Forest Green Rovers manager Robbie Savage remains confident in his squad despite their 2-1 loss to York City away on Saturday. Speaking after the match, Savage praised his team’s solid performance against one of the league’s top contenders.
“It was a very good away performance against a team who are probably, either them or Rochdale, going to win the league,” Savage said. He acknowledged the fans' support, noting, “The fans really appreciated us at the end, the lads went over, there are some that want to see their team win every week, I get that, but the lads can’t give anymore, they were out on their feet, and that’s all I can ask.”
Savage attributed the defeat to a couple of costly mistakes. “We lost the game because of two poor moments, but on the whole, I was more despondent last week against Wealdstone than I am today. I thought we were good, but it’s another loss on the road.”
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York City took the lead inside the first 20 minutes when Alex Hunt converted a penalty after Forest Green’s recent loan signing, 18-year-old Reading right-back Ashqar Ahmed, fouled Jeff King in the box. “We got the press bang on in the first 20 minutes before their goal; they couldn’t get out of their half. Ashqar makes a bad decision, but he’s going to learn. It’s a penalty, I’ve got no complaints, it’s a penalty.”
Hunt was again involved just before halftime, delivering a precise pass to Joe Grey who broke through on goal. Grey then set up Pearce, who scored to double York’s advantage. Savage called the second goal “unacceptable,” adding, “One straight ball over the top and goal, that’s not us, that was at a really poor time. They’ve taken their moments; we didn’t take ours.”
Forest Green fought back in the second half with a goal from McAllister, who was moved into an attacking midfield role following tactical changes. Elijah Morrison provided the assist with a pullback that McAllister tapped in despite a scuffed effort finding the corner.
“Second half, we made the changes, got the goal. First half, they could have scored another one,” Savage reflected. “The goal is to finish third or fourth now. One and two will be York and Rochdale in whichever order.”
The match featured strong line-ups:
York City starting eleven: Male; King (Fallowfield 81), Williams, Johnson, Kitching, Brookes; Grey (Stones 71), Hunt (Batty 81), Boateng, Olley (Newby 20); Pearce (Banks 81). Unused substitutes: Sykes-Kenworthy, Howe.
Forest Green Rovers starting eleven: Isted; Ahmed (Mitchell 75), Mendy, Kircough (Babalola 88), Buyabu; Nwoko, Campbell (Bunker 88); McAllister, Haughton (Knowles 53), Clarke (Morrison 53); Rees. Unused substitutes: Pagel, Kanu.
The match referee was Martin Coy, and the attendance numbered 6,866, with 220 Forest Green Rovers supporters in the away section.