Video Analyst

Forest Green Rovers 4-2 Woking (National League)

It’s a bit of a road trip today. I’ve got a last-minute game in Taunton added to my diary for Wednesday night so whilst in the South-West I may as well stop over on the Tuesday, I look for cheap rooms on Booking.com and find the Hunters Hall Inn in Kingscote at just £54 per night, just a ten minute drive from Nailsworth, the Cotswolds home of Forest Green Rovers FC.

After a good start to the season FGR have dropped a little of late, under Robbie Savage they are sixth in the National League, comfortably in the playoff race but are falling behind the leaders, York City topping the pre-Tuesday night table, are ten points above Rovers having played a couple of games more.

Neal Ardley’s Woking have also dropped off after a decent run which saw them unbeaten in eleven, they have won just one in five league matches although their last two games were victories in the FA Trophy, the Cardinals are comfortable in mid-table, not going down, they probably won’t go up this season either.

Having to check in to my hotel ahead of kick-off, I’m out the door much earlier than usual today, around 1pm I head off towards the M5 and by 4pm I’m content with a little stables room adjacent to the pub, a big stone fireplace and wooden beamed ceiling offers a touch of cottage style nostalgia away from home.

Kingscote is less than 6 miles from The New Lawn so I set off around 5pm, if anything, to find somewhere to park near the Nympsfield Road which is always a nightmare, the rain is coming down hard so there won’t be many here tonight, but Nailsworth is never the best for parking on matchdays, although I’m early enough, and wise enough, to spot somewhere within walking distance, just across on Nortonwood.

The Venue

I'm sat in the car as the skies darken, rain still pelting down on my roof, I’ve checked numerous times on X if the game might possibly be called off, but green lights are still on as I eventually get out my car, and make the slow walk across to the stadium entrance, it’s nearly 6:30pm and it feels like nobody is here, the floodlights glowing above the Main Stand which dwarfs the rest of the venue with its green Union Jack flag plastered on its side.

Usually there’s a bit of a fan zone with music and food, not tonight, too wet, too little in attendance? I head straight to the ticket window, get my pass and enter through the turnstile, not without getting each pocket of my laptop bag interrogated, I suppose there’s not much else for this steward to do?

Last time I was here I noticed a touch screen menu like the ones they have at McDonald’s where you can order food from the kiosk under the stand, I didn’t bother then as I only wanted a brew, but am going for a meal deal tonight, pastie, chips, gravy (or curry) and a coffee, all for £12.

No sooner have I flashed my card at the pay screen do the lads behind the desk serve up my dish, black coffee with the option ‘only’ of oat milk which I pour in myself, the pasty chips and gravy all in the same tray. They never told me what sort of pasty it was, so when I take a bite, I’m amused that it’s curried, slightly onion bargy like, perhaps I should have had curry sauce instead? But it’s very good, all the same.

Fed & oiled I take up my brew to the press area where there’s a couple of familiar faces from the FGR press team, I have a chat with one about recent form, “we need to win tonight” he says, it seems to be a pre-match cliché which every club now tells me.

The view up here is great, ‘almost’ top of the stand, covered, set back, near half way, you are elevated but close enough to the action to hear the Managers in the dugouts below scream aloud, two small roofed stands each side behind the goal, an open end opposite with scoreboard centrally, every now and again you get a light whizz by in the right corner of my eye, the road leading down the hill behind the ground can be seen, dark under wet skies, every time a car passes it looks like a shooting star.

The Game

The Woking video analyst has joined me, he’s a miserable sod, so after an attempt of conversation I cut it short in favour of silence, Forest Green Rovers are in pink today, Woking in yellow, as I’m initially told by the sullen man besides me that Neal Ardley is ‘pragmatic’ I’m surprised to see how open the game is, the visitors happy to go toe to toe with their opponents, they have a new striker on loan from Luton Town, he looks a unit, Joseph Gbode is quick, powerful, technical, “he’s got a bit about him” I tell my new delightful friend from Woking. “He won’t get bullied at this level” he at least replies.

After just ten minutes Woking take the lead, Olly Sanderson is a player I really like, another striker on loan, from Fulham, he’s sent through one on one after neat play by Gbode and Tariq Hinds, you feel even before he puts the ball in the back of the net that the outcome will be inevitable.

It doesn’t take Forest Green long to reply, just four minutes later they are level when a free kick floated in is headed by Gabe Kircough for his first goal since joining from Welsh side Penybont, but just a minute later Gbode pops up at the other end, a corner swung in by Turner headed home by Woking’s new star striker.

I’m not sure if I’m impressed or sceptical by either teams starts, neither defends that well, both look unsettled on the transition, and I’m surprised at how open Woking are, but perhaps Ardley fancied his attack to cause issue with a Rovers defence that has conceded more than a goal a game this season.

Forest Green themselves are fluid going forward, they take risks defensively and aren’t afraid to bring the ball out of defence, Buyabu and Mingi are attacking full backs, their midfielders are happy to shoot on site, quite literally, Nick Haughton will shoot from anywhere, he’s looked lively wearing number eight, and has had a couple of sighters, Kyle McAllister is floating around like a bee, buzzing from wing to wing looking to get on the ball and make things happen.

