OMAR GOSH, BUGIEL!
Super sub saves Rovers
VERDICT: Forest Green stay in touch thanks to some star dust from the bench. Omar Bugiel, their wildcard signing from Worthing, may have a big say in Rovers’ season
ROOKIE striker Omar Bugiel stepped off the bench to bag a last-gasp brace to pump up Forest Green Rovers’ promotion aspirations.
The German-born striker, signed a fortnight ago from Ryman Premier Worthing, was introduced with 15 minutes to go and scored with his second touch on 88 minutes and then fizzed in a 92nd-minute fourth in a seven-goal New Lawn thriller against Woking. And with leaders Lincoln City and second-placed Tranmere in FA Trophy action, Rovers jumped back up to third with 13 games to go as the season enters the final furlong. Earlier, maverick Keanu MarshBrown broke the deadlock for Rovers with his 10th goal of the season after 37 minutes, before Woking’s Joey Jones equalised with a 35-yard thunderbolt. Gozie Ugwu then headed the visitors in front, but Christian Doidge nodded in his 17th goal of the season to level things up. Rovers’ Darren Carter fluffed a penalty with 23 minutes remaining, before Bugiel’s brilliant double. This pulsating clash climaxed when Terell Thomas pulled one back deep into stoppage-time for a Woking side scrapping for National League survival. A delighted Forest Green boss Mark Cooper insisted he wants to keep the pressure off his new striking gem. He said: “It is important that we don’t put too much pressure on his shoulders. “Sometimes it is easier when you come on as sub, because the intensity of the game has dropped and there is more space, but he has certainly shown that he can finish.” Cooper was delighted with the quality of the goals that Bugiel struck for his side. He added: “It was a great ball in from Wedge (Sam Wedgbury) for the first goal and a brilliant individual finish for the second.” With the game locked at 2-2, Cooper was confident his side would pinch it in the dying embers of the match. “I looked at the clock with 82 minutes gone
and said to Scott (Lindsey) ‘here we go again’ but I always feel there is a goal in us and you see the other teams start to tire visibly.
“I think the crowd have been really good and are starting to understand it, and they were really good today and I thank them for that.
“In the second-half it was one-way traffic, and we could have scored more.
“Woking have got some good players, and they get forward.
“They probably are one of the only teams to come here and not get everyone behind the ball, and credit to them for that.”
Woking boss Gary Hill felt his team made a good fist of a high-octane clash.
His side remain in the relegation mire, but the former Weymouth boss knows they have enough to get themselves out of trouble. “It was a very entertaining first- half,” the Cards manager said. “They got the breakthrough and the first goal is always going to be an important goal. I felt we started the second-half brightly and from there on we had to work hard. “It was a very open match. I’m not saying we should have won the game, but I thought we gave a good account of ourselves. “If you score three goals, you expect to get a result. We made it tough for them, they’re a good side but we’ve come here and we’ve had a good go. There’s no disgrace in getting beaten by a Forest Green side who are trying to win the title.” Hill called Tuesday’s match with Dover “a big one” for the club.