Forest Green boss Mark Cooper insisted he tried to stop Northampton sub Kevin van Veen from getting sent off.

On a contentious day, Rovers lost their unbeaten record when Andy Williams fired a 97th-minute winner after Reuben Reid put Rovers ahead.

Cooper waded into a touchline fracas as Rovers’ Liam Shephard and van Veen clashed deep into the second half .

“I just tried to stop their lad from getting sent off because he got Shep (Liam Shephard) around the throat and he’s reacted to that,” said Cooper who saw his favourite Hugo Boss three-button polo shirt ripped during the incident that involved Northampton manager Keith Curle go head-to-head with Rovers’ chief.

A baffled Cooper got a yellow card from ref Ollie Yates in a later incident, he added: " I think it was me I don’t know, it was chaos from minute one, but I think the yellow card was for appealing for a blatant foul on Paul Digby in the box before the goal.”