‘One of the best moments of my footballing life’ – Robbie Savage heaps praise on Forest Green after dramatic Luton Town FA Cup thriller

Beaming with pride, Forest Green boss Robbie Savage lauded his side after an FA Cup thriller that had more twists and turns than a soap opera, writes Ash Loveridge and Tom Carter.

In an epic first-round clash, Jack Wilshere’s League One side looked set for a routine victory at 3-0 up after 53 minutes. However, the plot twisted in sensational circumstances. Savage shuffled his pack at half-time – ushering on Tom Knowles, Kyle McAllister and Coventry City loanee Aidan Dausch.

Savage’s half-time substitutions proved inspired. Knowles with a worldie, Kyle McAllister’s penalty and a Dausch strike hauled Rovers level in sensational fashion.

Just as extra-time loomed, Luton’s Gideon Kodua struck deep into stoppage time to restore the lead and break Forest Green hearts. There was still time for one final twist — but Dausch, moments after scoring the equaliser, squandered a golden chance to force extra-time when one-on-one with goalkeeper Josh Keeley.

Despite the defeat, Savage hailed his side’s spirit and resilience in the face of adversity. “At 3–0 down, a lot of teams would have folded,” he said. “But our lads showed immense character. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

“It is one of the proudest moments of my footballing life,” Savage said.

“For my team to do that at 3-0 down, to have the courage, the application, the desire, the willingness to work, the togetherness to o go 3-3 and hit the bar four minutes from the end.

“Dauschy was in tears at the end, walking off. The Luton fans gave us a round of applause, clapping us off as a team. They know. I love this team and they were magnificent.

“We knew they would get tired. Three subs all scored. I’m so proud of them.”

The first shock of the evening came with the bold line-up selected by Savage – the youngest starting XI in the club’s history, with an average age of just 22.5, narrowly beating the previous record of 22.6.

Goalkeeper Fiachra Pagel was handed the start between the sticks and new signing Sean Etaluku making his FGR debut. A masked Kanu Abraham and Laurent Mendy took the reins at the heart of the defence.

Savage had no qualms about his starting eleven: “No, regrets at all. You know, if I’d have started that team, it might have been the same outcome. You know, if we’d have won the game 4-3, everybody would say I was a tactical genius.

“And we were an inch from going 4-3 up. It was the right team. It’s always the right team. You know, we can dissect it, we can discuss it, but we knew that they would get tired and we knew Kyle (McAllister) hasn’t played for five weeks. Sean (Etaluku) was playing 45, as I said.

“Kyle was coming on. That was the plan. But when you’ve come back from a hamstring, you know, we thought that Sean needed to warm up and go straight into the game, not come on at half-time because he pulls it again. And it just goes to show that each and every sub, three subs, all scored. And again, we make the right decisions and I’m so proud of him. But it would have been one of the greatest cup ties in the history of the game to go hit the bar, to go 4-3. We were brilliant.” 

At 2-0 down at the break, Savage revealed he turned the hairdryer on at half-time: “I had to have a little go at my half-time in a constructive way, not good enough. You represent me and my football club and Dale (Vince) and all the staff and all the volunteers and all the fans, you know, you in the media. And at 3-0 you’re thinking, but we’ve come out and I think we’ve put on a show for everybody. And probably one of the best cup ties has been for a while. Yeah, it was nearly so close, but we walk away, get on the bus, dust ourselves down, then have the weekend off and we go again against Aldershot.”

Listen to Robbie Savage’s post-match synopsis

He also felt the referee’s decisions shaped the early part of the match: “”I rarely criticise referees because it’s such a tough job. I even got a yellow card for applauding, so I might miss Aldershot. But in the first half, Fiachra Pagel kicks the ball—if I’m right, Jili Buyabu was in an offside position. The ball travels 50 yards, the centre-half jumps unopposed and flicks it on. The referee tells me it was just a deflection. But the ball went 50 yards, the centre-half intentionally heads it, it flicks off him, and Jili is in. The assistant flagged, and when I spoke to the referee, he said it was a deflection and blamed the weather.

“In all my years, I’ve got to say, I thought it was a poor decision. The law says that when someone intentionally plays the ball, it isn’t considered a deflection. The ball traveled 50 yards, a League One centre-half, unopposed, tries to head it and flicks it on—and Jili’s in. Then the flag goes up. Come on.”

