Bashful Steve Cotterill refused to take any credit after his managerial masterstroke saw Forest Green edge out a dogged Hartlepool.
With the game deadlocked, veteran boss Cotterill rolled the dice, making four changes with 25 minutes to go. It worked a treat – midfielder Charlie McCann smashing home the winner with 18 minutes to go thanks to the collective magic of substitutes Marcel Lavinier and Manny Osadebe.
Playing down his part in the win, Cotterill said: “I’m not patting myself on the back for the substitutes. You can make a million and one subs and I’ve done that throughout my managerial career and some of them work and some of them don’t. So I’m not about to stand here and start patting myself on the back.
“It wasn’t the team that won that game, it was the squad and it was their spirit. It was their effort and their energy.”
Pictures by Peter Barnes
Earlier, Hartlepool gained a foothold in the game. David Ferguson’s delicious free-kick induced a gloved response from Bristol Rovers’ loanee Jed Ward.
Rovers were struggling to gain any ascendancy in the opening 20 minutes as Hartlepool knocked on the door.
Pools’ veteran striker Gary Madine planted a header over the Rovers’ bar as the industrious Adam Campbell stood up an inviting cross.Giant defender Luke Waterfall fluffed his lines for the visitors on 25 minutes, failing to get enough headed purchase from Campbell’s pin-point corner.
Rovers hit their straps on 29 minutes – Liam Sercombe swung over a cross for Tom Knowles’ to watch his acrobatic effort blocked.
Rovers’ captain Jordan Moore-Taylor smashed a ball across the face of the goal from the byline as Rovers flickered into life. The lively Knowles forced Brad Young to pounce on his shot as the game remained in deadlock.
Two corners in as many minutes for Hartlepool and a Dan Dodds’ shot out of the stadium saw the visitors open the second half with menace.
However, the stalemate was nearly broken on the hour as Pools’ Greg Sloggett tripped to allow Adam May the opportunity to audaciously chip over Young and the bar from 30 yards.
With 25 minutes left, Rovers’ boss Cotterill made a quartet of changes and it proved fruitful as substitute Lavinier showed quick feet to find fellow sub Osadebe who cut the ball back for McCann to sweep the ball home.
As the game entered the dying embers, only a strong Young glove prevented Rovers’ substitute Harry Cardwell adding a second and another smart stop saw him deny Osadebe’s stinger.
Scoreless for the fourth game on the spin, defiant Hartlepool boss Darren Sarll insisted his side were unfortunate not to come away from Gloucestershire with a share of the spoils, he said: “I’m disappointed to lose, the players were excellent and I thought we were the better side leading up to the opening goal. I was delighted with the players’ attitude and temperament considering the pressure they’re playing under at the moment.”
STAT ATTACK
Forest Green Rovers 1 ( McCann 72 )
Hartlepool 0
Team line-ups:
Forest Green (4-3-3): Ward 7; Bunker 5 (Inniss 65, 7), Moore-Taylor 6, Tozer 6, Robson 7; McCann 7, Sercombe 6 (Cardwell 65, 7) , May 7 ; McAllister 7, (Osadebe 65, 8), Doidge 6 (Quigley 86), Knowles 8 (Lavinier 65, 8).
Subs not used: Searle, Omotoye.
Hartlepool (4-1-2-1-2): Young 8; Dodds 7, Waterfall 7, Parkes 6, Ferguson 6; Sheron 6 (Featherstone 88); Sloggett 5 (Mancini 88), Robinson 6; (Gray 73, 6), Campbell 7l; Mathurin 6 (Charman 82), Madine 7 ( Dieseruvwe 64, 7).
Subs not used: Smith, Sass-Davies.
Half time: Forest Green 0-0 Hartlepool
Referee: Ross Martin
Star man: Tom Knowles – a cutting edge and bags full of energy
Attendance: 1,764
Rating: 3/5
Match statistics
Shots on target: 5 3
Shots off target: 2 4
Corners: 5 9
Offside:1 1
Fouls: 5 10
Yellow cards: 0 2
Red cards: 0 0
