On a day of high emotion, Forest Green boss Robbie Savage paid tribute to fan and former player Neil Newport after watching his side crash out of the FA Trophy.
Wealdstone dared to dream of Wembley as goals from captain Enzio Boldewijn, Olufela Olomola and super-sub Sean Adarkwa sealed a stunning victory, dumping Forest Green out of the competition and sending the Stones into the quarter-finals.
A clearly emotional Savage spoke warmly of supporter and former player Neil Newport, who passed away recently, as Forest Green marked his life with a minute’s applause in the 77th minute. “I didn’t realise it was Neil who had passed away, and that really hurt. When my son Charlie was here, Neil was amazing with me. Every time I go into that box before a game, it’s for him, so finding out today that it was Neil affected me deeply. You can probably see how emotional I am talking about it now.
“In the 77th minute, when the applause started, I looked up at the box and saw the gentlemen in there. Even though we were getting beaten, that moment meant a lot to me. I’d seen something on social media, but I didn’t realise it was Neil. When they told me before the game, it shocked me.
“Life is so precious. Neil loved coming here, and of course we wanted to give him a performance he would’ve been proud of. But knowing the kind of man he was, he’d be smiling and saying, ‘Go again, Robbie.’ And that’s what we have to do -go again -because this is a brilliant football club with brilliant people.
“We’ve lost a game of football, but much more importantly, we’ve lost an amazing man. Neil’s lost his life, and his family have lost someone truly special. My heart goes out to them. The tribute in the 77th minute was amazing, and he deserved every bit of it.”
Savage apologised to the fans after an abject performance from his side: “The body language of some players today didn’t look right. It didn’t look like everyone wanted to be out there, and that’s something we have to address. This is the first time this season we’ve really struggled in a game, and that’s the biggest margin we’ve been beaten by at home. Wealdstone deserved it -and it could’ve been more.
“I’ll apologise on behalf of all of us to the fans. The South Stand was open, the noise was brilliant, and we didn’t give them anything back. We offered absolutely nothing in the forward areas, to the point where I was scratching my head.
“This is a sticky moment for me as a manager. How do I react? How do I get the best out of players who look nervous, worried, and in some cases whose body language suggests they don’t want to be here? That’s on me and the staff now. But it’s a test -and it’s one I’m going to thrive in.
“As a player, I didn’t have as much ability as most, but I rolled my sleeves up. I worked hard, I had heart, and when adversity came, I stood up. That’s what I believe in.
“I’ll give everything to put this right. Maybe I won’t always get it right, maybe I won’t always be good enough, but it will never be for a lack of effort. I’m honest, I’m transparent with my players. Some won’t like me -I understand that. I’ve been a player, I didn’t like some of my managers when I wasn’t being picked. But one thing is certain: me and my staff will do absolutely everything we can to fix this.”
Earlier, former Forest Green loanee Dylan Kadji fizzed wide as Wealdstone laid the first glove on Rovers in a high-octane opening. Chances were at a premium but Stones nosed ahead on 22 minutes – Boldewijn rising unhindered in the box to nod home from Nathan Tshikuna’s corner.
Wealdstone should have made it two in 29 minutes. Breaking at speed Kadji somehow inexplicably clipped his shot over the bar from Tshikuna’s pass on a plate.
It took Rovers 34 minutes to register their first shot in anger, Temi Babalola stinging the gloves of Dante Baptiste.
Swipe through Peter Barnes’s match gallery
On the cusp of the break, Harry Isted produced a strong glove to thwart Micah Obiero’s stinger. Rovers’ defender Gabe Kircough saw his stoppage time header fisted over by Baptiste.
Rovers’ resumed the second-half on the front foot. Jili Buyabu saw his goal celebrations quelled after the restart as he was adjudged to be offside.
For all Rovers’ huff and puff it was Wealdstone who bagged a second on 59 minutes. Olomola reacted quickest in the box to stab beyond Isted.
Rovers needed to find a semblance of hope. Kyle McAllister watched his sumptuous strike from outside the box clawed away by Baptiste with 13 minutes to go.
Stones rubbed more salt into Rovers’ wounds when Sakariya Hassan teed up Adarkwa to make it 3-0 in the 95th-minute.
A beaming Stones’ boss Sam Cox said: “This is never an easy place to come -one of the biggest clubs in the division. They’ve got a fantastic manager and some very good players, but we were thoroughly deserving of the 3–0 win. We can dream, two games away from Wembley. I’m very proud of the boys. I thought they were excellent from start to finish.
“Out of possession especially, they were top draw – really top, top draw. I thought they defended their box excellently. “In the first half, our work in possession – the style we’ve asked them to play, the structure, and the patterns we worked on Thursday- all came out really well.
“Going into the second half, we probably should have been two or three nil up, and I think the 1–0 scoreline flattered them a little.
“We still had a lot of defending to do in the second half, but I thought the boys defended excellently and were very hard to break down. I think we got our just rewards in the end and the boys thoroughly deserved it.”
Forest Green: ( 4-4-1-1) Isted; Mingi (Mitchell 57), Kanu (Pemberton 64), Kircough, Morrison (Clarke 46); Knowles (Bunker 46), Mendy, Nwoko, Buyabu (Kengni 77); McAllister; Babalola
Subs not used: Pagel, Haughton
Wealdstone: ( 4-4-2) Baptiste; Georgiou, Woodman, McAvoy, Boldewijn; Musa (Spencer 70), Kadji, Hutchinson (Diarra 90 +2), Tshikuna (Hassan 70) ; Olomola (Adu- Poko 86), Obiero (Adarkwa 86)
Subs not used: Johnson, Agyemang.
Half time: Forest Green 0 Wealdstone 1
Full-time: Forest Green 0 Wealdstone 3
Referee: James Durkin
Star man: (Olufela Olomola – Wealdstone, striker)
Attendance: 1,607
Rating: 3 /5
Match statistics
FGR/ WEALDSTONE
Shots on target: 7 / 5
Shots off target: 4 / 2
Corners: 10 / 7
Offside:4 / 3
Fouls: 8 / 7
Yellow cards: 2 / 4
Red cards: 0/0
