PATIENT FERRIBY GET LAST LAUGH

FOREST GREEN – the world’s first vegan football club – celebrated April Fools’ Day by unveiling new broccoli and carrot print football kits for next season, but the joke was on them after basement boys North Ferriby recorded a shock victory at The New Lawn.

Rovers’ title dreams went up in smoke as Reece Thompson’s 68th-minute header gave Steve Housman’s part-time outfit a mathematical chance of beating the drop.

In only Rovers’ second home defeat of the season, a dejected Forest Green boss Mark Cooper will be hoping a ‘rubbish weekend’ will be quickly erased as he now looks to galvanise his side ahead of the play-offs.

“It will be a rubbish weekend,” bemoaned Cooper. “One or two things have opened my eyes today and I have to put a team together that is going to first of all make sure we get to the play-offs and then compete in the play-offs. Everybody needs to step up now, myself and staff included.” In contrast, Housman was delighted with his team’s performance, adding: “My lads are part-time and to come here against such a big club, a big spending club and to perform the way we did, credit to my boys.We let them try and break us down but they couldn’t.” Indeed, Rovers took the game to the visitors from the off but could find no way past keeper Owen Evans. He denied Jake Gosling from Marcus Kelly’s cross before Christian Doidge was denied a penalty after Ben Middleton clipped him. Wretched finishing drove Cooper mad as his side repeatedly fluffed their lines. Ferriby offered little in attack, but they almost got their noses in front on 20 minutes – Drissa Traore sparing home blushes with a headed clearance off the line from Robbie Tinkler. But Rovers were stung on 68 minutes. In a rare attacking foray, Danny Emerton cut the ball back for Thompson to glance home.