A bitter sweet victory.
A first victory since 1998 that could only be seen on iFollow.
Cheltenham’s poor record in the so called El Glosico has often been a source of ridicule for the little club on the hill, the endless chorus of “you haven’t beaten Rovers since 1998’’ silenced by the head of Will Boyle and right foot of Andy Williams in the most recent fixture.
Of course, the Nailsworth locals omit the fact that, during this time, Forest Green were languishing about the depths of non-league while the robins were busy doing the double over Leeds in League One, and the fact Cheltenham finished above Rovers 35 years in a row, but they’d sing it nonetheless.
The joy and ecstasy of witnessing your team defeat their noisy neighbours is unrivalled, even if you’re just jumping around the living room and hugging your laptop, but it cannot be denied that the experience could not be topped if it were in person at the Jonny Rocks Stadium.
The Gloucestershire ground has witnessed its fair share of agony against the vegans, with the infamous Jon Flatt jumping over the ball to give Dale’s project a win in the 2017 Checkatrade Trophy, and a lacklustre, uninspired 1-0 defeat towards the end of Johnson’s tenure in 2018.
But all that was forgotten as the latest battle resulted in a Cheltenham win.
The game had the perfect start, Will Boyle heading home from a Ben Tozer long throw, a sight made sweeter to robin’s eyes as the opposition complained about a foul on keeper Luke McGee, who at a second viewing was in fact impeded by former Green Devils’ striker Reuben Reid, who moved to the pride of the county in 2019.
An understandably tense affair went without another goal until after the break, but was not without incident. Poor distribution from loanee Josh Griffiths left Raglan in an awkward situation, his knee colliding with the upper body of the FGR man, met with a similar cheer to Boyle’s goal in living rooms across the county. The resulting free kick came to nothing.
Reid was involved again with a delightful cross into Williams who’s diving header was met with an admittedly outstanding save from McGee.
Sofas were rocking once again as Williams capitalised on poor defending to double the lead on the 57th minute, the ejected Carl Winchester seemingly dying inside as it went in the icing on the cake. Could it be that Cheltenham were finally about to scratch their 22-year itch?
Nerves were wracking towards the end as an incredibly questionable penalty was awarded to the visitors with 20 minutes to go, Collins halving the deficit to make a tense end to the game, but Duff’s men held on and derby day delight ensued for fans of the county’s top club.
And so normal service resumed with the town back on its perch. A 5 year spell, the only in recent memory where the clubs played each other regularly, which saw FGR challenge for the top spot has taken its most recent twist. With Cheltenham claiming their first victory of the modern derby era, a time in which Rovers have come out on top 4 times with one season in which they finished above the Red Army, but also saw Cheltenham claim the National League title at the expense of their neighbours and finish in the higher position in 4 out of 5 seasons.
So, who can claim the title of the pride of Gloucestershire now, or was it ever really an argument in the first place?
While it is true that Forest Green finished about Cheltenham in the 2017-18 season, it was the first time in 35 years, as the chant “top of the county 35 years in a row’’ makes clear, with the robins reaching the height of League One on two occasions, while Rovers during this time were only in the Conference Premier/ National League since Cheltenham’s promotion to the Football League for the first time in 1999.
Cheltenham have spent only one season out of the EFL since, famously winning the Vanarama National League at the first attempt in 2015/16 (the clubs drew both games this season) and spending most of their time in League 2.
In 2018, Vince got 3 stars tattooed on his back, with one coloured in to show their promotion to the EFL and two more to be coloured after promotion to League One and then The Championship, one can only assume that Paul Baker has two stars coloured in on his back (for factual reasons, that’s a joke). Vince faced ridicule again in 2017, telling BBC Sport that “Getting into League One, I do think will be easy”, since having reached the playoffs once. Easier for John Ward than for Mark Cooper.
For other derbies out there there’s a clear club on top, Aston Villa in Birmingham; Liverpool in Merseyside and the blue half of Manchester. Admittedly it’s a closer affair here, but there’s one thing fans of both teams can agree on, it’s not Gloucester.
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