Olly Sully nets late leveller as Forest Green avoid upset at Scarborough

Posted Sunday, November 05, 2023 by PA

Teenager Olly Sully broke Scarborough hearts with a stoppage-time equaliser to secure an ill-deserved 1-1 draw and replay for League Two strugglers Forest Green.

Sully, 18, pounced from close range after teacher Alex Wiles had earlier opened the scoring in the first half for the National League North outfit, who were playing in the first round proper for the first time since the club’s reformation in 2007.

With Forest Green struggling to find any cohesive patterns of play, Wiles showed nimble footwork to fashion space in the away box before drilling a 10-yard drive into James Belshaw’s bottom-right corner in the 27th minute.

Belshaw then needed to make a smart save to prevent Forest Green from falling further behind before the break, denying rampaging right wing-back Kieran Weledji following good combination play between Frank Mulhern and Wiles that had carved Rovers’ left channel open.

The away team improved marginally in the second half with a thumping, edge-of-the-box effort by Callum Jones dipping just over.

But an unmarked Jacob Maddox was guilty of a howling miss in the 68th minute, side-footing wide of a gaping goal from eight yards following Charlie McCann’s right-wing raid.

Home keeper Ryan Whitley then parried away a firm Nathan Holland drive but he was eventually beaten when the home defence failed to deal with a ball into the box and McCann’s square pass across the face of goal was tapped in by Sully.