Full time: Nottingham Forest 2 Vs Sheffield Wed' 1
A DOUBLE from Dexter Blackstock helped Nottingham Forest bounce back to winning ways in the Championship, with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
The striker netted once in each half to help Billy Davies' side respond to seeing their 19 match unbeaten run brought to an end at Derby last weekend by claiming three valuable points at the City Ground.
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Nottingham Forest's Dexter Blackstock
Alan Irvine, who was named manager of the month prior to kick-off, might have thought his side had done enough to earn a point after seeing on-loan Derby striker Luke Varney equalise in the 73rd minute.
But Blackstock followed up his 24th minute penalty with a bundled second ten minutes from the end to get Forest's promotion push back on track.
Forest took a 1-0 lead into half-time but only after taking some time to break down the stubborn resistance of a hard working Wednesday side.
The breakthrough came in the 24th minute, when Wednesday finally handed Forest an opportunity on a plate.
The visitors had worked hard to close Forest down and deny them space in the opening exchanges, but the desire to shut out a shot from Dexter Blackstock, just inside the box, saw Darren Purse punished for a handball as he raised his arms to block.
And Blackstock was decisive from the spot, powering an emphatic finish high to the left of keeper Lee Grant.
It had been Forest's first meaningful effort on goal – but they were sparked into life by taking the lead.
Nathan Tyson forced a smart save from Grant with a low, driven effort from 25 yards, while Robert Earnshaw saw the keeper get across goal quickly to punch away his precise, bending free-kick.
Wednesday's best opportunity had fallen to Luke Varney, the on-loan Derby man, but the striker hesitated too long and allowed Kelvin Wilson to slide into block his angled shot.
It was the visitors who almost drew first blood after the break as midfielder Darren Potter's free-kick took a deflection off the Forest wall that saw it loop onto the bar and bounce away to safety.
Cohen saw a shot deflected wide at the other end, when it looked as though the Wednesday defence would open up for him.
While full back Frank Simek saw a rising effort fly narrowly wide of the post for the Owls, after advancing forwards down the flank.
A double change revived Wednesday, with substitute Etienne Esajas playing a key role, feeding the ball into the box for Varney to pounce, firing a powerful finish into the corner from 12 yards.
But Forest responded to take the lead again, as a Cohen free-kick caused chaos in the six-yard box, with Blackstock forcing a reaction save from Grant, before firing home the rebound from close range.
FOREST: Camp, Gunter, Morgan, Wilson, Perch, Cohen, McKenna, Moussi, Tyson, Blackstock, Earnshaw. Subs: Smith, Chambers, Anderson, McGugan, Adebola, McGoldrick, Majewski.
WEDNESDAY: Grant, Spurr, Purse, Tudgay, Potter, Beevers, O'Connor, Varney, Simek, Soares, Gray. Subs: Hinds, McAllister, Esajas, Lekaj, Clarke, Boden,. Jameson.
REFEREE: Trevor Kettle
157 Comments
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by stuart, nottm
Monday, February 08 2010, 5:58PM
“i hope i win too. git £50 e/w on winning league too. nice post posh red.”
by Posh Red, Peterborough
Monday, February 08 2010, 11:43AM
“Okay, here's the plan. Billy, get your head straight first and focus totally on getting us up. Ignore the AP like they apparently ignore you, tell Ravvi a couple of jokes, pick up the cards you've got and keep playing a brilliant game!
I reckon we need 86 points to be CERTAIN of an automatic place. We've got 55 now so another 31 points is needed from 17 matches (9 away and 8 at home).
If we lose to Coventry and Sheffield United away and then draw every away game and win every home game after that - we're there.
Choose any combination you want but the route is clear. We might just get it with a couple or so less than 86 but 86 does it.
So Billy, Players and Fans. Get totally behind the Reds. Forget all these negative distractions and carry on as you were.
"Come on you Reds! We're GOING UP!!!"”
by Phil Poole, Sutton in Ashfield
Monday, February 08 2010, 3:43AM
“Stuart, I sincerely hope that you win that bet.”
by That was, a good read
Monday, February 08 2010, 12:49AM
“Daryl for presidente.”
by stuart, nottm
Sunday, February 07 2010, 11:43PM
“im not part of the ap dont be daft.
when have i said that raddy doesn't want to sign for forest? i have never ever said that so get your facts right 1st please.
what killy billy said is he didnt know what contract had been put down to raddy. so there is a stunbleing block somewere along the line. do we know its the panel? no........do we know its raddy no.......do we no its his agent? no. could it be another reason? maybe? what have we learned here? well....that no one at all knows whats going on. so why are people saying its the panals fault when they dont even know the truth?
as for stateing that prediction pre-season you are of the minority. yes i dreamed about promotion otherwise i would not have had £100 on them winning the league.but i would be happy with mid table pre season and so would 95% of people on here.”
by Mark and David, City Ground
Sunday, February 07 2010, 10:30PM
“Stop picking on our Stuart, he speaks a lot of sense. You are just a load of nasty roughnecks.”
by Eboracum, York
Sunday, February 07 2010, 10:28PM
“I wish we could get away from all these postings about whose club is the biggest The only figures we should be bothered about is how many of the last 17 matches we are going to win I too think that Martin is the best manager in English football .But Wee Billy is learning.He has even surprised himself”
by Phil Poole, Sutton in Ashfield
Sunday, February 07 2010, 10:15PM
“Stuart do not say we all wanted Forest to finish mid table. That is a lie. If you read anybody elses comments, without wanting to create an arguement you will remember that at the beginning of the season I was hoping for automatic promotion and expecting no less than a play place. I made comments to the effect that the results last season under Billy would have allowed us to finish twelth had he been here all season. From there I went on to say that he would consider any less than that a failure, and his target would be to win the league.
