After an opening day defeat at Portsmouth and a spirited fight back from two:nil down to get a draw at home to Preston, Forest got their first league win of the season by thrashing Wednesday 4:0. This was also Forest's first home league victory of 2002! Yet inspite of taking an early lead through a David Johnson goal, assisted skillfully by Marlon Harewood, and then Marlon having what seemed to be a perfectly good "second" goal disallowed, Forest had to endure much pressure from Wednesday in the first half! Two wonder saves from Darren Ward and then the base of the Reds post preserved a one goal lead up till the break. Here we see Forest preparing to defend a free kick.
Wednesday were guilty of much dirty play during this match which eventually led to the 58th minute dismissal of their Belgian striker, Gerald Sibon. Here we see the resulting mayhem of a particularly nasty David Burrow's tackle on David Johnson which led to a wrestling match between the two. The battle quickly abated as both teams took advantage of its proximity to the dug outs to take an unscheduled time-out for drinks. Once order was restored Burrows was lucky to escape with a yellow card.
David Johnson was unrecognisable as the player Forest were desparate to off-load last season, going on many attacking runs similar to this one. If he and Marlon Harewood can continue to put in similar strong performances then last season's goal drought should be over! Once Marlon had helped Jack Lester to grab Forest's second it was one way traffic for the rest of the match and perhaps only the hot weather saved Wednesday from a cricket score.
Could it be the new hair style that has transformed Johno's form. Please don't put it back into plaits just yet David!!!! This could be where he is getting his strength from, just like Samson in the Old Testament!
Ricky Scimeca added two more to round off a great day for the Reds. He reacted positively to losing the captaincy to Des Walker and then being moved into midfield. In the match programme he was quoted as saying "...the manager feels I can do a good job for him in midfield and that's fine. Who knows I might even get a goal or two for myself - although I cannot offer any promises on that front!".... Are you sure Ricky... what's next?
Prior to the kick-off a minute's silence was observed in honour of former Reds' player Bobby McKinlay who died days before this match. He made a record 685 appearances for Forest, including the 1959 FA Cup Final.
An empty Bridgford Stand Lower Tier, reserved for visiting supporters, since Wimbledon, as expected, brought fewer than 50 fans to the match. Two first-half goals from David Johnson resulted in a comfortable two:nil victory to the Reds, which, more importantly, put the Reds ahead of Derby in the league table...
...May this situation last for atleast the next 50 years!
Did the Police and stewards guarding the visiting fans really out number them?
Yes it was physically possible to count the 'disloyal' Wimbledon fans who made the trip without the aid of a modern turn stile system!
It is time for the Wimbledon Board to think seriously about cancelling their move to Milton Keynes and to beg their loyal fans to come back. Anyone with a brain can see that the move to Milton Keynes is doomed to failure, after all The City Ground is not that far from MK... so why didn't any of their their new fans, eagerly awaiting the arrival of league football to their town, show their faces at this match?
For most Watford fans and Forest fans coming from London and the South this was as close as they got to the action! A man threatening to jump from a bridge above the M1 motorway managed to cause a five hour plus wait just south of Leicester as Police responded by closing the road. This would not have been allowed to happen in Iraq!
To make matters worse the Reds went down to a first-half injury time goal scored at least a minute after the end of the additional time indicated by the fourth official. This was then followed by Ricky Scimeca's second-half facial injury and the sendings-off of David Prutton and Jack Lester within a minute of each other!
What an unbelievable day!
Forest fans were once again able to chant "sh!t ground no fans" as they made up around half of the paltry 7,075 attendance at a venue which would even struggle to be appropriate to the requirements of Division Three!
Reds' fans were either left out in the open or else battling to view the action from behind pillars.
Des Walker stretching out a leg to make a first-half clearance. Although Grimsby made many forrays into the Forest area throughout the game, and tried to make a match of it, stout defending by Forest and their own striking weaknesses meant that they never relly looked like scoring.
Grimsby's "hard men" here trying to wind-up the Reds' fans! Still it gave us something to laugh at!
One of many second-half chances that got away as this menacing cross somehow evaded the Forest forward line and was subsequently cleared off the line in the bottom corner of the Town goal. For most of the second-half it looked like Forest were just not going to manage to add to David Johnson's 16th minute opener. This situation even continued after the 59th minute dismissal of Town player Gallimore (who?).