Savage praised the impact of goalscoring substitute Aidan Dausch, despite his late miss in the cup thriller: “His footwork was incredible. I had to leave Christian Doidge out tonight because I wanted to see Aidan play as a nine, and wow—what a performance. He held the ball up, showed great energy and skill, and scored a goal. He’ll probably be going home thinking, ‘What a chance I missed!’ But I tell him, ‘You haven’t played for 16 weeks, you come in, score on TV, you’re fit, you’ve got a great family, and you’ve been brilliant for me. Don’t worry about the miss.’

“The hardest part tonight was giving goals away. Every goal came from mistakes in possession: a missed clearance, a turnover, a missed tackle. That has to stop. And honestly, you can’t coach that. People keep blaming individuals, but it’s about moments, not coaching.

“At the same time, there were brilliant plays: Knowles scored a worldie, Whitwell made a great run and won a penalty, and another third-man run led to a goal. We have to play like that, create chances, and score. That’s the difference—it’s not about coaching or managing; it’s about individuals making the right decisions at the right time.”

Luton applied pressure in the early phases, with Rovers finding it tough to get out in the opening seven minutes. Etaluku took the game to the Hatters, with a wonderful delivery into the path of the onrushing Jili Buyabu.

The first warning sign came shortly after though, as the impressive Lamine Fanne escaped Rovers central trio, finding himself in a pocket of space and narrowly putting the ball past the post in the 21st minute.

That warning sign wasn’t heeded by Rovers, who were caught napping out of possession. Mendy found himself out of position, forcing Harvey Bunker to step across in an attempt to plug the gap, which in turn allowed Fanne to exploit the same space he had moments earlier.

The second goal shortly followed, with a whipped free kick from Cohen Bramall, skipping off the surface leading to Pagel spilling into the path of the electric Nahki Wells. It was a testing spell for the young Rovers side, who had to weather a difficult few moments.

FGR responded well, piling pressure on the Luton backline, but a crucial double block from the hosts ensured Wilshere’s men went into the break 2–0 up.

The game’s third goal came after the break and looked as though it had sealed Rovers’ fate, with Wells picking up his second goal of the evening from close range.

Knowles started the comeback, with an effort from a seemingly tricky position. It looked to have taken a slight deflection on the way through, but Rovers were well and truly back in the game.

The away end responded in equal measure. The directness of Knowles and the eloquence of McAllister really gave FGR a foothold in proceedings. It allowed the imperious Harry Whitwell to pick up excellent positions, which led to the WBA loanee earning FGR a penalty in the 67th minute.

McAllister stepped up with confidence to calmly put Rovers firmly back in the picture. An equaliser felt frankly inevitable at this point. That moment came on the 79th minute, as Dausch completed the comeback to get Rovers back level with an emphatic finish past the onlooking Keeley.

Rovers were in the ascendency, a winning goal didn’t feel too far away. What came next was a reminder of the cruel nature of football.

As the game edged beyond 90 minutes, Luton went forward with renewed urgency. For the first time in 30 minutes, there were signs of life from the home support as they looked to steal the game. They did just that, with a composed finish from 10 yards out from substitute Kodua.

The jubilation among the hosts soon turned to relief, as the impressive Dausch squandered a chance with just seconds remaining on the clock.

Savage reserved high praise for the away fans: The fans were immense, you know, for them to sing at 3-0 down and that emotion they’ve gone through. And they’ve got a football club. They’ve got their football club. Dale’s got a football club he can be proud of. He’s got smiles on people’s faces. We’ve just shown everybody watching, even in defeat, that a young group is fighting for each other and we’re proud of them and I’m so proud of them.”

Luton Town: Keeley; Longwijk, Mengi, Nailsmith, Bramall; Saville; Richards, Walsh, Fanne, Jones; Wells (Nelson 62) (Ali Al Hamadi 62) (G. Kodua 71) (J. Yates 71) (H. Odoffin 95)

Subs Not Used: Shea, Andersen, Makosso, Alli

FGR: Pagel; Pemberton, Kanu, Mendy, Kenghi; Moore, Bunker; Buyabu, Whitwell, Etaluku; Babalola. (Knowles 46) (McAllister 46) (Dausch 59) (Inniss 59) (Balagizi 74)

Subs Not Used: McNicholas, Haughton, Clarke, Moore-Taylor.

Referee: Stephen Parkinson

Attendance: 4,511 (462 away)

Tom Carter’s big match verdict

There is much to be proud of this evening. The equalising moment embodied exactly why we support this club.

The battle against adversity and sheer delight for the 462 travelling Rovers fans is something I will cherish from this game.

While there may be a lingering sense of “what if” about the team selection, the spirit and determination shown by this young Rovers side were impossible to question.