SKYBET LEAGUE TWO

GRIMSBY TOWN 1

FOREST GREEN 0

IRKED Forest Green boss Mark Cooper pointed the finger of blame directly at referee Carl Boyeson after his side were beaten at Grimsby Town.

West Brom loanee Jack Fitzwater was sent off on 37 minutes for a tug in the box after being booked three minutes earlier for time wasting.

Sam Jones’ subsequent penalty was blocked by Forest Green goalkeeper Brad Collins, but Mitch Rose reacted to the free ball to hand Grimsby Town a 39th minute opener and a third straight win for Russell Slade’s side and only Rovers’ second defeat in eight league games.

Rovers have now finished their last three matches with 10 men, leaving Cooper incandescent with rage during his post-match press conference.

“I was promised by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) today an experienced, confident referee that would make no contentious issues, but that’s not what we got,” fumed Cooper.

“We got a man (Jack Fitzwater) booked for time wasting in the first-half and if that is a penalty, there would be ten penalties every game,” Cooper added.

And after watching post-match evidence, the Rovers boss felt the subsequent penalty which led to Fitzwater’s second booking, should not have been allowed.

“We have seen the penalty and you wouldn’t even give a foul if it was elsewhere on the pitch, the ball was six-feet in the air and the Grimsby man has taken a tumble and is never getting the ball and the referee has decided he couldn’t wait to blow his whistle and give a penalty,” bemoaned Cooper.

“Bradley Collins saves it and the Grimsby man runs straight through the D on the edge of the box, which you’re not allowed to, which enables him to get a run on everybody and tap it in, so it should be pulled back.

“Only one person who beat us today and it wasn’t us and it wasn’t Grimsby.”

Cooper was proud of his threadbare team, who were bereft of injured trio Keanu Marsh-Brown, Drissa Traore and Isaiah Osbourne. Meanwhile, Dale Bennett and Manny Monthe missed out due to suspensions.

Opting for a back-four, Scott Laird was forced to fill in at right-back with Jack Fitzwater on the opposite flank. Lacking match fitness, Charlie Cooper was ushered into midfield for his first league start in six weeks after picking up an ankle injury in the win at Coventry City.

He said: “ I thought we were brilliant in the second-half and we took the game to Grimsby and we could have easily got an equaliser, but the game changes on you know what again.

“I said to the boys at half-time, we either get beat 5-0 or come out with a moral victory and maybe nick something and we came out with a moral victory, but it doesn’t help us, because we slip in to the bottom two, but we didn’t deserve that today.

“We didn’t start the game well and we had one or two shrinking violets, who didn’t really want to play and we struggled to recover in the first-half.”

Rovers travel to Exeter City for their FA Cup second round replay on Tuesday night with the carrot of a home tie against Premier League West Brom awaiting the winners.

Rovers will be low in squad numbers after Nottingham Forest loanee Alex Iacovitti tweaked his hamstring in the dying embers of the game at Grimsby, but Cooper wants to make a good fist of the cup replay.

Cooper added: “Exeter rested their goal scorer and best player Stockley today, with Tuesday in mind. It’s a money making tie and whoever wins gets a shot at a Premier League team. You’ve got a chance in every game and we will go there and give it a right good go.”

GRIMSBY TOWN 1

Rose 39

FOREST GREEN 0

Attendance: 4,398

FGR fans: 38

Referee: Carl Boyeson

Forest Green: B Collins, Laird, Fitzwater, Roberts, Iacovitti, Wishart, Cooper, L Collins, James, Brown, Doidge, James

Subs: Brown (Gomes, 58), James (Stevens, 58), Cooper (Bugiel, 63)

Subs not used: Russell, Simpson

Bookings: Fitzwater 32, Roberts 64

Sent off: Fitzwater 37

Grimsby Town: McKeown, Davies, Collins, Clarke, Mills, Jaiyesimi (Woolford, 72), Rose (Hooper 82,), Summerfield, Dembele, Jones, Matt (Vernon, 90)

Subs not used: Killip, Cardwell, Osborne, Dixon

Bookings: Summerfield 74, Dembele 77, McKeown 90

COMING UP: Forest Green travel to Exeter City for their FA Cup second round replay on Tuesday, 7.45pm and return to SkyBet League Two action on Saturday with the visit of league leaders Luton Town, 3pm.