Forest Held At Home

Nottingham Forest were held at home by Gillingham on Saturday in a result that surely confines the club to another season in League Division One.

After the recent upturn in form Forest were unbeaten in three and harbouring outside hopes of making up the ground on the sides in the Play-Off zone, however they couldn’t afford to drop points against lowly Gillingham and unfortunately that’s just what happened in front of almost 20,000 disappointed fans at the City Ground.

The game got off to a bad start for The Reds as they fell behind in only the sixth minute following Commons mistake from a Gillingham free-kick. Danny Spiller who had a lively game for the visitors latched onto the loose ball and lofted it over Pederson, Bennett trying to recover the situation at the far post could only bury the ball into the roof of the Forest net.

Forest seemed to stutter in parts of the match and struggled at times to assert their authority on their relegation threatened opponents; it took almost twenty minutes before they recorded their first real effort on the Gills goal.

The chances were there for Forest though and Nathan Tyson clean through midway into the second half and Kris Commons in particular were the biggest culprits. Commons easiest chance was side footed wide following excellent play from Tyson down the right whilst Gillingham still held the lead. However it was in the same spell of pressure as the first half drew to a close that saw Forest get back on level terms. Commons redeeming himself with a perfectly weighted through ball that sent Tyson in on goal from the left flank, his first effort cannoned back off Brown but he made no mistake the second time forcing the ball through Brown for the equaliser.

Try as they might Forest just couldn’t force a winner in the second half, the best chance falling to Tyson as Spillers loose header sent him clean in on Brown for the second time in the game. This time Tyson again went to his left but decided to take the shot early and from the edge of the area could only put the ball into the lower tier of the Trent End.

Bennett had a good chance to square the ball back for the waiting Forest strikers but following his strong run into the box chose to hit an effort at the near post which Brown turned around the post for a Forest corner. Forests other real chance was a Breckin header from a corner that was cleared off the Gillingham line. The deadlock remained and despite Forest pouring forward they couldn’t create the winning goal, Jack Lester replaced Grant Holt with around twenty minutes to go but couldn’t help Forest earn all three points.

Gillingham held on, without their first choice strike force they struggled to get many chances all afternoon and the goal they did score was fairly fortunate. However, they matched Forest for effort and work rate all afternoon and looked a well organised outfit considering Injuries and Suspensions, the five hundred or so Gillingham fans that travelled up from Kent will be happy to take a point from this game and build on the result for their next fixture.

For Forest it is now all about producing some good form and playing some decent football as they try to keep a settled side together to gain some familiarity ahead of next season. I felt this was a game that we could have gone on to win fairly comfortably had it not been for individual errors. Commons in particular had a couple of chances that you would have expected him to tuck away and Tyson normally seems so adept at putting away chance that come his way.

I was pleased to see that Gary Holt’s recent upsurge in form continued, after a good all round display at Bristol he followed it up with another performance full of running and he looks almost unleashed now Megsons shackles have been lifted. I was a little disappointed with Kris Commons, it maybe that he has some sort of niggle he is carrying but he just looked off-colour for most of the afternoon. Clingan also seemed a little off the pace and perhaps should have been the player replaced as Lester was introduced seventeen minutes from the end. It would be harsh to criticize Barlow for what he has done so far but personally I think taking off Grant Holt who was having a good game was an error. Forest had nothing to lose and should have been pressing Gillingham back, Lester playing in the whole behind the front two would both have been able to carry the ball at the Gills defence and also pick up the sc**ps from the more direct balls into the area.

The loss of two home points will mean even the most ardent Forest fans will be giving up on Forest squeezing into the post season race but their will still be plenty to watch as the side continues to grow and bond into a team that can look forward to a new Manager and a brighter future in 2006/2007