Marlon off on another one of his deadly runs which have seen him lay-off so many chances for the other Forest forwards this season!
On 75 minutes Grimsby really should have been reduced to 9 men after Barnard floored Marlon from behind when he went off on a similar run. Much to the anger of the on-looking Forest fans referee Laws bottled it by only producing a yellow card for Town player.
Yet again, as the match wore on, David Johnson couldn't quite get the necessary touch as somehow the Town defender and goalkeeper managed to spirit the ball away between them! At this stage the doubts began to creep in! Might Grimsby hold out and then mysteriously find an opening... or might Forest self destruct?
Sorry about the view, blame the pillar!
What was in the bottle? After this late drink during a break in play Johno went onto score an 83rd minute penalty and then round the match off with a wonder goal as he seemed to take on and beat the entire Grimsby team to complete his hat trick!
Game over... and then during the drive back we had the pleasure of following Derby's evening defeat on the radio!
Perfect day!
25,089 came to The City Ground to witness what turned out to be the perfect example of 'a game of two-halves' which was well illustrated by Paul Hart's decision in the 79th minute to take off Reds' striking hero David Johnson for Centre-Half Jon Olav Hjelde!
By the 39th minute Forest had romped into a comfortable 3 goal lead courtesy of two more succesful strikes from Johno which sandwiched Eugan Bopp's much deserved first goal of the season. Within seconds of the third goal Forest again came close as Riccardo Scimeca struck the Millers' crossbar. It looked like Forest would win by a cricket score against a team who had started the day 4th in the table! As the third goal went in the Rotherham fans stopped cheering for their team and instead chanted 'Scabs!' at the Forest fans. Sadly they only have memories of the 1983 miners' strike to hang onto when times are hard!
A minute before half-time, after a defensive lapse by Forest, Rotherham's Richie Barker snatched what seemed to be a mere consolation goal for the shell-shocked Millers. Forest fans thought nothing of that as they had their half-time drinks, however the Millers came out for the second-half ready to build on this and set out to take the game by the throat. With the Reds unable to add to their lead and under increasing Rotherham pressure, Darren Byfield grabbed a second for the Yorkshire side on 59 minutes.
The last half-hour was a tense affair which seemed to last forever with the Millers piling on intense pressure for an equaliser and keeping the Reds pegged back hanging on to their lead in their own half for long periods. Hence the introduction of defender Hjelde for striker Johnson!
One other explanation for the second-half turn-around could be that the teams swapped shirts at half-time!
Perhaps the Reds' greatest strength in this match was their determination to back each other up under extreme pressure and their refusal to give in. With Ricky Scimeca ready to support him, here we see Marlon Harewood holding onto the ball by a corner flag in the Rotherham half during the dying minutes.
If their were any doubts about the Rotherham team's ability in the first-half these were well and truly dispelled by the end of the match as Forest just managed to hold onto their lead! While Rotherham left the City Ground disappointed, but having shown why they are so high up the table, the Reds added 3 more points to their tally and leap-frogged The Millers to move up to 4th in the table, with Johno topping the scoring chart, having netted an incredible 12 goals in 12 matches!
Could things be about to start happening?
We were unable to report on this match because Reds' Fans were banned from attending due to the home club's inability to guarantee the safety of away fans!
Put simply the Milwall fans behaved badly last season and Forest's supporters, who were the victims of abuse amd bricks through their coach windows etc, were punished by not being able to see David Johnson's two second-half goals that ensured a 2:1 victory after being behind at the break.
Did Millwall ban any of these so called Lions' fans pictured above at last season's clash at the Den? These gentlemen seemed to spend the entire 90 minutes watching and abusing Forest's fans, rather than enjoying a thrilling game, in full view of club stewards and the Police. Still they would have been really bored at today's clash as their beloved away end was empty. Perhaps they even glanced at the pitch once or twice. They wouldn't have liked what they saw there either. Dennis Wise really has come home! Although Millwall had home advantage and no fans to cheer on their opposition, a gate of just 10,521, including 4,000 school children admitted free of charge, against a team like Forest, does not bode well for their future!
