Football (sport index)

Pre-season

Weston-Super-Mare 6-6 Forest Green Rovers

By Crippy Cooke

DAYLE GRUBB came back to haunt his former club with a goal as Forest Green Rovers played out a 12-goal thriller against Weston-Super-Mare on Friday, July 13 at the Woodspring Stadium.

Christian Doidge bagged a hat-trick for his troubles while Theo Archibald netted a brace, but it wasn’t enough to earn the visitors a win.

Rovers have been in good form this summer, beating Brimscombe & Thrupp 2-0 and Torquay United 3-1, but Weston proved to be no slouches and pegged the visitors back at the death.

Mark Cooper’s men started well, with Grubb finding Archibald who cut inside and fired home after three minutes.

Just four minutes later, Rovers bagged their second of the game, with Doidge converting a penalty after being brought down by the Seagulls’ goalkeeper.

That sparked the home side into a response, and they scored two goals in as many minutes to level the game inside of a quarter of an hour.

Before reaching the half-hour mark, Rovers went 3-2 up though Grubb. He fired home against his old club after Archibald’s effort was headed into his path.

The visitors wasted little time doubling their advantage. Grubb found Doidge with a quick free-kick and the latter made no mistake from close range.

Doidge completed his hat-trick just minutes after bagging a brace to make it 5-2, scoring another penalty after George Williams was brought down in the area.

Weston pulled a goal back before half-time, but Rovers responded just minutes after the restart to go 6-3 up – Archibald curled an effort into the top corner.

But after the hour mark, the home side struck again to narrow the deficit. Forest Green still had a two-goal lead midway through the second-half, but the Seagulls weren’t to be denied.

Two more goals from Mark McGregor’s men levelled the game late on, sealing an excellent comeback from Weston but a disappointing finish for Rovers.