Forest Green manager Duncan Ferguson was pleased with his players’ fighting spirit in coming from behind to hold Lincoln City to a 1-1 draw at The Bolt New Lawn.
Rovers fell behind inside four minutes to a Ben House goal before Jordan Garrick equalised in the second half to give the home side their first point in three matches.
Ferguson said: “We showed a bit of resilience today, we never went under. We managed to re-jig at half time, came out second half and changed the game plan and they put a shift in, every one of them.”
The home side saw themselves go behind inside five minutes for the second match in a row after a beautiful ball by Regan Poole found House who turned home a volley past the helpless Ross Doohan.
Three substitutions were made at the break as Ferguson looked to change his side’s fortunes after a first half that saw them struggle to create in Lincoln’s half. Their only shot of the first 45 came through Charlie Savage’s speculative effort from outside the box and the home support were hoping not to see to a repeat of last weekend’s heavy defeat at Ipswich Town, where Rovers failed to register an attempt on goal all afternoon.
“I had to freshen it up a little bit. We hadn’t created any chances and I had to change the game plan, which worked out for us in the end,” said Ferguson.
Forest Green were much more fluent going forward after the changes and in the 58th minute substitute Tyrese Omotoye beat a man on the left wing before teeing up Jordan Garrick, who capitalised on a ricochet in the box to curl his shot into the far corner.
Rovers pushed for a winner and looked the more likely of the two sides to get it as Corey O’Keefe had a strong claim for a penalty turned down minutes after the equaliser, beating his man on the left wing before going over just inside the area. O’Keefe then squandered the best chance to win the game on 74 minutes, his attempted lob falling safely into Lincoln keeper Carl Rushworth’s arms. Rushworth was on hand again to deny Myles Peart-Harris low to his right with one minute to go.
Despite their efforts, Rovers remain nine points from safety with 12 games to play. In spite of the extension of their winless run, Ferguson is proud of the desire shown by the players since his appointment.
“If the players give us and the fans 100%, I can’t ask for much more than that and they’ve done that in every game I’ve been here for. They’ve been great on the training field, they’re all really getting on board and we pushed really hard today but couldn’t get the second goal. On another day we win that game.”
Forest Green will travel to Accrington Stanley next weekend, with a first win since December needed if they’re to have any chance of survival come the end of the season.