Let's hope that either Millwall go out of business or are bought out by someone who has the sense and courage to ban the trouble makers, rather than real supporters who love football, and make the Den a safe place for all true fans to come and enjoy themselves before the next time Forest have to play to there.
Some hope!
For anyone who thought that the Baseball Ground was in a crap neighbourhood, welcome to Pride Park Stadium. The local area looks like it has had a recent been visit from Bin Laden! Not really a place to be proud of!
There was a terrific atmosphere inside Pride Park for this encounter between old enemies with the Forest fans in good voice throughout!
Forest just about had the better of the first-half play and spent periods camped in the Rams' half. Here we see Ram's striker Malcolm Christie, who was fairly ineffective in the first 45 minutes, looking for sympathy from Referee Wolstenholme after falling over himself. Funnily enough, when made to leave the field for further treatment he asked to come back on within seconds!
The best chances in this half all fell to the Reds as they played some excellent fluent passing football. It seemed that this had been rewarded after 19 minutes when David Johnson looked to have scored a perfectly good goal only for the ref to rule him off-side. Television was later to prove that the referee was indeed wrong.
Here we see David Johnson waiting for the ball in front of an open Derby goal straight after the break. Sadly the move broke down before the decisive pass could be made.
And here we see Johno menacing the County defence again moments later. Forest came out at the start of the second-half looking to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, however this was to last for only about 5 minutes. The Reds ended up having to spend most of the rest of the match enduring tremendous pressure as the Rams launched wave upon wave of attacks.
Forest battled to keep Derby at bay, but were reduced much of the time to clearing the ball away from their own area only for Derby to retain possession and come back at them.
It seemed that County would finally make the break through they had been pushing for on 81 minutes when the ball fell to Malcolm Christie on the edge of Forest's 6 yards box. The goal was at his mercy but, fortunately for us and much to his embarrassment, he shot high over the bar.
And then, in the final second of the match, Forest had a break away and out of no where Marlon Harewood found himself in a one-on-one with Derby's stand in keeper Lee Grant with a chance to win the match. Sadly he couldn't keep his nerve when it came to the crunch and the Ram's keeper saved. As soon as the resulting corner was taken the referee blew the full-time whistle!
In the end the goalless draw was about as much as Forest deserved... but if only...
Still Forest finished the day six points and eight league places above the Rams! You can't have it all!
A sell out crowd of just under 30,000 packed into the City Ground for this thrilling East Midlands derby match.
The first 20 minutes of this pulsating match were almost exclusively played in the Leicester half of the field with Forest piling on the pressure. On 23 minutes Leicester striker Brian Deane headed in a surprise first goal for the Foxes, totally against the run of play. Here we see both of Leicester's goal scorers, Paul Dickov and Deane, battling away in a crowded corner, disturbing the substitutes during their warm-ups.
Dickov's 42nd minute front post over head kick gave Leicester their second goal after a run of 3 deliberately slowly taken corners and much time wasting, which seemed to break the Reds' concentration. In fact even when 2 goals up Leicester constantly wasted time throughout the match with the collusion of referee Taylor. The ref seemed quite happy to allow a whole string of Leicester players to receive prolonged treatment on the field of play for apparently self-inflicted injuries which they then recovered from completely after lengthy input from their 'brilliant' physio. Dickov seemed to sustain and recover miraculously from several near fatal injuries... with such bad behaviour maybe he deserved to have his Dickov!
At one stage it looked as though the ref might have to let the Foxes' physio stay on the pitch during play so as to save him from making repeated journeys from the bench!
With Forest two:nil down at half-time enter 'Billy Blood Drop' of the Blood Transfusion Service! This has to be the ultimate, if not the sickest, mascot ever to grace the City Ground! He's enough to put you off of eating 'M and M's for life!
Billy posed for photographs with kids and gave them stickers during the break. He was here to promote giving blood and it seemed to work because the Forest players seemed to do just that in the second half! Move over Sherwood!
Please excuse the head in the middle of this photo of David Johnson's penalty! Its not easy taking illicit match photos from the stands. If only people would remain in their seats throughout the match!
