblank stab.

Rovers’ Taylor received a second yellow with four minutes left for a foul on Michael Timlin.

Deep into stoppage time Ben Kennedy fluffed his lines for Stevenage with only Thomas to beat.

Stevenage caretaker boss Mark Sampson felt his side should have been out of sight, such was their dominance.

“We played well against a good Forest Green side, and had opportunities to put the game to bed by half-time and could have pinched it at the death.”