Luckless Forest Lose Again

Forest suffered their fifth straight away defeat of the season last night, going down 1-0 to the Wendies of Sheffield.

The Reds’ were well supported at Hillsborough, with nearly 3,000 making the short trip up the M1. Despite getting behind the lads from the start and showing the home support how it’s done, their efforts went unrewarded as did their teams’.

Although Calderwood can be pleased with an improved display from the players, he will be concerned that this barren run continues. He will rightly complain that it was another flukey goal that cost us a share of the spoils, but the run has to end soon before we get cut adrift at the bottom of the table. We now sit comfortably on the basement and a win at home to Palace on Saturday is a must, just to stay in touch with those above.

The game was scrappy to say the least in the first half, with neither keeper having much to do. Tudgay was a threat all game, but for once the defence seemed solid and were able to keep the home side at bay.

The second half saw both sides up the tempo and it became a pretty open game. The Wendies took the lead when Etienne Esajas let loose with a 25 yarder that hit Breckin on the foot and caught Smith off balance, to end up in the net. That should have been the sign that it wasn’t to be our night.

In fairness to the players, they didn’t drop their heads. Cole and Tyson were combining well for once and began to look a threat themselves. The Wendies can thank keeper Lee Grant for saving them on the night, because for three cracking saves Forest would have taken all three points.

Not that it was all Forest though, because Smith was forced into a decent stop from Burton when his effort looked goalbound. Both sides had penalty claims turned down and for once referee Andy D’Urso was probably right.

This luckless run goes on, but for how long? It seems strange with only 9 games gone, that already the game with Palace at the weekend is a ‘must win’ one. The fans stayed with the manager last night, but the home support may not be quite so understanding if the result goes against us on Saturday. Something needs to change and it needs to change soon.