Derby delight Robins see off rivals after shoot-out drama
CHELTENHAM Town progressed to the last 16 of the Papa John’s Trophy with a penalty shoot-out win over rivals Forest Green Rovers.
Former Crystal Palace and Sunderland striker Connor Wickham missed the target for the home side with their second spot kick and Josh March saw his effort brilliantly saved by Luke Southwood, clinching a 4-3 shoot-out win for Wade Elliott’s side after the tie had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Liam Sercombe, Elliot Bonds, Charlie Brown and Ryan Broom all converted for Cheltenham, while Myles Peart-harris, Corey O’keefe and Harvey Bunker netted for Rovers, sparking great celebrations among the 665 Robins fans in the crowd of 1,426.
Rovers had opened the scoring at the New Lawn through March’s 24th minute near post header from Harry Boyes’ corner.
But Ryan Broom nodded the leveller after Lewis Freestone’s cross from the left in the 69th minute, the first headed goal of Broom’s career.
He had crashed a shot against the post in the first half but Rovers were the better side for the opening stages. Cheltenham improved as the half progressed and went on to control much of the second period.
Their star striker Alfie May was not risked after feeling his back during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers but the striker is expected to be fine for Charlton Athletic away a week on Friday.
Cheltenham made four changes from Saturday’s win, and assistant head coach Russell Milton said: “We wanted to try and keep the momentum rolling on.
“Since Alvechurch, the response has been really good. We had two good performances in the league before that, so we are unbeaten in the league, along with tonight.
“We wanted to keep as many out of the pitch as we could. Alfie has obviously been out for a while, came back and suffered a back spasm on Saturday.
“He was close to starting the game and was prominent in our thoughts, but we decided to keep him for Charlton. It was pleasing and a good performance. I liked us with the ball tonight, the best we’ve been all season probably.
“We looked really comfortable, trusted each other, playing and moving, looking after it and on many occasions it was just the final ball that was missing.”
Milton was disappointed with the nature of the Rovers goal, March being unmarked at the near post to head in.
“It was a good run from Josh March, who came around from the blindside and got his flick in front of Dan (Nlundlulu).
“It was disappointing because I felt we were just starting to get on top of them then and they go and score, but it was a great response from the boys, to get on top for the rest of the half and then to really take the game to them in the second half and get a deserved goal through Broomy (Ryan Broom).
“It was a good cross, a good run and a good header. It would have been nice to have finished it in normal time, but you take any win you can get.
“It would have been nice to have got there in the 90 minutes, but the next best thing is to win it on penalties.
“It got to be a bit of a lottery in the end, but we were really good. After the first 20 minutes or so, we grew into the game and were full value for the victory.”
Sercombe, Bonds, Brown and Broom converted their penalties with aplomb, and Milton said: “We had a show of hands to see who wanted to take them and it was those four boys and Dan Nlundulu was next and he’s pretty confident with them as well.
“On the other side of it, Luke (Southwood) made a great save as he did in the 90 minutes at Burton.
“We were confident with Luke. Connor Wickham of all people missing the target, but it was good to come out on top.”
Cheltenham go into the draw for the last 16 on Thursday afternoon, and pocket £20,000 for the victory.
“It’s been a decent run and I can’t remember getting this far,” said Milton.
“It’s always good to win games, keep things alive.
“The league form has been good and it’s nice to have a little Trophy run.
“We wanted an FA Cup run, but it didn’t happen. This is the next best thing we can go for, so we want to keep it going.
“It’s good to be in the next round and we’ll see what we get.
“You just want to get through and we capped that off with a good performance too.
“It’s great for the fans and it was a great turnout. We are back here in a few weeks and I am sure there will be a few more here for that. I am sure they were pleased with that performance.”
Forest Green Rovers: Thomas; Bernard, Casey, Bunker; Robertson (Jones 88), Hendry (Cargill 75), Mcgeouch (O’keefe 59), Boyes; Peartharris; Matt (Wickham 75), March. Subs not used: Mcgee, Mckenzie, Bell.
Cheltenham Town: Southwood; Raglan (Norton 67), C Taylor, Freestone; Jackson, Bonds, Sercombe, Hutchinson (Williams 67); Broom, Brown, Nlundulu. Subs not used: Macdonald, Long, Bradbury, Adshead, Lloyd.