SKY BET LEAGUE TWO

NEWPORT COUNTY 3

FOREST GREEN ROVERS 3

FOREST GREEN grabbed a point in a six-goal thriller at Newport County.

Five goals inside the opening 40 minutes saw Rovers trail 3-2 at the break, but sub Lee Collins grabbed a goal with eight minutes to go.

Having ended February unbeaten with five wins on the bounce at home and a draw on the road at Morecambe, boss Mark Cooper named an unchanged team from the side that dispatched Crawley Town 2-0 last time out. Charlie Cooper took his place on the bench ahead of Jordan Simpson.

Blowing the cobwebs of activity away, Rovers weathered an early storm thanks to two strong saves from goalkeeper Bradley Collins, who denied Padraig Amond and Paul Hayes in the first 40 seconds.

The high-octane opening saw Rovers respond and nose ahead on six minutes. Left-back Haydn Hollis whipped ball clipped Newport’s Dan Butler to deflect past his own keeper Joe Day.

Three minutes later Butler rifled home to atone for his own goal as he fizzed in beyond Brad Collins. Newport continued to press, but Chelsea loanee Brad Collins did well to thwart Robbie Willmott.

The goal frenzy continued and Newport regained the lead when Paul Hayes touched the ball over the line on 16 minutes.

Rovers are highly resilient and Grimsby Town loanee Chris Clements unleashed a 29th-minute fizzer from the edge of the box that Day parried and with Newport-born Christian Doidge looking to finish into an inviting empty net, Ben White pulled off a fantastic sliding challenge.

Rovers netted parity on the half-hour - Gavin Gunning touching home from an initial Reuben Reid strike, his first goal for Rovers since his January switch from Port Vale.

A helter-skelter first-half saw a fifth goal, with Newport regaining the lead on 39 minutes. Brad Collins was on his mettle to frustrate Mark O'Brien, but Hayes struck home the free ball for his second of the night.

From the second-half get-go, Rovers started with intent – Reid firing over the bar.

Brad Collins was having a night to remember - flying across his box to frustrate Ben Tozer.

Rovers were dealt a blow on 58 minutes, leading scoring Doidge hobbling off to be replaced by Dan Wishart. Six minutes later Lee Collins replaced Clements as Cooper's side hunted parity.

Rovers were bossing it, but it took a great tackle from Gunning to first block sub Marlon Jackson a certain goal before Hollis stuck out a leg to the rebound to poke it away from Jackson.

The only goal of the second-half arrived for Rovers with eight minutes to go. Sub Lee Collins picking his spot from inside the box.

NEWPORT COUNTY: (3-5-2) Day, Pipe, White, O’Brien (Osadebe 68), Demetriou, Butler, Tozer, Dolan, Willmott (Sheehan ), Amond, Hayes (Jackson 65)

Subs not used: Bittner, Collins, Reid, McCoulsky

FOREST GREEN ROVERS: (4-4-2) B Collins, Bennett, Rawson, Gunning, Hollis; Osbourne, Clements (Collins 65), Grubb, Bray (Brown 78); Reid, Doidge (Wishart 58)

Subs not used: Belford, Cooper, Laird, Campbell 

Attendance:  2,862

FGR fans: 283

Referee: Christopher Sarginson

Next up: Forest Green entertain high-flying Notts County on Saturday in Sky Bet League Two, kick-off 3pm.