Forest Green 1 [McCann 74 ]
Notts County 0
The only way is up for Forest Green as they ended their seven-year tenure in the EFL with a second consecutive demotion.
Charlie McCann’s second-half strike handed already-relegated Forest Green a final day victory over Notts County.
In a tumultuous two seasons, including six managers since June 2022, experienced boss Steve Cotterill, has given Rovers reason to be optimistic for next season as goalkeeping coach Dan Connor took the positives from a difficult season, he said: “ What we hope to do is that when we come back, we bounce back into this division that we’re going to be better equipped to come up another level again and then hopefully stay there.”
Connor was delighted to see Rovers post back-to-back victories, he added: “I think the game plan that we went in with worked really, really well. I think in the second-half we dominated, but we didn’t do it over the course of the season, but we have the ability to do that.
The Magpies bossed possession, but it was former Forest Green defender Aden Baldwin, who had to be on his mettle to smother Christian Doidge’s strike.
Strong hands from Vicente Reyes saw the Norwich City loanee pounce on Jim O’Brien’s stinger as the industrious Dan Crowley carved Rovers open on 22 minutes.
The tenacious Crowley floated a ball to the back post, but County captain Kyle Cameron was profligate in his placement.
The tenacious Crowley floated a ball to the back post, but County captain Kyle Cameron was profligate in his placement. And Crowley fizzed wide on the cusp of a turgid first half.
League Two top scorer Macaulay Langstaff played the ball into Jodi Jones, who spanked his shot out of the stadium.
After the interval,McCann saw his strike inside the box blocked as Rovers looked to break the stalemate.
A Magpies’ deflection denied Harvey Bunker from the edge of the box as Rovers enjoyed a period of dominance.
Rovers missed a spoon-fed chance to take the lead with 23 minutes to go. County keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond dithered on the ball, but Jamie Robson lifted his gift over. However, they found a winner on 74 minutes – midfielder McCann finishing with aplomb inside the box.
In their return to the EFL, County boss Stuart Maynard said: “We know what League Two is all about. We’re gonna need the fans behind us. We need to all be in it together and stick together. It’s not a league that you can keep winning consistently, but we need to make sure that we’re more consistent in what we do.
“ There will be difficult times next season. You look at the Wrexhams, Stockports, Mansfields and they’ve gone through batches of games, where they haven’t won a game in five or six games at a time.”
Maynard heaped praise on the County fans: “It’s incredible and they’ve got behind their lads once again they stayed behind and clapped the lads off, so we need their support next year. We need them as the 12th man.”