Just when it looked like Forest would never score Johno was clattered down by Frank Sinclair in the area on 72 minutes and he then calmly slotted in the resulting penalty. Prior to this Forest had just blown two guilt edged chances. First David Prutton swept the ball wildly into the Trent End when it fell to him in the Leicester area with plenty of time, space and a gaping Foxes' goal at his disposal. This was followed moments later by a Marlon Harewood cross that ran right across the goal and inches past the outstretched boots of Johnson and substitute Lester!
Here we see a near mass punch-up after Marlon Harewood was hacked down as he broke away in search of the elusive equaliser! Ofcourse this referee didn't book the culprit!
In the end Leicester were to fall victim to their own time wasting and negative tactics. The game should have been over long before Jim Brennan put in a 95th minute cross which former England keeper Ian Walker misjudged. Jack Lester was waiting beyond him to head in a dramatic late equaliser and silence the blue end of the ground! Mass Forest celebrations followed as everyone tried to absorb what had just happened. Seconds later the final whistle went and much to everyone's disbelief Forest had grabbed the point that their efforts deserved.
And Derby lost again so Forest remained in the play-off zone and moved 8 places and 7 points clear of the Rams with a game in hand!!!!
This was a fairly straight forward 3:0 victory over an injury depleted Bradford side who were without 10 injured senior players for this clash! Here we see early Reds' pressure which was soon rewarded by an 18th minute opening goal from Jack Lester. This took his goal tally for the season up to 7 in all competitions. From then on it was really only a question of how many Forest would win by.
Here we see the Reds running back to restart after celebrating David Johnson's 25th minute goal which came as a result of a 10 yard drive after receiving the ball from Jim Brennan. This was the 100th league goal of his career and took his season total up to 17 not out!.
By this time he could have been celebrating a hat trick having already missed when one-on-one with City keeper Davison in the 15th minute. He put his 18 yard shot just wide. Then, after Lester's opener, he had a 12 yard effort disallowed due to a Marlon Harewood foul.
And the rout was complete after 36 minutes. Here we see the Reds mobbing Matthieu Louis-Jean after the French defender scored a rare goal from a high looping header.
Before the break Darren Ward made his one save of any note, diving at full stretch to his left to punch away a Paul Evans free kick moments before Forest's third goal.
From this point on the match was all but over with Forest not going to far out of their way to add to their lead. Paul Hart wisely took off David Johnson in the 61st minute to rest him after his recent injury, although he might have added to Forest's lead shortly before this when he again only had the City keeper to beat. Surprisingly, perhaps a sign of injury, his shot was incredibly weak!
And Marlon... why do you torment us so? He fluffed a sitter by shooting miles wide after a great run from David Prutton gave him the time and space to round off a great day with that elusive 4th goal!
Still there was lots of atmosphere in the second half with Mexican waves going right round the City Ground for a ten minute stretch, with the exception of the centre block of the Main Stand who stayed glued to their seats every time the wave reached them ...shame on you boring tossers!!!!
Finally the results rolled in... Derby losing at bottom placed Brighton to see Forest move 10 places above them in the table with 9 points more and a game in hand ... And Notts County lost in the FA Cup at non-league Southport having concededed 4 goals after having lead 2:0!!! What a day! Can we make the play-offs?
Due to Wolves' mean restrictions there is no photo report of Forest throwing away the Moleneux match (1:2) after Marlon Harewood had put the Reds in front on the stroke of half-time!
Eight players from Forest's 1966/67 Season team (the best side that never won a thing!) were introduced to the crowd before this pre-Christmas play-off spot 6 pointer. Joe Baker (seen waving) came on last to his famous Zigger-Zagger chant.
Then out came the players to observe a minute's silence for Forest fan Nathan Shaw who was murdered in Burnley before the match at Turf Moor for the crime of following his team.
David Johnson wasted no time in putting the Reds ahead. After just 4 minutes he had netted his 21st goal of the season. The rest of the first half was fairly balanced with neither keeper having a great deal to do as both sides played possession football and the referee continually stopped play for the slightest thing.
The second half was much better with Forest piling on pressure and racking up the chances. Here we see Ricky Scimeca preparing to take a free kick which was well saved by Reading's keeper Hahnemann.
Although the Reds had plenty of chances to add to their lead they continued to spurn them. Perhaps the Forest substitutes, seen here, were praying for a second goal!
