NOTTINGHAM Forest suffered a morale-sapping defeat against Swansea City, as their promotion rivals powered to an emphatic success that was not reflected in the 3-2 scoreline.

The Reds could have suffered a far heavier defeat, on an afternoon when they frustratingly failed to demonstrate their own Premier League credentials.

Italian striker Fabio Borini netted twice, either side of half time, on his debut after joining on loan from Chelsea, after Scott Sinclair had initially put the home side ahead.

Kris Boyd had made it 2-1 at the interval, with a goal late in the first half, and an injury time strike from Paul Anderson gave Forest hope late on.

But, while the winger also hit the post as Forest pressured for the first time at the very last, an equaliser would not have been a fair reflection of a game in which they had been on the back foot for long periods.

Forest had named an attacking line-up, but it was the forwards of Swansea who had the visiting defence stretched in the opening few minutes, as Nathan Dyer in particular made a bright start.

The winger had the Swansea fans on their feet demanding a penalty when he went down following a challenge from Paul Konchesky, but the Forest man did appear to have cleanly won the ball.

Sinclair was also looking a threat down the left side and, when he prodded the ball between three Forest defenders, Lee Camp had to be alert to pounce on it and deny the winger a shooting chance.

A powerful run from Stephen Dobbie carved out a shooting chance for the home side, but his effort was well charged down by Chambers.

At the other end, a deep cross from Nathan Tyson was fired back across goal by Paul Anderson, but Boyd did not quite react quickly enough and saw the ball bounce off him to keeper Dorus de Vries.

When Radi Majewski was fouled 40 yards from goal it gave Chris Cohen the chance to deliver a free-kick into the box, where an unmarked Tyson failed to connect with a header, giving de Vries the chance to collect the loose ball.

The first real save of the game came from Lee Camp, however, as the pace and movement of the Swansea front line saw Sinclair sent racing between Wes Morgan and Konchesky, with the Forest keeper getting down well to push his low 20-yard shot around the post.

Boyd produced a smart, swivelling turn on the edge of the box but his shot was charged down although, seconds later, following a poor touch from Neil Taylor, he had a second chance to pull the trigger and this time forced an adept save from de Vries with a driven shot that looked bound for the net.

It was Swansea who were to take the lead however, in truly spectacular fashion, in the 21st minute.

There seemed to be little danger when Morgan lost possession wide on the right, but Sinclair just managed to keep the ball in, before surging purposefully towards the Reds box.

He left Chris Gunter, Chambers and Konchesky in his wake as he danced across the penalty area, before cutting back to sweep an accurate finish across Camp and into the bottom corner.

It took only five minutes for the home side to double their advantage, as Borini marked his debut with a well taken goal.

The Italian had seen an initial effort charged down, after Angel Rangel had delivered the ball into the box, but when the ball fell to him again, he made no mistake, lifting the ball high into the net.

Forest almost pulled one back in fortunate fashion as a Cohen cross took a wild deflection, sending it bouncing inches wide of the far post.

Swansea could have had a third when another flowing attack stretched the Forest defence, with Borini smashing a powerful shot against the woodwork, after Dyer had created an opening.

But immediately, at the other end, Boyd might have scored when Tyson crossed into the middle for the striker to side-foot an instant shot just the wrong side of the post.

A crunching challenge from Cohen sent Forest on the attack again, with Majewski feeding Boyd through the centre, where the striker saw his shot blocked by Alan Tate.

And, from the resulting corner, Morgan saw a header cleared off the line while Majewski had a driven shot, from the edge of the box, cleared before it could trouble the keeper.

Forest did finally give themselves a lifeline on the stroke of half-time as Tyson broke the offside trap down the left and squared the ball to the near post, where Boyd managed to squeeze a shot beyond de Vries.

Remarkably, Forest could have been level in injury time when Chambers saw a header, from a Majewski corner, deflected just wide.

That proved to be the last contribution from the Pole, who was replaced by Garath McCleary after the break.

A familiar routine was maintained as Swansea threatened within a minute of the restart, with Camp having to palm a rising shot from Dobbie away from goal.

Konchesky then became the second Forest player to be booked – with Anderson having been shown a yellow in the first period – when he hacked down Dyer on the touchline.

The home side were still looking to be full of attacking menace, with Mark Gower flashing a cross-cum-shot right across goal, with several players in white shirts close to getting the vital touch.

Cohen seemed a little unlucky to be booked when he had clipped the heels of Dyer.

But Swansea’s early pressure was to tell, as they restored their two-goal advantage with another strike from Borini.

Sinclair was again the architect, tormenting the Forest defence down the Swansea left, before laying on a neat cut back for the Italian to sweep into the bottom corner.

Despite the best efforts of Cohen, who was performing with his normal prodigious work rate, the Welsh side were entirely dominant in midfield, with Forest seemingly unable to retain possession or repel Swansea’s flowing attacks.

And it took yet another impressive save from Camp to deny Swansea an even bigger lead, after Dyer had fizzed a crisp shot forcefully towards goal from 20-yards.

When Boyd had lost possession in midfield he made little effort to chase back and, within 30 seconds, he was being replaced, with David McGoldrick coming on off the bench in the 63rd minute.

The striker almost had an impact when Cohen bent a dangerous free-kick in from the right, following a foul on McCleary, but just failed to make contact with a diving header.

McCleary then sent Cohen striding through on goal, with an outstanding ball, but de Vries spread himself to save strongly.

While, at the other end, Sinclair had almost netted another spectacular goal, but this time was off target after riding several challenges to twist and turn his way into the box.

Forest had been ready to bring on Lewis McGugan as their final substitution, but then it became clear that Konchesky had an injury and it was Julian Bennett who instead came off the bench to replace the defender.

It was the full-back’s first appearance in a Forest shirt since damaging his cruciate ligament on Boxing Day 2008, in Colin Calderwood’s final game as Forest manager.

A mix up between Chambers and Camp almost gifted Swansea a fourth, but the defender recovered well to block Borini, when it seemed the Italian would have an empty goal to aim at to secure his hat-trick.

Gunter put in a great ball from the right hand side for McGoldrick to attack at the near post, but Tate read it and produced a vital clearance.

McGoldrick then thought he had scored when he prodded a Cohen free kick goalwards, with de Vries appearing to carry the ball over the line, but referee Mathieson ruled that it had not crossed.

Anderson did make it 3-2 in the 92nd minute, when he flicked home a cross from McCleary.

And, two minutes later, the winger then glanced a header cruelly against the foot of the post after Cohen had fired in a cross.

But the home side held on a for a victory that, on the balance of play, they had more than merited.