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Season 2023 / 2024 (A) Forest Green Rovers |
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Pompey fought from behind to
win at Forest Green and secure their place in the second round of the
Carabao Cup. A shock might have been on the cards when Tyrese Omotoye fired the League Two side into a first half lead. But Kusini Yengi quickly drew the Blues level and Zak Swanson handed them an advantage soon after the interval. Yengi then took his tally to three goals in two games when he converted a penalty to ensure the visitors would take their place in Wednesday evening’s draw. John Mousinho rang the changes, with Anthony Scully the only one of Saturday’s starters to keep his place. There were debuts for former Rovers midfielder Ben Stevenson, as well as Ryan Schofield, Conor Shaughnessy and Terry Devlin. Yengi, Christian Saydee, Abu Kamara and Jack Sparkes were also rewarded for their impressive cameos from the bench at the weekend. The other two players to come in were Sean Raggett – who wore the captain’s armband – and Swanson. New loan signing Alex Robertson was named among the substitutes, where he was joined by academy forward Koby Mottoh. It was Pompey who made the brighter start and Yengi fired over after Swanson’s header had been helped on by Kamara. Matty Stevens tried to catch out Schofield at the other end, but his lob from near to the halfway line sailed well off target. The visitors were looking more likely to break the deadlock, as Yengi met Scully’s corner and saw his effort saved at point-blank range by Jamie Searle. Sparkes was looking lively going forward and whipped in a couple of dangerous deliveries that somehow evaded everyone. Rovers were the side to forge ahead, however, as Omotoye collected Teddy Jenks’ pass and angled in a shot that Schofield could not keep out. But the Blues quickly hit back and when Searle failed to claim Scully’s corner, YENGI did well to control the ball and poke it over the line. It might have got even better when Kamara met a deep Sparkes cross and fired in a volley that was saved by Searle. Forest Green then had a chance to retake the lead just before the break, but Raggett did well to stop Jenks getting a shot away. Half Time: Forest Green 1 Pompey 1 Schofield was called into action quickly after the restart, flinging himself to the right to push clear Dylan Kadji’s deflected long-range effort. But the Blues took the lead on 52 minutes, as Saydee sprayed the ball out to Kamara and he found SWANSON on the overlap, with the right-back drilling home. Rovers looked for an immediate response and a corner had to be hacked clear, while Swanson dealt with two dangerous crosses. Mousinho made a double switch just past the hour mark, as Saydee and Scully made way for Robertson and Connor Ogilvie. The hosts were still threatening, though, and Schofield was at full stretch to deal with Harvey Bunker’s drive. But Pompey settled things down again and started to dominate possession to frustrate their trailing opponents. And they were given a chance to wrap things up when Kamara danced into the area and drew a foul from Jamie Robson. Bishop was waiting to come on for YENGI, but the Australia international stayed on long enough to slam the spot-kick into the top corner. His replacement soon raced onto a fine Robertson pass, but last season’s leading marksman could only find the side netting. Forest Green were not giving up and Schofield saved from Omotoye, who was then denied by a fine Raggett tackle soon after. Another double switch was made late on, with Mottoh brought on for his debut alongside Joe Morrell, as Kamara and Devlin trooped off. And a centre from the former soon drifted towards goal and ended up clipping the top of the crossbar. The display of 11 additional minutes drew gasps from around the ground, but it was not enough time for the hosts to mount a comeback. There might have even been a gloss added to the scoreline when Bishop met a Sparkes corner, but the striker was denied by Searle. |
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Forest Green (4-4-2):
Searle; Robertson (Robson 62), Johnson, Moore-Taylor (Carter 86), Bernard
(c); Kadji (McAllister 62), Bunker, McCann (Jones 75), Jenks; Omotoye,
Stevens (Maddox 75) |
