Holker Street Saturday, November 17th, 2012   Conference Attendance: 853       Barrow 2-2 Forest Green Rovers
2012 /13

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Barrow 2 vs Forest Green Rovers 2 Date: 17/11/2012 3:00 pm Attendance: 853 Venue: Away Taylor grabs Rovers a late Barrow point Matty Taylor secured a late leveller to ensure Forest Green ended their long trip north with a point against lowly Barrow, writes Richard Joyce. Taylor’s late diving header from a fantastic Stephen Brogan free kick was a blessing for Forest Green who very nearly succumbed to one of the Blue Square Bet Premier’s lowest placed clubs. Rovers had taken the lead through James Norwood’s early header although the Cumbrians penned Forest Green back when Adam Boyes levelled late in the first half. Matt Flynn then fired in to hand the home side the lead as Forest Green looked likely to be facing a long journey home empty handed. But twinned with some truly magnificent stops by goalkeeper Sam Russell, Taylor’s late header helped maintain Rovers place in the play off zone. Ed Asafu-Adjaye, an ever present for Rovers this season, missed out with an ankle problem, which saw Jared Hodgkiss slip in to the right full back position with Omar Koroma making up part of the front three. A scrappy opening in windy conditions suggested the afternoon wouldn’t rank as a classic, although when Norwood headed Rovers in front it handed Forest Green a huge advantage at a ground where they have never won. Yan Klukowski’s delivery in to the box found Norwood who was left completely unmarked and steered in a superb header past the helpless Danny Hurst. Koroma, starting for just the second time this season, produced a low shot after spinning well while Barrow danger man Boyes had his first sniff on goal when his effort fell straight in to the hands of Russell. Boyes strike at Russell was the first time Forest Green’s number one shot stopped had been called upon all afternoon but it was the start of a series of tremendous stops. His save from a Boyes header followed shortly after but he couldn’t stop the Cumbrians leading scorer from finishing coolly past him minutes later after Joe Jackson had threaded through a defence splitting ball. The hosts leveller sparked their ascendancy, and Russell produced a number of fine stops to firstly deny Richie Baker and then Hessey with a terrific tip over the bar. The half time interval came at a great time for Rovers however the second half began as the first had ended with Barrow on top, and Russell was on hand to push away a low Boyes shot. Russell then pulled off an outstanding save from Boyes whose strong shot from a Garry Hunter pass looked certain to hit the back of the net, but the former Darlington shot stopper manufactured a contender for save of the season. Unfortunately for Russell he could do nothing with the Cumbrians lead taking goal which would come just moments later. Flynn picked up the ball from the lively Boyes and he smashed in past a flood of Forest Green defenders. Barrow’s impressive power certainly did not reflect their lowly position in the division, but a number of tactical changes from the Rovers bench and the game gradually turned back in to Forest Green’s favour. Hurst was called upon to make a good stop from a well delivered Taylor effort after replacement Magno Vieira had fed the front man while at the other end a late Barrow chance saw their substitute, Paul Rutherford, blast over. It looked like Forest Green’s long trip north was heading for a disappointing conclusion until a final bit of magic from a set piece ensured that both sides would share the points. Brogan, another second half replacement, drove a fantastic free kick in to the box and Taylor slammed in with a cracking diving header that delighted the dedicated travelling Rovers supporters. Desperately in need of points to drag themselves away from the drop zone, Barrow would be left to rue their failure to put the game to bed, while Rovers could make the long trip home with a satisfying point. Gaffer''s view “I thought their spirit was super and for large parts of the game I thought they wanted it more than us. “We’ve gone ahead with our first effort but they’ve kept on plugging away and they’ve scored from our point of view a poor goal, their point of a view a good goal, one all and that was fair at half time. “In the second half they just looked like they wanted it more. I made some changes, changed the shape, and then we were a different team. “It was only in the last twenty minutes that we really took the game to them and showed a hunger and appetite so it was a great reaction and I stress the word reaction because you’ve got to be proactive if you want to achieve what we want to achieve so we’ve reacted well.”