WOKING 2

FOREST GREEN ROVERS 1

FOREST Green boss Ady Pennock paid tribute to his side after their record-breaking nine-game National League winning streak was ended by a resilient Woking.

The leaders were denied a perfect ten as strikes from John Goddard and Jimmy Keohane ended their unbeaten start to the season.

Kurtis Guthrie offered some late hope with a fortuitous strike, but it wasn’t their night as sub Marcus Kelly was handed a stoppage time red.

Pennock said: “To win nine out of 10 was fantastic. We were never going to win every game this season.

"The first half was good for them and the second half was better for us. We take stock and have another hard game on Saturday.”

Earlier, Pennock made one change from the team which defeated Southport – James Jennings returned at left-back with Kelly dropping to bench.

The Cards started brightly and Jonny Maxted had to be alert to plunge on a Daniel Holman strike inside the opening three minutes.

Rovers responded and should have nosed ahead. Leading scorer Aaron O’Connor showed strength in the box to tee-up Elliott Frear, but the nimble winger dragged his seventh minute strike across the face of goal.

Woking were equally culpable. Jake Caprice arrowed over a cross from the right and the unmarked Harry Cardwell nodded wide when scoring would have been easier. It was all Woking – Holman’s snap-shot forcing Maxted to save.

It was certainly a high-octane first half. Keanu Marsh-Brown set off on a storming run with the move ending when Guthrie fired wide from 25 yards.

Woking responded. Brian Saah’s free header was superbly cleared off the line by Sam Wedgbury from a Bruno Andrade corner.

Rovers were forced into a 19th minute change with the unfortunate Jennings suffering a recurrence of his hamstring twinge.

The leaders tempered Woking’s early gusto with Frear stepping on the gas and delivering a cross, which the stooping Guthrie nodded over.

Guthrie was close again – this time heading wide from an O’Connor cross.

Rovers thought they had nosed ahead in the 40th minute. O’Connor was adjudged offside as he glanced home from a Rob Sinclair floated assist.

Minutes later dominant Woking took a deserved 42nd minute lead.

Goddard jinked inside David Pipe and saw his first shot parried at point-blank range by Maxted, but he could do nothing with the free ball as Goddard finished with aplomb.

Maxted was having a busy night and he did well to fall on a stoppage time Andrade strike.

Aarran Racine forced an early save from the previously under-employed Jake Cole as Rovers looked for a positive start to the second half.

Rovers searched for parity. A delicious Marsh-Brown cross was a whisker away from an O’Connor touch.

Woking escaped the shackles as Jimmy Keohane ran at the Rovers’ defence, he forced Wedgbury to foul, and with it a fourth booking of the season for the all-action midfielder.

However, Rovers found themselves 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go.

Rovers were carved open by the fleet-footed Andrade, who beat Kelly and picked out Keohane to rifle home a 70th minute second.

The nine-game winning run looked well and truly over, but Woking gifted Rovers a lifeline with a goalkeeping howler.

Guthrie saw his 74th minute angled strike squirm through the embarrassed Cole to hand Rovers a glimmer of hope.

However, Andrade was proving a thorn in Rovers’ side and his ball was stabbed wide by Goddard in the 82nd minute.

Rovers upped the tempo as they looked to snatch a point in the dying embers of the match. With seven minutes to go Marsh-Brown nodded a free header over from a Kelly free-kick.

Marsh-Brown turned provider with five minutes to go, but former Woking man Delano Sam-Yorke planted his header over.

Deep into stoppage time, Rovers’ Kelly was sent off for a frustrated lunge on Godfrey Poke.

Forest Green: J Maxted, D Pipe (c), J Jennings (M Kelly 19), D Bennett, A Racine, R Sinclair, S Wedgbury, A O’Connor ( J Parkin 72), K Guthrie, E Frear (D Sam-Yorke 75).

Subs not used: C Clough, D Jones.

Attendance: 1,775

Star Man: Jonny Maxted.