THE GREEN ROOM DIARY by Forest Green Rovers manager Dave Hockaday
FOLLOWING our excellent performance against AFC Wimbledon away it was interesting to see that they have subsequently beaten two good teams on the road.
The fact that we can travel to one of the best teams in the league and be disappointed with a draw should fire us with confidence.
We must also recognise that our achievement was due to devising a game plan and sticking to it.
For the game against Grimsby last Thursday night we were able to keep Bittner in goal following a second injection in his hip, and we decided to go with Hodgkiss, Mike Fowler and Lee Fowler, even though they are being asked to play too many games given their conditioning.
Klukowski made the bench having recovered from his ankle injury.
The plan was to keep a good, compact defensive shape and when we won the ball to get it out wide quickly and also to get the ball in between their full backs and centre halves to allow Styche to run at them.
Although Grimsby started with a lot of possession they did not cause us any real problems and on our first real attack, Styche got behind their defence and scored with a superb lob.
We kept our discipline and shortly afterwards a great diagonal ball out wide from Mike Fowler saw the lively Norwood burst through and drill the second goal home. Once again we were unable to keep a clean sheet and forfeited a goal.
We were able to see out the rest of the half and looked to re-iterate the game plan. The second half started well and a superb move between Klukowski and Watson saw the former sidefoot the ball home to go 3-1 up. Time to consolidate. Time to keep our discipline and shape and look to get at Grimsby down the flanks. Composure. Play in their half.
The game plan went out the window and we failed to keep the ball and got deeper and deeper. Grimsby put on a big striker and became much more direct and although we won a lot of the first balls into our box, it was from two second balls that the opposition scored both their second-half goals.
Twice we had led by two goals and yet we failed to see out the game. I cannot fault the effort of my players nor the quality of all three goals. However, we must defend better as a team when going ahead and stick to the game plan for us to get the points our efforts deserve.
Bittner, Hodgkiss, Mike Fowler and Flood were all struggling after the game and we still have Bartlett, Armstrong, Baldwin and Dyer to get fit, so Tim Grigg, the physio, will be busy this week.
Two draws in a week against two of the best teams in this league . . . and yet we could and should have come out with maximum points.
Histon are the next visitors to the New Lawn this Saturday. Following the board meeting on Friday evening, Dale Vince has been appointed the new chairman.
This will hopefully herald the next positive stage in the history of FGR. Trevor Horsley has done an incredible job in getting the club into the Blue Square Premier where we are the longest-serving member. Now a new man is at the helm.
It is now my task to maintain this record in the BSP and to start formulating a plan that can take this club into uncharted waters.