Well their prayers were soon answered as Marlon Harewood tapped in a chance that even he couldn't miss on 67 minutes, after a clever pass from Andy Reid.
After the second goal the chances continued to come Forest's way. Matthieu Louis-Jean headed against the post from a corner and Marlon Harewood gifted the Reading keeper the ball when in a one-on-one situation with all the time in the world.
Although he has scored 7 goals for Forest this season, Marlon has missed more clear-cut chances than that!
And Johno... another new hair style...Ginge!
Forest could have won by a street length but had to settle for just 2:0. Des Walker was missing from the Reds' line up but Reading seldom looked like breaking down the Forest defence!
The only sour point in the day came when referee Mike Coburn rounded off one of the worst ever performances by an official at The City Ground, by sending Jack Lester off late in the match for a second bookable offence. But what exactly did Jack do to offend? Paul Hart didn't know so he went over to ask the referee at full-time only to have the ref threaten to head butt him!
And finally... Derby lost 3:0 in the evening at Coventry and so at Christmas they are 10 places behind the play-off placed Reds in the league with 9 points fewer!
Forest sold their full allocation of tickets for this 3rd round FA Cup tie at the Premiership's bottom placed club! The Reds' fans who shelled out for this certainly got their money's worth as this turned out to be a thriller, which sadly Forest lost out by the odd goal in five.
Forest withstood early, if tame, pressure from West Ham before Marlon Harewood put Forest ahead on 16 minutes after being gifted the ball in front of a gaping goal from a howler by Hammers' international goalie David James! Jermaine Defoe equalised for West Ham after 25 minutes so that the sides were level at half-time.
Forest came out in the second half and took the game by the throat! Here we see Johno preparing to launch a menacing long throw into the heart of West Ham's box. This pressure was soon rewarded when Andy Reid thumped in a Harewood cross to put the Reds back in front four minutes into the half. West Ham again equalised through Joe Cole on the hour.
Almost immediately after West Ham scored their second Forest were awarded a penalty but high scoring SuperJohno unbelievably missed this great opportunity to put the Reds back in front!
In spite of Jermaine Defoe scoring a third for the Hammers with less than 7 minutes remaining, Forest refused to give up and piled on enormous pressure to attempt to eqaulise right up to full time!
At the death we thought that Forest had earned the replay that would have been the very least that their efforts deserved. But Marlon's last gasp equaliser was ruled out after referee Philip Durkin was called over by his assistant (yes that's him in the corner of the photo). They spent what seemed to be an eternity discussing the situation before the referee ruled out the goal and Forest were out of the cup.
Still that left the decks clear for Forest to concentrate for the remainder of the season on the main issue of getting back into the Priemiership. And Derby lost at Second Division No Marks Brentford, so it wasn't all bad after all!
Preston's Deepdale may have 3 hi-tech stands but it doesn't have a scoreboard.
Is this their way of giving you the winning lottery ticket number or...
...is it their way of telling us what year this last remaining wooden stand was built in?
Forest started off with a customary early goal from Johno on 16 minutes and seemed to be breezing the match until a short period of Preston pressure led to an equalising goal from Cartwright on 28 minutes.
After the break it was nearly all Forest but the Reds spurned at least 6 clear guilt edged chances to score a second half winner. Here we see Ricky Scimeca lining up to try to emulate his fabulous free-kick success at Coventry earlier in the season. But alas he was unable to make this one count
Here we see one of many second-half surges into the Preston box involving Johno and Marlon. They had enough chances between them to have buried Preston, but could not score the decisive winner even though they both hit a post within a minute of each other!
So it was back to Nottingham with a 1:1 draw and, with none of the Reds' rivals playing in the league due to FA Cup matches, this was definitely a case of two points lost, or perhaps we should say, thrown away!
Job done!!!
Forest put on an accomplished display to outclass the Gils in a very one sided encounter on an awful pitch. Here we can see Darren Huckerby about to strike home the first of his two goals with a spectacular long range shot on seven minutes.
He added his second on seventeen minutes and then made the third for Marlon Harewood straight from the second-half kick-off.When John Thompson added a fourth on 55 minutes it was game over and time for festivities in the visitors section of the terrace, which continued despite a Gillingham goal by the elderly Rod Wallace on 79 minutes.
