Hero 'Reggie' hails Rovers' new belief (From Stroud News and Journal)

Hero 'Reggie' hails Rovers' new belief

HE MIGHT not embody everyone's idea of a classic goalkeeper's stature, but Forest Green keeper Steve Perrin stood tall amidst a cluster of home heroes at the Lawn on Boxing Day as Rovers despatched Nationwide Conference Leaders Yeovil Town 2-1 to move further away from the threat of relegation.

Perrin, nicknamed 'Reggie' by his team-mates, after the Leonard Rossiter television character Reginald Perrin, did anything but a disappearing act as he defied everything Yeovil could throw at him with a string of inspired saves that helped Rovers to an epic victory, their third vital win in an unbeaten run of four games, which have seen them climb clear of the drop zone.

And, after being named sponsors man-of-the-match, Perrin put his finger on Rovers' resurgent rise up the table.

"We are really delighted, especially with our first-half performance, because we played some really great football to go 2-0 ahead at half-time and it could easily have been 3-0," he said.

"We knew what Yeovil were capable of doing and we knew they would come at us, which they did and full credit to them. It was a great game and we could have had more goals by the end.

"Today we matched Yeovil, we have won deservedly and hopefully we can continue to put a run together. Sometimes you need that little bit of luck and once you win a few games the confidence grows and the belief on the pitch grows.

"We can only get together twice a week, but we are playing a lot more football now and putting a pattern together and it is beginning to bring results," he said.

Rovers manager Colin Addison was equally delighted with the performance, particularly against a side of Yeovil's stature.

"It's been a smashing day for us, a great result and an excellent performance.

We knew it would be difficult in the second half and we knew they would up the tempo of the game, which they did, but we scrapped it out and battled and we fully deserved it," he said.