It’s fascinating just how much a goal can change a football match.
Crawling wearily toward half-time, a goal behind with stray passes everywhere, the home supporters were rousing from their slumber only to heckle. The side were never more than one unfortunate ricochet from a hairdryer blast from the terraces.
At 1-1 all four stands stood to sing in unison, roaring the side into the break and receiving the half-time whistle with rapturous applause.
A similar applause would have rained down in adulation at full-time had any one of Forest’s second half chances found the net. But they didn’t, and the first boo boys of the season prematurely cleared their throats comfortably ahead of the final whistle.
Forest were not very good last night, there is little point arguing otherwise. But the restlessness and impatience from the stands was typically misplaced.
Spurred by the surprising venom of Tyson’s byline in-swingers and profiting hugely from Majewski’s vigorous bursts, a win was always on the cards in spite of mediocrity in every department.
A fragile defence, burdened with a daydreaming Chris Cohen, were responsible for the collapse. And with it they were responsible for the premature fury of 18,000 Reds.
As for the performance itself, Forest were far too negative. As well as failing the physical battle there was far too much sitting deep, holding tight, and quite literally waiting for one of the various forwards on the pitch to make something happen.
For a long time our only outlet was Nathan Tyson, whose jagged runs and crosses were a rare sign of life. I initially blamed Lewis for failing in his role to weave defence and attack, but despite a strong individual display from Majewski it didn’t get a great deal better when he was subbed.
Billy favours a system of containing teams for long periods and his teams notoriously ride their luck before turning the screw.
If it brings success to the banks of the Trent, it will do for me. But it will never work if the side is going to ship four goals at home to Watford, and it will never work if dwindling home crowds continue believing they can boo us to the Premier League.
PS As an added bonus, I wasted £40 on the revolting new home shirt prior to the game and hated it so much that I left it under my seat at full-time.
Several curiosity-inspired calls to the club have confirmed that the stewards and populace of Nottingham have generously neglected to hand in said shirt. Evidently they are aware of my revulsion and are kindly shielding me from the embarrassment of wearing it.
Cheers.
Ratings
Camp – 6 – not his strongest performance, despite almost denying the second goal with his initial block. It’s easy to defend him because he spent most of the game roasting his defence. With Smith in goal, probably apologising, it could have been a massacre.
Gunter – 6 – reasonable if not brilliant performance from a player who is clearly a cut above his defensive colleagues.
Morgan – 6 – seemed to be caught in two minds all night. Several good challenges were nullified by his poor decision-making, and the fact that he was easily beaten in the air for the first goal.
Lynch – 6 – good in patches, poor in others. A lot of the Watford breakaways, especially in the first half, were via Cohen and Lynch’s side of the defence.
Cohen – 4 –played fairly well on Saturday but got absolutely everything wrong last night. Even simple passes failed him.
Anderson – 5.5 – one or two sharp moments, but generally he was just not involved.
McGugan – 6 – drifted in and out and relevance before being injured. With two months to sit out, he will be missed.
McKenna – 6 – the usual McKenna characteristics, but in a game where the central midfield might as well have watched from the sidelines.
Tyson – 7 – his crossing, which is usually fairly poor, was excellent for most of the game. When we stopped playing him into the channels, the chances dried up.
Earnshaw – 6 – he toiled and laboured but got nowhere. Sometimes he had to drop back to the half way line just to get a feel of the ball.
Blackstock – 6.5 – actually did a less efficient version of the job Adebola did on Saturday. But he scored.
Subs:
Majewski – 7.5 – planting himself high up the field, he was a real thorn in the side for Watford.
Adebola – 6.5 – bagged a goal and was unfortunate to be booked for his first action (winning a header).
McGoldrick – 6.5 – fairly anonymous, but created Adebola’s goal.