This easy 4:1 win meant that the Reds moved up to 3rd place in the table and with Portsmouth losing and Leicester drawing again maybe...
Finally... Gillingham should be ashamed of themselves for daring to charge the princely sum of £16 for the privilege of standing outside on terracing that affords an extremely poor view of the match action and has the potential for a good drenching!
When will they ever learn? Derby were sh!t and they knew they were so why did Warren Barton bother to waste his time arguing with the linesman? The score said it all!
Pictured above are two men that Forest fans around the world owe so much to!
John Gregory joined our greatest enemy half way through last season by tricking the Derby County board into believing that the Rams would not only avoid relegation from the Premiership but would go on to become a major force in World football!
Thanks John, you have exceeded every Reds' fan's wildest dreams as in a little over a year of your leadership the Rams have been transformed into a side who could go on to have the best stadium in Division Two, hopefully as early as next season, and no longer have the financial resources to get out of the mess that you helped them into.
And Mr Gregory had the foresight to bring in an injury prone, cash guzzling cart-horse-pensioner who can't last 90 minutes, to help the cause along. Fabrizio Ravanelli has not only helped to accelerate the Rams' rapid financial decline through taking a massive lottery winning style weekly salary of £40,000 a week, but has deprived them of his vast skills by spending very little time on the pitch actually doing what they are paying him for!
On behalf of Forest fans everywhere... they deserve a very special thank you for waving the white flag at the City Ground as the Reds ran riot with two goals from Marlon Harewood and another from Darren Huckerby to the delight of a crowd of just under 30,000!!!!
We wish them both well in their search for new jobs!
What an unbelievable match! Photographed above we see David Johson trying to connect with a second-half cross against his old club.
The Reds found themselves two goals down after 26 minutes through two goals from Town's Tommy Miller. His second came from a highly controversial penalty decision from referee H Webb, for a contact-free 'foul' by Michael Dawson. Forest, already upset by the penalty decision were further angered after the ref ordered a retake after initially accepting that Darren Ward had brilliantly saved the shot.
This fired the Reds up and, with huge vocal support from the 4,000 plus travelling Forest fans in the crowd, rolled up their sleeves and miraculously found themselves in the lead just 7 minutes later through goals by Thompson, Harewood and a Naylor own goal!
Leading at half-time the Reds took the game to Town but Ipswich were able to level the scores on the hour through a Marcus Bent goal, before the Forest team's determination to win the day was rewarded when Marlon Harewood netted his second and the deciding goal of the match, to send their following fans wild! Here we see Darren Huckerby on one of his many menacing runs. Although he didn't score himself he was a tremendous thron in Ipswich's side throughout the game.
This 4:3 away victory against Joe Royle's much improved side was a massive result for Forest which badly dented any remaining play-off ambitions that Ipswich had before kick-off and meant that barring a major disaster the Reds should make it to the play-offs themselves! No wonder the travelling Forest supporters celebrated so passionately at full time!
And the players who pulled off this stunning win... they just seem to be getting better and better at just the right time! Could we be on the verge of greatness again?
This first-half scene demonstrates the commitment shown by the whole Forest side in this vital clash. Here we see Reds' strikers Marlon and Johno setting off together on a run at the Blades, leaving United's Michael Tonge and the Sky Sports pitch-side cameraman in their wake, after retrieving the ball in their own area. The whole team were supportive of each other in every position!
Amongst the best of the first half action was an unstoppable Marlon Harewood header which hit the Sheffield United cross-bar from point-blank range after just 6 minutes, a Ricardo Scimeca long range shot tipped over the bar by Blades' keeper Paddy kenny, and a Michael Dawson header which should have found its way in! Meanwhile, at the other end, United's Carl Asaba missed a gaping Forest net after an uncharacteristic miss-hit by Matthieu Louis-Jean in the 6 yard box!
The match reached half-time with neither team scoring leaving the City Ground with an air of both tension and expectation.
Apologies for the fuzziness of this picture but, in spite of the quality, this was one that couldn't be thrown away!
Forest's patience, pressure and dominance were rewarded on 55 minutes after a brilliant through ball from Andy Reid found David Johnson in space and, as we see here, he wasted no time in racing though to power the ball past Kenny to fire Forest into the lead and take his goal tally this season up to a staggering 27!
