Forest Green Rovers endured a scrappy encounter against Stevenage to claim a one-nil victory at the Innocent New Lawn Stadium thanks to Jake Young bagging his first goal for Rovers.

The match was overshadowed by the news that broke prior to kick-off that a first team Forest Green player had tested positive for Covid-19. The outbreak sees three other first team players now having to isolate.

It was a slow start to this contest with neither side testing the goal keepers in the opening exchanges. Although, Forest Green did have a penalty appeal turned down inside six minutes as Jake Young appeared to be clipped inside the Stevenage box.

Young did get his time in the spot light however as he bagged his first League Two goal after finishing off a fine Rovers counter attack on 23 minutes. After a poor Stevenage free kick, Aaron Collins charged forward and fed in the youngster who’s fine curling effort found the top corner of Jamie Cumming’s net.

Rovers had a chance to double their lead on the half-an-hour mark as Jamille Matt’s tenacity saw him chase down a poor attempted clearance by Cumming and subsequently feed in Collins who hit the post from close range.

Neither side grew into the match even after the break as it continued to be a scrappy affair with very few chances being carved out. It took a deflected Udoka Godwin-Malife shot on 76 minutes to see the first effort on target in the second half.

Collins once again hit the woodwork on 78 minutes as a scrappy piece of play in the Stevenage box saw the ball bounce to the forward who scrambled his effort against the post.

The win sees Forest Green move up to fourth in the League Two standings.