New boy Brogan's late strike nets Rovers deserved victory
Macclesfield Town 1
Forest Green Rovers 2
LATE as the decisive blow was delivered, victory over ten-man Macclesfield justifiably rewarded a showcase of Forest Green's finest qualities.
Substitute Steve Brogan's debut strike in the 93rd-minute enraged some of the Cheshire natives, but such grievances were unfounded after the visitors dictated terms for vast spells of a classy contest at Moss Rose.
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Matty Taylor's fourth goal of the season had been cancelled out in the second half by Matthew Barnes-Homer, five minutes after John-Paul Kissock's red card had strangely knocked Rovers off their stride.
An ankle injury to Aarran Racine meant a first start of the season for Chris Stokes at left-back, with Ed Asafu-Adjaye shifting to right-back and Jamie Turley to the centre of defence.
Dave Hockaday could not have asked for a brighter start from his side, Stokes heading over from a Ben Wright cross before a superb move cut the home defence to ribbons.
Taylor and Magno Vieira were the architects, the latter's slide-rule pass finding Kieron Forbes for a low shot that cannoned off a post.
Seconds later, and with Macclesfield seemingly in disarray, Vieira wriggled free on the right and forced goalkeeper Lance Cronin into a smart parry.
Steve King's side are more impressive as an attacking force, and there was a stark warning for Rovers in the ninth minute when Barnes-Homer burst clear and drove wide of Sam Russell's far post.
Nine minutes later Barnes-Homer found space for a 16-yard shot that was beaten away by Russell, who was in action again to tip over Nathaniel Brown's header from a corner.
Back came Forest Green, and another good chance went begging when Forbes fed Vieira for a firm but wayward drive.
Somehow it was still scoreless, though Arnaud Mendy connected sweetly with a 25-yarder that swerved considerably and was well watched by a flying Russell.
The breakthrough finally came ten minutes before half-time and was as simple as they come, Taylor latching on to Russell's booming punt downfield and maintaining composure to roll the ball home.
Taylor threatened again before the break, dragging one across the face of goal after a clever turn, and early in the second period Forbes jinked his way into a shooting position but failed to keep it down.
Rovers continued to look the likelier scorers, and the frame of the goal came to Macclesfield's rescue again on 55 minutes when Wright bent a free-kick over the wall and saw it strike the angle of post and crossbar.
Four minutes later the hosts were left short-handed by the already cautioned Kissock, who was horribly late with a challenge on Stokes.
As so often happens, Rovers seemed to find life tougher with a numerical advantage, and it was 1-1 in the 64th minute when Asafu-Adjaye's weak clearance under pressure dropped for Barnes-Homer to ram home.
But Hockaday's men cleared their heads, and they struck aluminium for the third time in the match when Vieira fired against a post.
It looked like being a tale of frustration, but in the third minute of added time Asafu-Adjaye worked space for a right-wing cross and Brogan – captured five days earlier from Guiseley – provided the deftest of finishes from close range.
Macclesfield Town: L Cronin; R Jackson, N Brown, T Diagne, C Braham-Barrett; J-P Kissock (J Mackreth 65), A Mendy, K Murtagh, A McNamee; M Barnes-Homer, W Fairhurst (C Holroyd 70). Subs not used: P Mills, C Henry, A Morgan-Smith.
Forest Green: S Russell; E Asafu-Adjaye, J Turley, E Oshodi, C Stokes; K Forbes (R Styche 85), A Bangura, J Collins; M Vieira (S Brogan 80), M Taylor, B Wright (Y Klukowski 63). Subs not used: O Koroma, P Marsh.
Referee: K. Evans (Wigan)
Attendance: 1,729
Star man: Kieron Forbes was at the heart of some glorious moves, running the show in the first half.
Comments
by Chrisgump2011
Monday, September 24 2012, 10:12AM
“In my opinion, the best sustained performance by Rovers for several years. During the first 20 minutes, the passing and movement was breathtaking. Macclesfield looked sharp up front, but only a fluke mix up earned them a goal. The game as a whole was compelling and very high quality.
Peter you have hinted at some crass behaviour by an element of the Macclesfield support in the 'old' stand. The FGR Fans Forum tells more but a few issues deserved to be aired:
However hard working, Kissock was an accident waiting to happen. An aggressive all-action midfielder who seemed to get angry and frustrated the more Rovers passed the ball around him. He was rightly booked for the most comical of penalty dives. 10 minutes later he was late with a studs-in lunge on the magnificent Chris Stokes. We feared a bad ankle injury but fortunately he shook it off after a few minutes of treatment. Unaccountably, having given the foul, the referee didn't even speak to Kissock for what should have been a straight red card. A carbon-copy foul early in the second half, again on Stokes, saw his dismissal. He had been on the pitch 20 minutes too long.
A dozen or so Macclesfield supporters in front of the seats section of the stand and near the press and players seats at the rear of the stand used the initial Kissock booking to start a match-long stream of foul vitriol and aggressive gestures aimed at FGR supporters and squad players in the stand. Chris Stokes was the victim on the pitch, Kissock's first half assault leaving him prone in front of the louts section.
Close to the end of the game, Kieron Forbes went down under a challenge in the penalty area - we thought it was a penalty but in fairness the defender might have got a piece of the ball. Forbes though was injured - we think his leg was cramped - and had to be stretchered off. (Incidentally, such was the pace of the game that several players on both sides (Stokes and Collins among them) were also suffering with cramp towards the end) Like Stokes, he was lain close to the louts section and was booed and sworn at for minutes until he was born on the stretcher out of sight down the tunnel.
Never before have I witnessed such appalling fan behaviour in a Conference match or felt so intimidated.
I have to say that this was out of keeping with what is a small and hospitable club whose fans have a pretty good reputation. But it was disappointing that neither Stewards nor Officials made efforts to stop the louts even though this was all happening under their noses and in full view.
Clubs with a bigger following than FGR may be less forgiving? I hope that after the event, Macclesfield make efforts to prevent a recurrence.
Brogan's late goal was the product of a tremendous passing movement that he started and was the perfect unanswerable repost to the louts. Hopefully, the squad depth will ensure that, even with exhausted players, the team performs as well tomorrow at Hereford and Friday night at home to Lincoln City - just the 3 games in 6 days!”