REPORT | WEALDSTONE 2-1 FOREST GREEN ROVERS

Wealdstone produced a superb second-half performance to defeat third place Forest Green Rovers at Grosvenor Vale.

A brace from talisman Alex Reid cancelled out an early strike from Jordon Garrick, securing Neil Gibson’s second successive win this week, and moving his side further away from the drop zone.

Gibson named an unchanged starting line-up to the side that beat Boston United on Tuesday evening.. 

Rovers were on the front-foot from the first minute of play, with Kyle McAllister firing an effort from distance that flew wide of the post.

The Stones were handed an early scare in the third minute when Christian Doidge’s deft strike was heading towards the bottom corner, but Enzio Boldewijn recovered with a vital goal-line clearance.

Ten minutes later, Wealdstone came close to scoring, but Ted Cann produced a smart save to deny Max Kretzschmar’s driven effort.

Down the opposing end, McAllister had a second bite of the cherry for Rovers, heading just over the crossbar from a corner.

The visitors continued to up the ante and nearly drew first blood on the 18th minute mark, with Adam May curling a brilliant free-kick towards the top corner, only to be denied by the woodwork.

However, Rovers did not have to wait long for a breakthrough; a minute later, Garrick surged into space on the left wing and drilled a shot home past Baptiste to put Cotterill’s side ahead. 

Forest Green looked like they were taking a deserved 1-0 lead into the interval, but a minute shy of half-time, Wealdstone were awarded a penalty for handball, with hot-shot Reid stepping up to clinically fire home past Cann.

Keen to reassert their authority, the visitors were quick out of the traps and came close to scoring two minutes from the restart with Ryan Inniss firing wide from outside the area.

It was then the Stones’ turn to nearly edge ahead as Tyler Walker’s strike whistled agonisingly past the far post, after a marauding run from Mustapha Carayol.

In the 52nd minute, May rifled another effort from range that took a late deflection towards goal, but Baptiste reacted with a solid save to preserve the scoreline.

High flying Rovers continued to rally for a second, with Emmanuel Osadebe heading just wide from a long cross.

With 12 minutes remaining, Kretzschmar curled an excellent free-kick over the wall that drew a fine save from Cann.

Wealdstone were duly rewarded for their second-half performance with a winner in the 82nd minute, and it was no surprise that man-of-the-moment Reid dinked the ball over Cann for his 16th league goal of the season.

The Stones return to action next week when they travel to The Hive to face local rivals Barnet in a 12.30pm kick-off.

WEALDSTONE XI: Baptiste, Boldewijn, McAvoy, Woodman, Randall, Carayol, Cesay, Dyer, Kretzschmar, Walker, Reid.

Attendance: 1441