David Horseman happy as Harvey Bunker helps Forest Green to see off Sutton

Posted Sunday, September 03, 2023 by PA

Forest Green boss David Horseman felt his side were worthy 1-0 victors at Sutton United.

Rovers notched their second victory of the league season thanks to Harvey Bunker’s second-half strike.

“I thought we thoroughly deserved the three points today,” said Horseman.

“We controlled the first half, but we knew they were going to come out at us in the second half.

“But if we’d have been a bit more ruthless we could have been a couple more goals up.

“They came at us and caused us a few problems for 15 minutes, so had to stand up to it.

“But I think around about the 60th minute mark we started to get the ball down and started to play.

“We then had a five or 10-minute period just before the goal where we looked like we were going to score.

“Harvey, in particular, needs a lot of credit because he’s been working extremely hard.

“He had a tough job today, so I’m delighted for him. I’m delighted he scored the goal.

“The players took on the information we gave them and delivered, it’s all down to them. They deserve all the credit today.

“It should have been the day for more goals, but the players now understand the structure of the team and they’re playing some really good stuff. Now they have to take it on and finish the action.

“We’ve started to get rid of all the bad noise and now we can live in the present, but we have to better and score more goals.

“We have to be the team we’d like to be and push up the league. We’re going to have to put teams to bed so we’re not scrapping it out.”

Kyle McAllister set up Bunker to score with a low shot from 18 yards after 63 minutes.

For Sutton boss Matt Gray, it proved to be a frustrating day as his stuttering side slid to a fifth straight League Two defeat.

“It’s really disappointing,” admitted Gray.

“I wasn’t happy with the first-half performance at all.

“I knew quite early in the first half that I wanted to get in at half-time so I could make some tweaks and changes.

“I feel maybe I didn’t get the right information to the players before the game. We weren’t good enough on the ball.

“Forest Green dictated us to much, particularly in that first half. I was pleased with the first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half.

“We got that shape and formation right, and we were much more on the front foot.

“We conceded a disappointing goal, though, and then we huffed and puffed a bit, but it just wasn’t our day.

“We had our moments overall, but it’s been a disappointing performance on what has been a really difficult day. It’s been another hard defeat to take.”