Through the seasons before us..

Nottingham Forest – 3
Cheltenham Town – 0

Well, where to start!  A good performance from the Reds for the majority of the 90 minutes, aided undoubtedly by poor quality opposition, but nonetheless Forest showed a great worth ethic interspersed with some moments of great passing to earn themselves a deservedly convincing victory over the Robins.  I was particularly pleased that Gary Holt was on hand to finish off a move he started, certainly an improved performance from him, but not that I really think he’s nearly as bad as he’s often portrayed on the message boards.

Alas, Bristol City, Yeovil and Scunthorpe all scored late goals – although with Scunny’s only being an equaliser, it does mean we make up ground on them – whilst making up goal-difference ground on Bristol.  It’s certainly hotting up in the final run-in, our trip to Bristol sees us still unable to overtake them on the day, and it does really mean that we should be going for the win.

The first half started reasonably well for Forest – I thought Jack was impeded in the area, but the referee thought otherwise and didn’t give a foul.  Shortly after this Jack burst down the right, his shot was parried and fell to Commons, who scuffed it a bit but still hit the post, before McGugan was only able to put the ball over from close range.

Again Jack was the victim of a foul on the edge of the box, Townsend looked like the last man to me as he held back Jack, but his fullback tucking in quickly possibly got him out of jail – either way, the referee only gave a booking and a freekick almost on the D.  Lewis took it well, but clipped the wall taking the ball over.

Just as our pressure looked to be easing off and coming to nothing, Gary Holt won the ball in midfield, and played the ball to Lester before uncharacteristically burst onward into the box – Jack tricked and turned and released the ball perfectly for Gary Holt to sidefoot the ball home to give us a deserved lead.

Of course, though, Forest never like to make it easy for themselves, and just before half time a clever drag back from Denes Rosa sold two defenders a dummy and left him with a gaping goal (and Paul Smith) to score, but he somehow contrived to shoot over – a real definite let off for the Reds as they went in at half time, undoubtedly the happier of the two sides.

The second half started in a lively fashion, the Trent End seemed convinced of a handball in the area early on, it wasn’t really possible to tell from my seat.  We didn’t have to wait too long though – Grant Holt, who had a hardworking but frustrating game today, crossed over McGugan, but Perchy was on hand on the back stick to put the ball away.

Brecks brought a good save from the Robins keeper with a header from a corner, whilst Perch had another opportunity from a Grant cross but this time he fluffed it slightly so it ended up wide.  Alan Wright – impressive again at left back – worked well with Commons to provide what looked like a tap in for Grant, but as numerous air-shots would testify earlier, this wasn’t to be his game.

Grant was replaced by Tyson shortly after this, with Dobie coming on for the knackered looking McGugan.  Grant had a good hardworking game, but his end product was often criminally bad considering how lethal he was earlier in the season.  Tyson was quickly in the thick of it with a smart turn and shot in the area forcing a save from Higgs.

The final goal was to come from the penalty spot, Shane Duff went in very late on Luke Chambers with his studs up – it looked a nasty challenge.  Tyson was quick to claim the penalty as his and grabbed the ball and awaited the go-ahead from the referee to take it – he had a long run up, which he took very slowly before putting it low and left and celebrating with the Trent End.

We also got a glimpse of newboy James Henry – his first action was to bravely go in for a challenge and win a freekick – a good sign!  We didn’t really see much of him on the ball, although he did win a game of “corner flag chess” by tricking his way to winning a corner.  Far too early to make a judgement call on the youngster – but nice to see him get a run out.

All in all, very happy indeed with the performance – Gary Holt and Jack Lester stood out particularly, the only minor quibbles I would have would be Grant’s poor finishing and use of the ball, but he did work his arse off, and Brecks looked shaky on occasion, one time in particular when the ball was coming down our left and he didn’t move to cover it at all, oh, and Paul Smith’s distribution in the first half was dreadful – but other than that, everyone did very well indeed – bring on the Bristol!