Forest Green Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw at the hands of Hartlepool United, as Rob Edwards’ side continued their promotion charge.

Edwards was forced to make one change from Tuesday night’s win over Mansfield, with Regan Hendry coming in for the injured Ben Stevenson in midfield.

Rovers’ first chance of the afternoon came with just three minutes played, Baily Cargill heading wide from a Nicky Cadden free-kick.

Hartlepool had their first effort on goal nine minutes later, Jamie Sterry finding David Ferguson who fired wide.

With 15 minutes on the clock, Kasey McAteer was brought on to replace Jamille Matt, with Rovers’ captain unable to recover from a clash of heads with Timi Odusina earlier in the game.

The hosts’ next best opportunity arrived in the 34th minute, with Jack Aitchison forcing Hartlepool shot-stopper Ben Killip into a brilliant save. Despite his best efforts to fire goalwards while led on the floor, Josh March’s follow-up attempt went wide.

As the game neared half-time, Rovers’ confidence grew, enjoying the majority of possession and a few chances before the interval. Cargill set March up in the box, but his header was straight at Killip, meaning the score remained goalless going into the second-half.

It took just eight minutes of second-half play for Rovers to open the scoring for the afternoon.

Hendry unleashed a fierce half-volley from his position on the edge of the box - an effort that left Killip with no chance, as the ball flew into the top corner of the net, giving the hosts the lead.

Following the opener, Aitchison fired a volley just wide and Jordan Moore-Taylor headed goalwards as Rovers pushed to add to their lead.

With 69 minutes played, Omar Bogle put a dampener on things though, with the striker finishing past Luke McGee to equalise for the visitors after a Tom Crawford cross-field pass caught Rovers out at the back.

Edwards turned to Jake Young at the 77th minute mark to add some more impetus, with the 20-year-old replacing Jack Aitchison for the hosts.

Rovers had started to up the ante. Young, McAteer, Hendry and Cadden all showed incredibly quick feet in a tricky, attacking move which earned their side a corner kick.

Minutes later, March hit the bar with a header from a Kane Wilson cross, with the hosts picking the pace up and searching for a winner.

Wilson then found himself in unfamiliar territory on the left flank before his whipped cross across goal narrowly evaded Cadden at the back post.

With four minutes of stoppage time announced, Rovers kept piling the pressure onto the Hartlepool backline, with Hendry, Adams and McAteer all having chances in the closing stages of the game. 

Joe Grey came close down the other end for the visitors too, but the substitute didn’t trouble McGee in between the sticks.

Despite their best efforts to find a winner at the end, proceedings finished 1-1 in Nailsworth, with Forest Green settling for a point this afternoon.

Up next for Edwards’ side is a trip to Barrow on Good Friday, before the visit of Oldham to Nailsworth on Easter Monday.