Bradford 2-2 Forest

Nothing short of maximum points was going to be good enough to get Forest’s stuttering season back on track today, but The Reds will have to be happy with a point. After taking the lead in the 18th minute it was beginning to look as though the points were in the bag, but then in the 89th minute came the swift kick in the nuts that football fans have to endure from time to time.

Calderwood’s men came out of the blocks all guns blazing and were unfortunate to go a goal behind in the 8th minute from a Bruce Dyer header. That lead was short lived though as Tyson got the deserved equaliser two minutes later.

After only 18 minutes Forest took the lead with a well worked goal. Morgan did the hard work and sent a neat pass to Bennett who in turn headed down to Lester. The Forest striker beat his man well and let a shot off that beat Ricketts.

Bradford started the second half the stronger, but Forest seemed to weather the storm. The Reds came close with chances from both Dobie and Grant Holt, but could not add to their lead.

Just as other results in the League were looking to be going their way, the whole afternoon went tits up. In the space of a minute not only had Bradford got an equaliser through new boy Billy Paynter, but Oldham got a 90th minute winner, that meant The Reds would have to be content with third place.

This was a much improved Forest than the one that turned out against Chelsea and Carlisle and Colin Calderwood will no doubt have many positives to draw on in the coming week, but the fact remains that this will be seen as two points dropped rather than a point won. Next up is another ‘must win game’ against his former charges Northampton, a week today and the manager knows once again that nothing less than a win will be good enough. Hold on to your seats folks, it’s going to get a lot more tense than this before the season is done.

Teams:

Bradford: Ricketts, Edghill, Wetherall, Bower, Youga (Parker 70), Daley, Schumacher, Bridge-Wilkinson, Bentham (Johnson 82), Paynter, Dyer.
Subs Not Used: Howarth, Muirhead, Hibbert.

Booked: Bentham, Schumacher, Bower.

Goals: Dyer 8, Paynter 89.

Forest: Smith, Curtis, Breckin, Morgan, Bennett, Perch, Prutton, Clingan (Gary Holt 85), Tyson (Dobie 69), Grant Holt (Chambers 88), Lester.
Subs Not Used: Agogo, McGugan.

Booked: Tyson.

Goals: Tyson 10, Lester 18.

Att: 10,160.

Ref: K Wright (Cambridgeshire).