Gloucestershire Cup

Forest Green 4

Cheltenham Town 3

FABIEN ROBERT pushed his claims for a National League start at Braintree after notching a Gloucestershire Challenge hat-trick against Cheltenham Town.

Worryingly for Rovers, Kieffer Moore was forced off inside the opening 20 minutes with a nasty gash to his face, which required stitching.

Earlier, assistant manager Scott Lindsey and academy manager Scott Bartlett included a strong line-up with Aarran Racine, Christian Doidge, Matt Tubbs, Kieffer Moore, Marcus Kelly, Wade Elliott, Louis McGrory and French quartet Fabien Robert, Drissa Traore, Mo Chemlal and goalkeeper Simon Lefebvre.

First-year pro Joe Stokes was named on the bench alongside academy players Tommy Anderson, Tom Morris, Giancarlo Gabbiadini and keeper Tyler Edmonds.

Rovers opened in a positive fashion with Chemlal demanding a neat save from Callum Kitscha.

And Rovers opened the scoring on 14 minutes – Robert fizzing home from a Tubbs assist after a sequence of fluid passing.

Kitscha showed great reactions to touch a downward Moore header over from an Elliott corner.

Seconds later Moore left the field with a head injury.

Billy Waters levelled things up for Cheltenham on 22 minutes as he touched home from a Josh Thomas assist.

Rovers’ sub Tommy Anderson was quickly into his stride – exchanging passes with Tubbs to hit a skidding strike fractionally wide of the far post.

Rovers regained the lead on 38 minutes when Chemlal’s corner clipped the unfortunate Easah Suliman.

On the cusp of the break Robert banked his second as he slipped pass Matt Bower to plant a sumptuous strike beyond Kitscha.

A limping Traore was replaced at the break by Giancarlo Gabbiadini.

Robert notched his hat-trick from the spot – sending Kitscha the wrong way on 55 minutes after Koby Arthur has tripped Doidge.

Eleven minutes later Billy Waters rifled beyond Lefebvre from a Koby Arthur cross.

Waters was a whisker from his second as he smashed wide from a Suliman slide-rule pass.

Cheltenham were enjoying the majority of the play and Rovers were indebted to a reaction block from Lefebvre who got his large frame down to frustrate Waters.

Anderson demanded a flying save from Kitscha, but in the dying embers Waters fizzed in from just inside the box to claim his hat-trick to set up a nervy finish, but Rovers saw the game out to set up clash at Bristol City in the quarter-finals.

Forest Green: Lefebvre; Elliott, Kelly (Morris, 60), Racine, Doidge; Traore (Gabbiadini, 45); McGrory, Chemlal, Robert; Moore (Anderson, 21), Tubbs.

Subs not used: Stokes, Edmonds.

Star Man: Fabien Robert.