A second win in four days saw Nottingham Forest move further up the table after a convincing first ever League win over Scunthorpe United.
Forest made some good attempts going forward in the first half but Scunthorpe, playing just one up front, defended effectively in numbers, relying on the occasional break to give themselves a chance. But neither side was able to break the deadlock.
Forest increased their pace in the second half, piling pressure on the Scunthorpe goal, and were rewarded with two goals in quick succession.
They kept their composure and looked comfortable as they were rewarded with another clean sheet as well as the three points.
Forest started well and had three corners in a row in the opening four minutes as Scunthorpe struggled to clear the danger.
They had a chance when Chris Gunter drilled in a cross to Joe Garner who sent a diving header towards goal, but he was too far out to put any real power behind his shot and Joe Murphy was able to make the save.
And Forest came close from a free kick after a foul by Jordan Spence on Garner. It was well taken by Cohen and the ball went into a crowded box where Luke Chambers' header from close range forced a good save by Murphy who could not hold the ball and there was a goalmouth scramble before it was eventually cleared.
Dexter Blackstock had a half chance when he picked up Nathan Tyson's cross and beat Murphy to the ball, but sent it flying just outside the far post before colliding with the Scunthorpe keeper.
As Forest pushed forward again a good ball forward from Radoslaw Majewski picked out Blackstock, whose shot from 16 yards lacked power and was an easy save for Murphy.
Scunthorpe made a good break when Sam Togwell carried the ball through unchallenged and fed it to Paul Hayes who had plenty of time to pick his spot from a tight angle but put the ball into the side netting.
And they had another chance when a diagonal ball dropped into the left side of the six-yard box and Wes Morgan did well to guide the ball away from Rob Jones to put the ball out for a corner.
A section of the City Ground thought that Forest had taken the lead just before half time but Paul Anderson's header from Majewski's corner had gone into the side netting.
There was some discussion when Murphy handled the ball outside the left edge of his penalty area, but it was not a goalscoring opportunity and he was only shown the yellow card. Forest were given a free kick just inches outside the box but the ball went into a crowded box and eventually went into the stand for a goal kick.
David McGoldrick came out in place of Garner for the start of the second half.
In a good move early in the half, Tyson did well when he ran towards the box, getting between two defenders and turning to shoot but Murphy was easily able to grab the ball.
Murphy made a superb save when Grant McCann failed to clear the ball and turned it into the path of Gunter whose shot from the near post was tipped over for a corner.
And Murphy was again under pressure when he had to dive in to gather the ball up from Tyson's feet.
The Scunthorpe keeper, who had earlier needed treatment after a collision with Blackstock, decided he couldn't carry on and sat down in front of his goal, eventually taking his time to leave the pitch while the bench could get Josh Lillis ready to take his place.
Forest stepped up the pace and increased the pressure on Scunthorpe and, following chances blocked by Lillis and the Scunthorpe defence, Forest finally broke the deadlock.
A well-taken corner by Cohen found Chambers, who rose up at the near post to get his head on the ball and and bury it in the roof of the net.
As the pressure continued a lovely ball from Majewski found Tyson whose lovely touch got the ball off Jones, but his shot went across the goal and wide of the target.
Majewski received a standing ovation for his contribution to the game when he was replaced by Guy Moussi with 15 minutes to go.
Seconds later Forest increased their lead when Anderson drilled over the cross from the right to the near post where Blackstock just had to touch the ball over the line.
Scunthorpe came close to getting one back when Jonathan Forte did well to get past Morgan. Camp came out to block the ball but it looped off his touch and bounced off the post and back into the arms of the Forest keeper.
Forest continued to press forward and had another chance when McGoldrick's effort was deflected back to Blackstock who got his head on the ball, but it went into the arms of Lillis.
Substitutions and injury breaks resulted in six minutes of stoppage time but both sides seemed to have run out of steam by this stage and Forest comfortably held onto their lead.
Nottingham Forest: Lee Camp, Chris Gunter, Wes Morgan, Luke Chambers, Chris Cohen, Joe Garner(David McGoldrick45minHT)Paul McKenna(C), Radoslaw Majewski(Guy Moussi, 75min), Paul Anderson, Nathan Tyson(Joel Lynch, 90min), Dexter Blackstock
Subs not used: Paul Smith, Lewis McGugan, Lewis McGugan, Robert Earnshaw
Bookings: Anderson 59min, Lee Camp, 69min
Scorer: Chambers 71min, Blackstock 76min
Scunthorpe: Scunthorpe: Joe Murphy,(Josh Lillis63min) Rob Jones, Cliff Byrne, Jordan Spence, Marcus Williams, Sam Togwell(Gary Thompson 78min), Grant McCann(Martin Woolford 65min), Michael O'Connor, Josh Wright, Jonathan Forte, Paul Hayes.
Subs not used: Niall Canavan, Andrew Wright, Matthew Sparrow, Martin Woolford, Ian Morris,
Bookings: Murphy 45min, McCann 54min
Referee: D Webb
Attendance:18,332 away attn: 1,042
