Forest 1-1 Robins: Match Report

Nottingham Forest and Bristol City battled it out for a 1-1 draw at the City Ground and had to settle for a share of the points. It was a cagey affair, with neither side having the cutting edge to break the other down.

Forest started the match with the same lineup that performed so well in the previous game at Cardiff. Unfortunately for the Reds’ though, the team on this occasion lacked the killer punch and the same determination shown in Wales. Much of the first half saw the two sides cancel each other out, with both teams packing the midfield. The game might have been played more openly, if referee Taylor had done the right thing in the first minute of the game, in sending off Nicky Maynard. The City striker was very fortunate to pick up a yellow for putting Forest defender Chris Gunter on his arse in the opening seconds of the game, for a cynical and dangerous challenge. Had it been later in the game, he’d have surely seen a red, but Taylor let it go, as he did other similar challenges on the day.

Forest probably just about edged the first half, but neither side had many chances. The one good thing from a Reds’ perspective, was how solid we looked at the back. Morgan and Cohen looked assured, but Kelvin Wilson was having a peach of a game and should have done enough to silence his critics and maybe get them to admit he has a future in this team. I’ve been a big critic of Wilson in the past, but if he can perform like he did in this one on a regular basis, I’m more than happy to eat my words.

The second half got underway, with City looking a little more adventurous. Morgan threw himself infront of a Maynard effort and Wilson was called into action to deal with Haynes. Former City player Adebola came on for Majewski and McCleary replaced Garner. McCleary added some much needed pace to the attack and the two replacements did make us look a little more likely to score. As the half progressed, the game began to become more open and both sides had chances to break the deadlock.

Wes Morgan picked up a harsh yellow for supposedly diving in the box, after going on one of his now customary mazey runs. He won the ball outside the area and glanced past one defender, into the box and past another, before pushing the ball too far infront. He collapsed to the floor after he appeared to trip, but was adjudged to have dived by the badly performing ref. It was one of many poor decisions made by Mr. Taylor and it’s now becoming an all too familiar story this season, as far as bad referees go.

Just as you were resigned to the game ending in stalemate, Wes Morgan popped up to break the deadlock. He prodded the ball home from close range to seemingly win us the points. That was until City came back with an injury time equaliser. Paul Hartley was given way too much time on the ball and went unchallenged as he sent a cross into the box. The ball was sent crashing into the net by Haynes, to draw the visitors level.

A draw was probably a fair result and probably gratefully accepted by both teams. It still keeps us in the mix at the right end of the table and stretches the unbeaten run to 8 games. It does take us up to 8th in the table and just 2 points away from the Playoffs. We now have another two week break before we face another tough encounter, next time out at Middlesbrough.