Forest Green Rovers 1 York City 1

CHARLIE GRIFFIN'S penalty strike gave Forest Green a point as Alan Lewer's side continued to dice with relegation death.

Griffin's 72nd minute leveller, Rovers' first shot on target, gave his side a much needed lifeline, but Rovers finished the match knowing that victory would have taken them out of the relegation zone for the first time this season as news filtered through of Farnborough's defeat against Nigel Clough's Burton Albion.

Rovers boss Lewer has stated that the relegation run-in will see his side face what he feels are 11 cup finals, but this mind-numbing game was far from pulsating.

Matt Gadsby made a starting return, but his deployment as a right-sided midfielder lasted barely 55 minutes before he made a sorry exit for the fleet-footed Mark Danks. Gadsby's shirt-throwing frustration echoed more than words could ever say.

Lewer was hopping mad when Darren Davies squandered possession for Byron Webster to surge upfield for Andy Bishop to smartly lift the ball over the advancing Steve Perrin for 1-0 to York.

Playing under new boss Billy McEwan, York were hungry for more goals and as the clocked ticked defeat hung over Lewer's men. However, Rovers forged on and were denied a penalty when the excellent Mark Beesley appeared to be bundled over.

Nonetheless, Rovers eventually found parity. Des Lyttle's lofted ball saw Chris Porter fail to get a clean catch under the challenge of Griffin and in the ensuing melee Paul Groves handled. Griffin made no mistake from the spot.

Forest Green: Perrin, Lyttle, Garner, Richardson, Searle, Rogers, Gadsby (Danks 55), Beesley, Davies, Rapley, Griffin.

Subs Not Used: Williams, Beswetherick, Appleby, Roberts.

l Forest Green travel to Burton Albion this Saturday.