Nottingham Forest – 4
Chesterfield – 0
Four nil scorelines look quite spectacular, and that’s not really what Forest served up today – but hell, I’ll take it anyway!! The first half hour of the game was instantly forgettable, Chesterfield pumped long balls forward whilst Forest seemed unable to deal with their break-up play when we attempted to get forward.
So it was a pleasant surprise on the 35th minute when Jack Lester headed the ball in following some head tennis involving both Bennett and Harris. Chesterfield had a chance to equalise, but Paul Smith was equal to it, and after both Harris and Southall had chances that Roche was able to deal with.
T’was in stoppage time when the tireless Grant Holt got a cross in from the left, Nicky Southall headed it square (at the time I was wondering why he didn’t go for goal!) to Neil Harris who thundered a ferocious volley into the net – cue mass celebrations with the whole team. I was thrilled for Harris, he’s been with us 21 months and finally scored, he’s worked very hard this season and it’s great to see him on the scoresheet.
So 2-0 up at half time, despite not playing brilliantly! The second half started better for Forest, a chance cleared off the line from Perchy before Holt was felled in the area for yet another penalty – which Grant converted easily, sending Roche the wrong way. Chesterfield did still battle, albeit haplessly, Smith having some difficult stops to make, and characteristically the Chesterfield fans were having their own battles with the stewards – aside from Swansea and Cardiff they are the most odious group of fans to grace the City Ground recently.
New signing Agogo entered the fray on 67 minutes, displacing the excellent Lester, seeing the also-excellent Harris moved back into a midfield role. And it was Agogo’s first notable action that lead to the fourth, stabbing the ball to Nicky Southall who curled a lovely left footed strike beyond Roche to make it four.
Even with defensive substitutions of Morgan for Curtis, and Thompson for Harris, Forest did have other chances, and never looked in any further danger of losing their clean sheet – which saw the crowd Mexican waving and reeling out old classics like “Let’s all have a disco!” and “Let’s go f**king mental!” – whilst it’s early in the season, it’s great to hear the fans so loud and happy for a change!
Filed under: Matches
