Cook and Tweddle lay on late fanfare (From Stroud News and Journal)

Cook and Tweddle lay on late fanfare

Forest Green 2, Burton Albion 0 TWO goals in the last five minutes by Rovers substitutes Rob Cook and Steve Tweddle sent their fans home happy as they moved two places further up the Conference table to the heady heights of ninth place at The Lawn on Saturday.

But this defeat of a determined ten-man Burton outfit, Rovers sixth home league win in succession was deceptive because the intensity of the closing stages was in complete contrast to the 85 minutes of error-strewn tedium that had gone before.

This was one of Forest Green's worst performances of the season. And a better side than Burton, reduced to 10 men by the 26th-minute sending off of striker Craig Dudley, might well have taken them to task for a desultory display particularly in midfield and up front where the ball holding skills of Alex Sykes and veteran striker Neil Grayson were sorely missed.

Admittedly, Rovers had the excuse of conditions that were not exactly conducive to fluent passing and control - a cold wind and a bumpy, still thawing surface hardly helping the flow of a disjointed game - but it was still a fairly dire spectacle with clear-cut chances at an absolute premium.

Burton still smarting from their 7-4 home defeat by Telford seven days earlier, but boasting one of the best away records in the league, were clearly intent on getting men behind the ball and attacking on the break, which made them a difficult proposition for a below-par Forest Green side to prise open.

But their general indiscipline in the first half when fussy referee Steve Rubery brandished five cards eventually proved their undoing. And although the sterling efforts of midfield dynamo Andy Ducros and livewire former Rovers striker Christian Moore kept them in contention for all but the hectic closing minutes, they eventually met the fate they deserved.

Neither side made much of an impact in a dour opening quarter and the booking of Dudley for a 23rd minute foul on Alex Meechan set the tone for the rest of a niggling first half.

Three minutes later Dudley and Martin Foster were involved in a scuffle which saw both men booked and Dudley dismissed for his second yellow card and from then on Rovers found themselves facing ten men, an advantage which did nothing to improve the quality of their play.

The first chance of note fell to Meechan on the half-hour, but he failed to make proper contact with a glancing header from a cross by Steve Jones and the ball bounced wide of the far post.

Rovers keeper, Steve Perrin, then pushed away a low shot by Burton player-manager Nigel Clough, a shadow of the player who not so long ago starred for Nottingham Forest and England, but the contest soon descended into mediocrity again as Burton captain Darren Stride received a yellow card for a foul on Kevin Langan and then Clough met the same response from Mr Rubery for some needless verbals.

Clough replaced himself with substitute Aaron Webster for a second half which deteriorated even further in terms of quality with neither side seemingly capable of stringing three passes together on the few occasions when the ball was not hoisted skywards or out of the ground.

Burton keeper Lee Camp was forced to race out of his area to block Meechan's shot on the run in a rare Rovers threat, while Moore's persistence gave Jones and Richardson problems at the back, but otherwise a goal-less stalemate was the increasingly likely outcome.

Forest Green manager Colin Addison might have substituted anyone as a dreary contest went into its final quarter, but in the event he settled for replacing midfielders Ben Cleverley and Gary Owers with Tweddle and Cook and the decision was fully justified in a finish that entirely belied what had gone before.

Meechan provided the prelude with a neat turn and shot which had Camp at full stretch to save, but then with 85 minutes gone Rovers finally found the net.

Cook began the move with a short pass to Langan on the left and the defender made ground before delivering a curling cross into the box which Cook met perfectly with his head directing the ball low and true just inside the upright beyond the flailing fingers of the diving Camp.

Kayode Odejayi might have set up two simple chances for first Meechan and then Tweddle, but was robbed as he bore down on goal on the first occasion and then shot feebly at Camp.

It mattered little, as a minute into injury time Meechan pulled a low cross back from the byline and the ball ran loose to Tweddle who celebrated his £2000 midweek signing from Chippenham by coolly stroking his shot past Camp to clinch the three points.

Forest Green: Perrin, Russell, Jones, Jenkins, Richardson, Langan, Owers (73, Cook) Cleverley (60,Tweddle), Foster, Odejayi, Meechan.

Subs (not used): Futcher, Giannangelo, Adams. Burton Albion: Camp, Henshaw, Talbot, Wassall, Stride, Moore, Dudley, Clough (46, Webster), Ducros, Sinton (87, Anderson), Reddington. Subs (not used): Hoyle, Robinson, Gough.