Forest Green Rovers u18 5

Yeovil Town 2

FOREST GREEN U18s beat league leaders Yeovil Town 5-2 to earn their second league win of the season on Saturday.

Rovers went into the match off the back of a disappointing last-minute 2-1 defeat away to Oxford United.

Manager Chris Barker opted for the same tactics against Oxford, utilising a diamond formation, with top goalscorer Dan Ogunleye unavailable for squad selection.

Rovers’ intense start to the match paid dividends as Dan Bradshaw found himself unmarked at the back post from a corner, glancing the ball in from close range to give the hosts a 1-0 lead after just two minutes.

Rovers kept the pressure on Yeovil and doubled their lead when Oliver Artwell picked out winger Dan Jones with a measured through-ball splitting the visitors’ defence, with Jones slotting the ball past the goalkeeper.

Midfielder Lewis Spurrier soon made it 3-0 with a fantastic solo-effort that saw him burst from midfield before some great footwork allowed him to beat two Yeovil defenders in the box, creating the space for him to place the ball into the top right corner.

Yeovil managed to get a goal back from the penalty spot through captain Hang Won after he was tripped in the box by Artwell – Won tucked the ball past Dec Lehmann into the bottom left-corner to make it 3-1.

Rovers wasted no time in restoring their three-goal advantage before half time when Sam Hendy nodded in from a quality corner delivered by Spurrier.

Yeovil almost found a second before the break, but Lehmann was equal to it, getting down low and tipping the ball around the post.

Rovers made it 5-1 just two minutes after the restart when Artwell picked the ball up down the left, cut inside beating his marker and smashed the ball just inside the near post.

The visitors had a goal ruled out for offside after Nestor Shako did brilliantly to dribble past two Rovers defenders and chip the ball around Lehmann, but striker Neville Nzembela tapped the ball in when he was standing in an offside position.

Town scored their second late on in the second half after a long free-kick found Devon Arnold at the back post to bundle the ball into the Rovers net past Lehmann.

Rovers saw off a surge of late pressure from the league leaders to earn their second consecutive home win.