Match report: Blackpool 1 Forest 1

ON the approach to Blackpool's stadium, a faded picture of Sir Stanley Matthews hangs forlornly outside a boarded-up pub, amid a street of equally run down, weather-beaten terraced houses.

If the half-finished ground, coupled with a lumpy, threadbare and rutted pitch had not already enhanced the image of a club desperately clawing its way back towards those days of former glories, when the legendary striker was firing them to FA Cup success, then the celebrations at the final whistle emphatically did.

Because Blackpool's Championship survival was greeted like another Cup final victory, as the players toured the ground accepting the enthusiastic plaudits of their delighted fans as if they had just defeated Liverpool or Manchester United, rather than scrambled a dour 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.

But then, this match did have the ambiance of a Wembley final, given the comparable state of the playing surface that, had there been the simple addition of a few piles of dog mess dotted around, could easily have been mistaken for a Sunday morning pub pitch.

Unfortunately for Forest, who are also fighting to restore themselves in a position more akin to their proud, more recent history, this result was not quite enough to secure survival.

Instead, tonight, Billy Davies and his players will be hoping to find themselves celebrating far away from a football pitch, as they hope that Reading will do them a huge favour by condemning Norwich to a defeat that would ensure the City Ground hosts Championship football again next season.

In the manager's case, the cinema- goers of Nottingham should perhaps be understanding if their viewing is interrupted at around 9.40pm by either a shout of celebration or a yelp of frustration amid the darkness, as Davies admits he is not planning on visiting Carrow Road this evening.

"I won't be going to the game tonight, I am going to go to the cinema or something I think, somewhere where I can hide under my seat with my head buried in some popcorn," said Davies.

But, if the course of Forest's season is to be continued, then it is more likely that their fate will be left in their own hands next weekend, when already doomed Southampton visit Nottingham hoping to bow out of the Championship with a flourish.

If that does prove to be the case, then Forest can still go into the match in good heart.

Not because much of the football they played on Saturday was of any quality – that much was impossible in the circumstances, as some less than seasonal weather conditions combined with the awful pitch to blight the efforts of both sides. But, because, for the fifth, unbeaten game running, Davies's players performed with the kind of grit and determination that will be invaluable on what could prove to be another weekend of intense nerves and trepidation.

In the end, while Blackpool celebrated, Forest will have greeted the end of the game with a sense of regret, as they reflected on a handful of great chances that had gone begging.

This was an afternoon when, with a little more fortune – and fewer acrobatics and heroics from Seasiders keeper Paul Rachubka – Forest could have sealed their Championship status.

But they can console themselves at least that, back at the City Ground next weekend, they will be performing on a stage more fitting to their abilities, where their passing ability and creativity will become more important than the old fashioned blood and thunder required on Saturday.

Davies had warned it would be a battle against the conditions and a side with a steely resolve to avoid being sucked into the relegation fray at the last minute themselves.

And, as the swirling wind and driving rain steadily began to increase in volume, so did Blackpool's threat.

As the match kicked-off, ticket-less Blackpool fans lined the fences along the construction site behind one of the goals.

But it was the travelling fans, whose nerves were even more on edge as Forest made a rampaging start.

Paul Smith had been forced into an early save to deny David Vaughan as the midfielder drove in an opportunistic shot.

But his opposite number, Rachubka, was – for the only time in the match – left helpless as an emphatic volleyed strike from Dexter Blackstock, rifled in off the underside of the bar at the near post, saw him convert a driven cross from Joel Lynch.

At this stage, it was Forest who were coping better with the combined influences of the pitch and the weather. But, as the heavens opened to dampen the exposed Forest fans' spirits, there was more misery to come as a familiar face returned to haunt them.

A superb, incisive ball from Vaughan split the Forest rearguard and sent Brett Ormerod – the striker who played a key role in helping the Reds win promotion while on loan at the end of last season – racing through to plant a decisive low finish beyond Smith.

Both sets of bedraggled fans will have been happy to see the sun peak between the clouds as the rain abated, unfortunately the outlook on the pitch took a turn for the worse as the game degenerated into a scrappy skirmish.

The turning point of the second half came as Blackpool defender Ian Evatt took the fighting spirit a little too far by clawing back Joe Garner after the striker's timing had carried him through the offside trap, earning himself a red card. It prompted Blackpool to adopt a defensive approach that Forest struggled to break down.

Cohen was unlucky not to add to the punishment dealt out by the referee, as he bent in a delightful free-kick that Rachubka swatted away in breath-taking fashion.

Chambers also came close as, from the resulting corner, he glanced a header narrowly the wrong side of the post.

With the numerical advantage, it was always Forest who seemed the more likely to regain the advantage but Perch was left with his head in his hands after seeing his close-range effort cleared off the line by Rachubka.

A Stephen Crainey free-kick brought the best out of Smith in the Forest goal, with the keeper stretching himself full-length high to his left to push the ball around the post.

Forest were frustrated again as substitute Robert Earnshaw, while glancing a header wide of the post, seemed to snatch the ball off the head of Perch as the midfielder seemed destined to power it home.

The striker, who is likely to be fit enough to claim a starting place next weekend, could have a crucial role to play against Southampton.

But Forest will be hoping that their own celebrations can begin, long before that match even kicks-off, if Reading can do them a favour.

Even if a few cinema-goers get a shock along the way.