ACADEMY boss Scott Bartlett toasted Forest Green's 3-1 win over Bristol Rovers in a Central League game at Cirencester Town.

Bartlett who took the team, was clearly impressed with the way his side performed.

“I thought that first and foremost it was a really good game, we set out with a good tempo, applied ourselves brilliantly, worked in a really professional manner and played some excellent football,” he  told the club website.

“The boys played with a lot of freedom today and a lot of passion and a real desire to in the game. Bristol Rovers are a strong outfit,they have a good set of coaches, a good set of players, and I thoroughly thought we deserved to win.”

The academy manager also spoke about the importance of the Central League fixtures for everyone involved.

“Clubs have got different focuses for these Central League games but for us it’s about experience for the young players and minutes for the pros” he explained.

“It’s really important to have the pros in there. When we lost by 7 to Bristol a few weeks back but the actual box-to-box performance wasn’t much different but that bit of experience and that bit of calmness helpsthe young players but it’s also good for the pros in terms of getting those minutes.”

“You look at today, Scott Laird and Reece Brown were outstanding and they make us just a little more competitive.”

FGR looked the more dominant of the two sides in the first-half and consequently found themselves a goal up at the break thanks to a 35th minute penalty. Olly Mehew won the spot kick after some excellent build-up play between the FGR front-men but it was captain Laird who stepped up to stroke the ball home down the middle.

FGR continued to assert themselves in the second-half and soon found themselves two goals to the good.

Kieron Proctor had the first shot of the sequence as his deflected effort from range hit the top of the bar before going behind for a corner and once again it was left-back Laird who found the net, this time with his head as he rose highest at the back post to nod home Lewis Spurrier’s cross.

For all their efforts, the visitors did get a goal back after 78 minutes as Connor Jones was left unmarked in the box and he made no mistake in turning home a low cross from the right.

The result was sealed however as, with the game going into added time, Hendy made it three as he found space in the box and expertly headed home Tom Anderson’s cross.