The Score

There’s boos at half time as Woking defend their narrow advantage into the break, I’m expecting defensive reinforcements early in the second half as both Tim and Tunji Akinola are surprisingly on the bench tonight, I’m surprised further when the miserable analyst tells me upon getting back from the changing rooms that Woking have made one sub, but it’s Gbode who’s gone off for Aiden O’Brien, I don’t ask why, but I presume it’s for a niggle he picked up in the first half?

That change has already had an effect on the power Woking possess in attack, they can’t get on the ball as Robbie’s Savage troops run riot in the opening few moments of the second 45, they have already struck a post before Hinds brings down McAllister on the edge of the area, Nick Haughton their shooting specialist steps up, curls low, a bouncer that beats Jaaskelainen.

That goal sets the tone for more Forest Green forward play, Ricardo Rees their striker signed from Merthyr Town nets a fourth goal in as many matches, then Tom Knowles strikes from all of twenty plus yards to really put the icing on the cake. Jaaskelainen, perhaps, should have done better.

Six goals scored, the analyst unmoved for any, as he screen caps several clips into his video packaging system.

The later stages can be enjoyed by the locals but even Robbie Savage, now drenched in beige jacket, matching shoes and grey trousers, screams at the fourth official as he tells him of the allocated remaining minutes of injury time. “Seven minutes” says Savage. “Where did you get that from”.

But with thirty seconds left of that extra allocated time, he can finally relax, as Savage turns to the crowd and clenches his fists, his side not brilliantly defensively, certainly have some firepower, and they shown a resilient side likened to their manager's old playing ethos, to come back and win big, they were truly dominant during a very good second half for them. Fans are going home happy, one in the toilets on the way out, saying "I'll sleep well tonight".

The Stars

Woking had every chance of nicking something until perhaps, Joe Gbode went off at half time, nothing against Aiden O’Brien, a good, experienced forward, who replaced him, but Gbobe offered size, speed, tenacity, ability, and I don’t think Abraham Kanu the Forest Green Rovers centre back particularly enjoyed their battle in the first half.

It’s the first I’ve seen of Gbode a Londoner who started his career at Gillingham, he got 3 goals in 34 league games last season but since moving to Luton has struggled to break into the side, just five apps for the Hatters, he is, however, too good for the National League.

He shown great control early on to put the ball through an opponent’s legs at fluid speed, before running away, his power and pace in the final third at times frightening, and he capped off a good 45 minutes with a goal.

Next to him, Oliver Sanderson is a different type of striker, tall, cultured, more off the centre halves shoulder, you give him a sniff, he’ll probably score.

Woking have plenty of good players, Joshua Osude coming off the bench to put on the burners, he's very fast indeed, Jack Turner and Jamie Andrews are neat ball players from midfield, they were joined by Roy Syla, a recent signing of Albanian heritage, he’d been playing out in his homeland but prior to that had spells at Barnet, Brentford, and even Ayr United in Scotland.

I was surprised they didn’t start with a solid big back three (or five) with Tunji Akinola at centre half, I wasn’t clear on what position Tariq Hinds was actually playing, the little guy ran around a lot, sometimes down the left, others more centrally, but had they gone with something bigger and more robust, more formative, dare I say it, more pragmatic, they might have reduced Forest Green to limited chances.

Instead, the home side flowed in forward running fashion whenever possible, Jili Buyabu their left back is an attacking menace of high quality, Tom Knowles came on at right back and offered a similar forward threat, better even than Jay Mingi before him, in midfield Nick Haughton and Chibby Nwoko worked tirelessly hard, in front of Laurent Mendy, a leggy holding midfielder that does the basics well, Forest Green actually turned down a recent bid from Scottish league leaders Hearts for him.

The Verdict

It seems you are guaranteed goals when watching Forest Green Rovers, but it’s at both ends which concern me, I wonder if they are defensively strong enough to last the pace of the promotion race, they probably won’t win the league, new leaders Rochdale now nine points above them (with three games in hand) after beating Boteham Wood, so if the playoffs are par, then those tight affairs when digging in and dirty, might really matter, I certainly think they are fun to watch, with plenty of attacking flair, but can they do it on a cold rainy night at Eastleigh? I would like to see how they scrap when things become a little more tight.

Robbie Savage’s side have York City next, then Rochdale, then Carlisle, then Boreham Wood, if they can come through that unscathed, then I might be more willing to back them more.

As for Woking, eleventh in the table, they certainly won’t go up, they probably won’t go down, so all they need to do for the remainder of the season is try and raise a smile from their video analyst.

The Teams

Forest Green Rovers: Harry Isted, Laurent Mendy, Kyle McAllister, Nick Haughton (Harvey Bunker 81), Jayden Clarke (Christian Doidge 81), Jay Mingi (Tom Knowles 29), Jili Buyabu (Elijah Morrison 87), Gabe Kircough, Chibby Nwoko, Abraham Kanu, Ricardo Rees (Kairo Mitchell 87).

Woking: Will Jaaskelainen, Aaron Drewe, Caleb Richards, Chinwoke Okoli, Timi Odusina, Jamie Andrews, Tariq Hinds (Tunji Akinola 66), Roy Syla (Timi Akinola 66), Jack Turner (Harry Beautyman 80), Joseph Gbode (Aidan O'Brien 46), Oliver Sanderson (Joshua Osude 66).

7:45pm Kick Off. Tuesday 3rd February 2026, The New Lawn, Nailsworth (att 1,081).