Forest Green’s ebullient boss Robbie Savage hailed late-call starter Gabe Kircough after his match-winning display helped Rovers rubber-stamp their play-off spot.
Neil Kengni’s first-ever goal for Rovers gave Savage’s side the lead at the break before Kircough, who turns 22 on Sunday, bagged a second after the break to cap an impressive performance against a rudderless Wealdstone.
Listen to Robbie Savage’s post-match verdict
Savage said he was delighted with how his team adapted to a late change as Kircough came in for the unwell Ryan Inniss. “When you prepare all week and then have to make a last-minute adjustment, it’s not easy,” he explained. “But Gabe came into the side and performed brilliantly – it’s a real credit to him.”
He also shared a light-hearted moment from earlier in the day: “I rang him on Saturday morning and he answered, ‘Who’s this?’ – he didn’t even have my number! I said, ‘It’s the gaffer. Be ready, you’re playing.’ And then he goes out and performs like that and they were all magnificent today.”
Savage was delighted with a tweak in formation – playing 3-4-2-1: “We’ve looked at it, and our profile in the 4-2-3-1 has been brilliant for us because we were electrifying at the start of the season. But we’ve just got to look at a platform and a plan, especially away from home -be a bit more secure, get overloads defensively in the middle of the park. I thought we did it really well. With the two 10s, I thought they didn’t really know what to do.”
Rovers’ boss hailed Kengni’s resilience following his eye-catching performance: “That boy emphasises what I’m all about: hard work, desire, dedication. He never sulks, he always smiles, never injured -touch wood -and always gets on with it. At times, as a manager, you’ve got lots of scenarios, and Kengni never knocked on my door. He just gets on with it with a smile on his face. For him today, sensational. Football changes—few weeks ago Gabe’s not in the team, Kengni’s not, and now they’re both on the scoresheet. Absolutely magnificent. And the biggest thing for me is a clean sheet.
“Kenji was a right winger at Marine, then when he came to us he was a right winger and a left winger. I decided to play him as a left-back, but he can play up front as well. He’s got all the attributes, and there he showed his striker’s instinct. That was a wing-back today in a 3-4-2-1, and I thought he was outstanding.”
Savage, never one to shy from a moment in the spotlight, delighted spectators with his own ball control in the technical area. The Forest Green boss even checked on his counterpart, Waddock, who took a tumble trying to catch a stray ball, highlighting Savage’s mix of flair and sportsmanship.
“Gary’s a fantastic manager. He couldn’t replicate my control on the side, but I made sure he was alright. As we get older your joints ache, but that little flick was quite enjoyable.”
Savage is sharing the love as Rovers appear to have rubber-stamped their place in the play-off dogfight: “I love being around my group. You can see when we win, I’m high. I’ve got to get used to when we lose, being more consistent. But that was a performance I’m proud of. I’ve got belief—I said to Dale (Vince) in the week, Dale believes, I believe. We’ve just got to make them believe how good they are, because we are good.
“There’s a video I took yesterday at the training ground -lads having food, playing darts, table tennis -I get involved. The atmosphere is brilliant, and it’s a joy to see.”
From the outset, Forest Green started brightly and took control of proceedings, but it was Stones’ Olufela Olomola who squandered the best early opportunity on 17 minutes, scuffing his effort wide from inside the box after reacting to a loose second ball.
At the other end, Tom Knowles unleashed a powerful strike that tested Dante Baptiste as Rovers began to turn up the pressure.
Savage’s side then missed a golden chance to take the lead on 32 minutes. Laurent Mendy stepped on the gas and fired a dangerous ball across the face of goal, only for Jayden Clarke to inexplicably screw his effort wide.
Rovers finally made their pressure count three minutes before the break, as Kengni showed great persistence following Harry Isted’s kick, forcing the ball home to give Savage’s side the lead.
Knowles thought he had earned Rovers a penalty on the cusp of the break after going down under a challenge from Charlie Waller, but his appeals were chalked off.
Stones’ boss Gary Waddock shuffled his pack on 61 minutes – making four changes -but three minutes later Kircough made it 2-0 to Rovers, diving in to fire home from a Mendy assist.
Rovers were rampant. D’Mani Mellor was thwarted by a Baptiste save from Ashqar Ahmed’s cut-back as Rovers smelled more goals.
Deep into seven minutes of stoppage time, Rovers’ substitute Jili Buyabu volleyed wide of a gaping net from Josh Osude’s cross as the Gloucestershire side finished on top.
Listen to Wealdstone boss Gary Waddock deliver his post-match verdict
Stones boss Waddock felt the FA Trophy semi-finalists were below par as they slipped to back-to-back defeats: “The last two games have been frustrating because the performances haven’t matched what we showed before,” he said. “We need to get back to that – and it’s not just about passing, it’s about the other aspects of the game we have to get right.”
Forest Green: ( 3-4-2-1) Isted 7; Kanu 8, Kircough 9, Mendy 8; Kengi 8 (Buyabu 68,6 ), Campbell 8, Nwoko 8 (Bunker 80), Knowles 7 (Ahmed 68,7); McAllister 7, Clarke 7; (Osude 68, 6); Mellor 7 (Marquez 88).
Subs not used: Pagel, Haughton.
Wealdstone: ( 3-5–2) Baptiste 6; Waller 6 (Wells-Morrison 61, 7), Woodman 6, Cook 6; (Barrett 61, 6); Boldewijn 6, Adu-Poku 6, Tshikuna 6, Agyemang 6, Hinchy 6 (Hutchinson 61, 6); Obiero 6 (Adarkwa 61, 6), Olomola 6 (Spencer 79).
Subs not used: Johnson, McAvoy,
Full-time: Forest Green 2 (Kengni 42, Kircough 61) Wealdstone 0
Half time: Forest Green 1 Wealdstone 0
Referee: Lewis Sandoe
Star man: (Gabe Kircough – Forest Green, defender)
Attendance: 1,738
Rating: 3 /5
Match statistics
FGR/ WEALDSTONE
Shots on target: 8 / 3
Shots off target: 2 / 1
Corners: 3/ 5
Offside: 3 / 1
Fouls: 12 / 11
Yellow cards: 1 / 2
Red cards: 0/0
