Forest Green Rovers romped to a 4-1 away win at Scunthorpe United, thanks to a Jamille Matt hat-trick and a late Matty Stevens rocket.

Aaron Jarvis opened the scoring early on, but Matt had other ideas, finding two before the break and one in the final 10 minutes.

Having entered the fray just minutes earlier, Stevens unleashed a fantastic late strike to cap off the afternoon.

Mark Cooper made just one change to the side that drew with Walsall a week ago, Scott Wagstaff replacing Jayden Richardson at right-wing-back.

After a cagey opening to the encounter, it was the hosts who went ahead.

Aaron Jarvis carried the ball inside from the left before, under pressure from Liam Kitching, he fired home from the edge of the area.

Rovers quickly looked to get back into the encounter, and some good play saw Kitching in space on the left. With green grass to run into, the defender burst forward, but saw his cross well gathered by the keeper.

Mark Cooper must have thought his side had levelled the scores from a 22nd-minute corner, a combination of Ebou Adams and Matt seeming to bundle the ball over the line. The referee waved away the FGR protests.

Fresh from his goal last weekend, it was Matt who popped up to level the scores after 24 minutes, taking advantage of Aaron Collins’ deflected effort to finish into the corner on his left foot.

He almost had a second just seven minutes later, this time nipping in behind the defence following Kitching’s perfect through-ball, but seeing his effort deflected onto the roof of the net.

From the resulting corner though, he made no mistake. Nicky Cadden whipped in another excellent corner and Matt was there to nod home again.

Rovers started the second half as they ended the first, and soon struck the woodwork, albeit in the most unlikely manner.

With the keeper in no-man’s-land, Carl Winchester tried his luck from the halfway line and, almost in slow motion, watched it ding off the top of the crossbar.

Adams excellent lofted cross looked destined for Matt’s head at the back post after an hour, but Rory Watson was once again quick off his line to punch clear.

With time wearing on, it looked like Rovers would have to settle for a one-goal cushion, but Matt wasn’t finished just yet.

With 83 minutes on the electronic scoreboard above the Scunthorpe goal, Matt’s movement saw him find space in the area to tap home Kitching’s pull-back.

Cooper’s men weren’t quite done. Substitute Stevens took matters into his own hands in stoppage time, firing a bullet into the near top corner from outside the area.

Referee: Ross Joyce

Scunthorpe XI: Watson, Bedeau, Gilliead (c), Eisa, Jarvis (Loft 67’), Spence (Beestin 87’), Vincent (McAtee 62’), Cordner, Hornshaw, Taylor, O’Malley

Unused subs: Kelsey, Onariase, Hippolyte, Dunnwald-Turan

Forest Green XI: McGee, Sweeney, Kitching, Winchester (c), Adams, Collins (Whitehouse 73’), Cadden, Matt (Stevens 87’), Moore-Taylor, Wagstaff, Godwin-Malife

Unused subs: Thomas, Bernard, Stokes, Young, Richardson

Man of the Match: Jamille Matt