A Cheltenham Town reserve side beat Forest Green with goals galore earlier today.
A Cheltenham Town development XI achieved a 6-3 win over a Forest Green Rovers XI at the training ground today.Bobbie Dale scored four times and there were goals from trialist Angelo Balanta and Harry Williams in an entertaining match.
Balanta, formerly of QPR and MK Dons, opened the scoring against an experienced Forest Green team with a tap-in after good work down the left by Koby Arthur.
Rovers equalised with a penalty from Luke Rodgers after a foul on Kurtis Guthrie by Paul Black.
Arthur hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box shortly afterwards but Dale got the first of his goals when he stole in front of a defender to meet a cross from Zack Kotwica before shooting low past the goalkeeper on 33 minutes.
Dale added a third goal a minute before half-time when he picked up a long ball from Jack Deaman and ran on before driving low inside the far post.
Five minutes after half-time, Kotwica got away on the left again and crossed for Dale to claim his hat-trick.
Dale then shot over the bar and Rovers' Danny Wright went close at the other end but Cheltenham made it 5-1 when some neat trickery from Omari Sterling-James created an opening for Harry Williams and he side-stepped a defender before scoring with a low shot.
Rovers pulled another one back when a strong run out from the back by Dale Bennett finished with a low cross that Deaman touched past his own goalkeeper.
Wright made it 5-3 five minutes from time when he ran onto a long ball and drilled a shot past Harry Reynolds but Dale scored his fourth when substitute Jamal Lawrence got hold of a great long ball from James Bowen and supplied Dale, who stroked in from the edge of the box.
CHELTENHAM TOWN (3-5-2): H.Reynolds (GK); Deaman, Bowen, Black; Haworth, Williams, Balanta (Lawrence 83), Sterling-James (Daly 81), Kotwica; Dale, Arthur (Powell 46).
OTHER SUBS: Tetek (Gk), Craddock, D.Reynolds