This is fact and has been in print in both the NEP and the official site. Some one else claims you are related to one of the A.P. If all the information you have is correct, then you must have some mole at Forest. If not then try listening to KING BILLY when he stated on Saturday that Raddy wants to join Forest, or is one of them telling lies. I would rather believe Billy than any A.P. sycophant.”
by Daryl, Nottingham
Sunday, February 07 2010, 8:45PM
“Mandy, i was just about to get population figures of Birmingham and Nottingham for this idiot to put somewhere.
I would usually say "I rest my case" But you have done that for me, so, "You rest my case."
Attendances don't mean an anything Mick, let's go back and see what each Forest and Villa have won in the last 50 years, okay.
Villa. (Apparantly the biggest club in the Midlands)
Premier League - 1
Carling Cup - 5
Champions League - 1
Super Cup - 1
InterContinential Cup - 1
The Mighty Nottingham Forest
Premier League - 1
Carling Cup - 4
Champions League - 2
Super Cup - 1
InterContinential Cup - 1
Right, so you have one more Carling Cup than us, but we have one more Champions Cup than you... Let's get one thing straight here, the Carling Cup is a competition that has been won by Oxford United, as recently as the mid 80s. I don't think one extra Carling Cup is better than one extra Champions Cup... So on my information, which is very correct...
Aston Villa aren't as good as Nottingham Forest.
Infact... I'd rate teams in the so called 'Midlands' as being.
Nottingham Forest
Aston Villa
West Brom
Birmingham
Leicester
Wolves/Derby
Peterborough
Which, whichever way you put it, Nottingham Forest are a bigger force than your team that has only recently been good because of one man... What's his name, which big club bought this little known Northern Irish manager over to England? In which city did he play out the last of his football? What would you say was Martin's first real managerial job in football? Whereabouts in the Midlands is this? East or West? Must've been his first big manager job because he then went on to manage on of the top two Scottish clubs, Celtic.
And then he landed up at Aston Villa, not the biggest club in the country, not the biggest club in the Midlands over the last 50 years, as i've already worked out. But Martin O'Neill, one of my highest rated managers, kickstarted his career at Nottingham Forest.
You know what, i don't like it when people go onto a website, trying to cause upset to people, trying to make out that what these people believe in is actually not that good at all... The thing is, we are realistic people in Nottingham... We know that the chances are, Forest wont go up, but we also know that there is no gain without pain, which is something you don't appear to understand, my bet is O'Neill will realise within the next two years that he has taken Villa as far as he can, and he will then leave, and after this point, Villa will become the new Leeds United, a team that got too big for their boots, spent loads of money and plummeted into a lot of debt, and then have to re-establish itself once again. That is my honest opinion. And to be honest, i think Birmingham will stop up this season, maybe scrape next season, but they wont stay up more than two seasons, in that time, Forest will have become bigger, stronger and more feared, and who do you think my guess is as to who will be managing Nottingham Forest come this point?
Every team has its problems, not every team can get promotion and win every cup every season... But Nottingham Forest are in good stead to become one of the most improved teams of this decade, and i as a fan, have a right to have a belief in that... I can't always make matches, i am overworked and have a family and a house to run, but when i make the matches (Two home and one away so far in 2010) it is something that makes me proud, makes me the proudest person in the world, for i, when i make those matches, am a man, supporting my club, something i have done since i was six years old, with no influence from absolutely anyone, through times of doom and gloom, through happier times, but the pain, the heartache, the belief, the wins, all of that makes my support and my passion for my local club, much, much stronger... And you say we have no real fans. I'd start looking closer to home.
Nottingham Forest is something”
by stuart, nottm
Sunday, February 07 2010, 8:25PM
“lol ok you say give him a budget ....thats a load of rubbish it wont work because HE CAN STILL BUY RUBBISH PLAYERS or future managers can buy rubbish players. do you not think that platt was given a budget? well derrr course he did . some people are thick.
do you not realise we signed 9 players in the summer. so what if we havent signed one player in the january transfer window..its not the end of the world. not like we are losing every game is it. yes we would like a left back but we went 10 games unbeaten wiithout a left back. so why cant we go another 10 unbeaten without a left back. im a positive person its all you lot who wanna rock the boat my saying ap out even tho we are in our highest position for 6 years or so. why not just back the team and stop your nepping moaning”