And then the City Ground erupted! And here we can see the Reds' players going wild as Forest's stewards struggle to keep delirious fans from racing onto the pitch in the excitement of it all!
With the celebrations and the anticipation of more Forest goals still going on, the Blades were awarded a penalty after a careless and probably needless tackle in the box by Matthieu Louis-Jean brought down Blades' Michael Brown.
After pointless arguing by the Forest defenders Brown stepped up to the penalty spot himself on 57 minutes to thump the ball into the right side of the net as Darren ward dived the other way!
Forest fans were stunned into silence and it was the turn of United's fans to celebrate!
Forest pressed to score a second and perhaps came closest when David Johnson forced a diving save out of the United keeper moments before the Reds' were crushed by the unjust sending-off of Michael Dawson for his only foul of the match after 82 minutes!
Although it was perhaps a clumsy challenge on United's Steve Kabba it surely didn't warrant the red card which Forest boss Paul Hart diplomatically described as being 'harsh'.
Understandably Dawson was upset at Referee Clattenburg's decision, as under FA rules he is now banned from three matches with immediate effect, and he had to be restrained by several of his Forest colleagues before leaving the pitch (as pictured above).
Apart from the damage that Dawson's absence might have on Forest's chances in the second-leg or the final (if they should make it), the sending-off effectively wiped out our home advantage by ending Forest's chances to challenge for another goal in this match. The Reds' should have been able to press for a late winner but instead had to take off goal scorer David Johnson in order to bring on John Thompson to plug the defensive gap. The ten men spent the last 7 minutes plus 4 minutes of added time on the back-foot ensuring that the unthinkable didn't happen.
Incidentally, moments after having 'writhed in agony' and looking as though he had had his leg shattered by Dawson's challenge, Mr Kabba managed to sprint the full length of the pitch. Is Jesus really moonlighting as their physio?
Fortunately the Reds held on to claim a 1:1 draw but in view of how dominant they had been throughout the game until Dawson was dismissed, this result simply was not good enough. Once again Forest's strikers were not ruthless enough in front of goal!
To add insult to injury controversial Blade's boss Nasty Neil Warnock did his reputation no favours by sneering and laughing at disappointed Forest fans in the Main Stand at the final whistle!
A photo-report from this match will be inserted once the pain of the result has numbed sufficiently!
Despite leading 2:0 in the second-half through goals by David Johnson and Andy Reid, the Reds lost 4:3 (5:4 on aggregate) after extra time with Des Walker scoring an own goal to settle the tie!
Still Wolves hammered the Blades 3:0 at Cardiff in the final and Nasty Neil Warnock was sent-off at half-time for arguing with the ref in the tunnel!
Forest made it to the Play-off semi-Finals but after being two goals infront during the second-half at Bramell Lane just caved in.The last 5 minutes of extra time were unbelievably painful as Peschisolido scored a solo goal that seemed to involve him going round virtually the whole Forest side and then moments later Reds' captain headed past Darren Ward to score an own-goal and bring back sad memories of the one he scored in extra-time at Wembley in the 1991 FA Cup Final! A last gasp Blades own-goal gave us something to hang on for a few desparate seconds but it was not to be!
In the end we were just not quite good enough at this stage but what a difference the last year made and what a difference another year could make!
Perhaps on reflection it was a good thing that the Reds didn't make the Premiership, after all 12 short months ago West Brom fans were elated at seeing their team win the Play-Off Final and they will be back at the City Ground again next season as a First Division side!
Forest's final league position was 6th in the Nationwide League Division One (P46,W20,D14,L12,F82,A50,GD+32
,Pts74) with David Johnson scoring an incredible 29 goals and Marlon Harewood 21!After the previous season's financial disasters and selling of star players like Jermaine Jenas as well as David Johnson's failure in front of goal (that led to him being loaned out and transfer listed with no takers!) this was nothing short of a miracle!
Well done to Paul Hart and his young players and with a similar improvement next season we could be in for a return to the glory glory days!
There
will be regular updates of bugcafe's travels throughout the next
unmissable Reds' campaign to try get back into the premiership during the 2003/04 Season.
