Brentford loanee Myles Peart-Harris is beginning to flourish for Forest Green, according to head coach Ian Burchnall.
The 20-year-old headed Rovers’ winner against arch rivals Cheltenham to settle the first-ever third-tier Gloucestershire derby.
“Myles came out of the team not long ago and he was disappointed with that, but Doyley (Michael Doyle, assistant head coach) has taken him under his wing, invested that little bit of extra time and he’s really flourishing now,” Burchnall said.
“Doyley has him as a bit of a project and that’s been good for Myles.”
Attacking midfielder Peart-Harris’ goal sealed back-to-back wins for Rovers for the first time in Sky Bet League One this season, leaving Burchnall delighted.
“We managed the game extremely well, especially after we went 1-0 up and it was an excellent all-round performance,” he said.
“We defended magnificently. Olly Casey deserves a lot of credit. He is only a young lad, but some of his defending was outstanding. We were strong as a unit.
“The lads have shown great resilience, desire and hunger and that’s been in the last few weeks now. We really seem to have stepped up. We are finding our feet and back-to-back wins is massive for us.
“We looked at these two games in December and knew they’d be massive, so to get six points is brilliant.”
Rovers were on top for much of the first half, with Josh March seeing a shot deflected wide in the 12th minute after Kyle McAllister seized on a loose pass.
A high ball was not dealt with by visiting goalkeeper Luke Southwood, under pressure from Connor Wickham, but Sean Long cleared from inside the six-yard box a minute later.
Southwood parried a low drive from Peart-Harris, also keeping out Oliver Casey’s header from McAllister’s free-kick.
Peart-Harris was denied by Southwood again in the 28th minute
Cheltenham improved before half-time, with Dan Nlundulu unable to convert after Long’s throw-in.
Nlundulu then forced Casey into an error and Luke McGee had to save from Alfie May with his legs.
March had a chance from a tight angle after Southwood could only push a cross into his path, but Rovers scored their deserved winner and held on comfortably.
Robins boss Wade Elliott felt the goal should have been disallowed.
“The goal is contentious and I think it’s offside,” he said.
“We caused our own problems, but we were never really opened up or troubled too much, but the opportunities they did have came from us playing into the press, or turning the ball over cheaply.
“It was a scrappy game, always likely to be decided by one moment. They’ve managed to get on the end of a set play and it leaves us on the end of a defeat.
“It’s their day, so let them have their day. We have to suck it up and make sure our day comes.”
