AFC Halifax Town 1

Forest Green 0

UGLY scenes saw three Forest Green players sent off as Ady Pennock’s side lost for the first time in 11 games at Halifax last night, writes Richard Joyce.

On an eventful night, James Norwood fluffed a penalty and was then sent off three minutes later. And to compound this an ugly brawl after the full- time whistle saw both sets of players and backroom staff clash with straight red cards being issued to Rovers’ defensive duo Dale Bennett and Eddie Oshodi.

Scott Boden’s early strike settled the match as Rovers tried their best to rescue a point with a number of good openings throughout the night.

Illness prevented experienced striker Lee Hughes from being involved, so Yorkshire native Jon Parkin stepped up to lead the attack alongside Kurtis Guthrie.

Although it was the home side’s star front man who pushed the Shaymen into a useful early lead.

Good combination play in the Rovers area set former Chesterfield forward Boden free, and he applied a cool finish to put Rovers behind.

The response from Forest Green was almost instant, as Matt Glennon made a terrific save to stop Guthrie’s header from creeping in after Marcus Kelly had produced an excellent cross.

Sam Russell made an equally good stop only two minutes later to deny Paul Marshall’s long range effort, while the home team had the ball in the back of the net on 16 minutes, only for it to be ruled out by the officials.

Guthrie was proving to be a real livewire for Rovers in the first half, and he earned a free- kick in a good shooting position that saw Parkin test Glennon with a low strike ten minutes before the interval.

Norwood forced Glennon into another stop less than a minute later and then pushed a shot over the bar after Elliott Frear had drawn the ball back.

The chances kept on coming for Forest Green at the start of the second half.

Only a minute after the restart Guthrie headed over after great work by Frear, while the Jersey born attackers shot on 50 minutes struck the FC Halifax post.

And he was then just inches away from levelling on the hour mark but he couldn’t quite stretch to meet another terrific Frear delivery.

Rovers continued to look the most likely to score, however FC Halifax still offered a threat in the final third, and Russell made a solid stop to prevent Lois Maynard from volleying in.

The persistent Guthrie then earned Rovers a crucial opportunity to get back into the game from the penalty spot after he was brought down in the corner of the box.

Norwood took on the responsibility from 12 yards in a crazy couple of minutes for the England C starlet.

His spot kick was saved by Glennon and he then saw red, questionably, for a foul in the middle of the park which saw the FC Halifax crowd make their mark with an influential call for his removal from proceedings.

With just a matter of minutes left on the clock, Rovers looked to be heading for their first league defeat since September.

Danny Coles headed a few yards wide after latching onto another Frear cross from the left in stoppage time as the home side held on to leapfrog Forest Green who dropped to ninth.

Halifax Town: M. Glennon; K. Roberts, M. Roberts, S. Ainge, S. McManus; W. Hatfield, P. Marshall, L. Maynard; A. Smith (R. Peniket 54), R. Dyer (J. Bolton 66), S. Boden (J. Jackson 89).

Subs not used: D. Schofield, P. Senior.

Forest Green: S. Russell; D. Bennett, E. Oshodi, D. Coles, M. Kelly; J. Norwood, R. Sinclair (C. Kamdjo 81), S. Wedgbury, E. Frear; J. Parkin, K. Guthrie.

Subs not used: L. Oliver, C. Stokes, L. McGrory, P. White.

Referee: S. Rushton (Cannock)

Attendance: 1,030

Star man: Elliott Frear