ROVERS FIRE AT DEATH
FOREST GREEN 2 ALDERSHOTDoidge 17, 90+1 TN 1 Gallagher 88
GUY FAWKES supposedly carried out the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament at Lypiatt Park, but in the nearby valley of Nailsworth, Forest Green Rovers boss Mark Cooper toasted Bonfire Night with another explosive finish.
Christian Doidge’s 92ndminute winner broke Aldershot hearts as Rovers opened up a crucial seven-point lead at the top, with their nearest rivals involved in the FA Cup.
Gary Waddock’s side looked to have snatched a point when Jake Gallagher’s 89th-minute equaliser cancelled out Doidge’s first-half goal but Rovers’ never-say-die attitude saw Doidge on the scoresheet for a second time with a sumptuous glancing header from a Rob Sinclair cross.
A relieved Cooper said: “I’m just pleased to get the three points. It wasn’t probably our prettiest or most accomplished performance but it could be one of our most important results for certain.
“People probably question whether we’ve got that spirit, drive and desire when it counts, but I think we answered that today.
“It was not a pretty football game. I think we did okay, we were just a bit lapse in possession, we weren’t at our best today and maybe that was a little bit of pressure, everybody knew what was at stake with the opportunity to go points clear.
“Listen, we can’t play like Barcelona or Real Madrid every week, we showed what we are today – a club trying to make progress and the most important thing is we got a brilliant result.”
Waddock felt his side were unfortunate to be stung in the dying embers as he endured the full gambit of touchline emotions.
He said: “To get the equaliser and then concede right at the end is a cruel blow to the players and the fans that come here on a bitterly cold day.
“We’ve come to a team that’s top of the league. Obviously, they’ve had chances, but to come away with nothing is tough. But it was a magnificent effort from the boys to get that equaliser.
“Forest Green are a very good side in the way they play and make it very difficult.”
Cooper steered Rovers through an unbeaten October and to the top of the table, but that was not enough to see the former Swindon Town boss win the National League manager of the month gong.
But, in typically forthright manner, Cooper, who is now the bookies’ favourite to land the job at MK Dons, said: “I don’t really care. It is the Conference people again who decide it and that is up to them.
“I’m not in for awards and I let the players do the talking on the pitch.”