A LARGE, noisy crowd, a full-blooded encounter with no quarter asked or given and all twenty-two players giving everything made ‘El Glosico’ a stirring, stunning occasion.

Rovers had more possession, but Cheltenham had a near perfect defence.

Rovers started and finished the game the strongest side.

Cheltenham’s best moments came either side of half-time. Dominating possession as Rovers did counts for nothing if you do not score goals.

With a little more sharpness in the penalty area more goals could certainly have come.

Elliott Frear was a great supplier of balls into the box, but Aaron Downes and his colleagues were equal to them.

It took the persistence and pace of Dale Bennett, attacking down the right to bring about Rovers goal. A Bennett cross was met by Jon Parkin but he miss-hit his shot, but Darren Carter however was in the right place and he made no mistake from close range.

Cheltenham scored from a Harry Pell free-kick. It was a bad goal to concede, the defensive wall failed and looked more like a defensive colander.

Apart from a cracking shot by Harry Pell, Cheltenham produced little else.

Ady has tweaked the team well, giving Rovers more control of the game and control was certainly the key word on Saturday.

With the outstanding Rob Sinclair scurrying so successfully in midfield with the energy of Sam Wedgbury alongside him our holding midfield players do a fine job.

They are successful in breaking up attacks and are the launch pad for the three flair players in front of them, providing the ammunition to break down the opposition.

The outcome of the game depended on two penalty incidents, one being missed and the other not being given.

Parkin has taken some emphatic important penalties, throughout his career, but this was not one of them.

He should have had a second chance, but referee Adrian Holmes had obviously decided one award was enough, giving nothing when a flying Frear was brought down.

If it was not a penalty there should have been a booking for diving.

The fact that there was neither spot kick or yellow card convinced me this was a made up decision, the referee having made a mistake in awarding the first one was evening things up by not awarding the second.

Forest Green proved they are good enough to beat anyone.

Helped by a noisy exuberant and outstanding 804 away following, whose efforts were properly acknowledged by Ady and the players.

Chairman Dale Vince was a welcome presence in the pub pre-match and amongst the fans during it - and showed himself to be a true fan.