Saturday 16 February 2008

It was a bitterly cold afternoon at the City Ground and in true Forest fashion, of late, it took the Reds 45 minutes to warm the fans up. Junior Agogo slotted neatly back into the starting line up, replacing Will Hoskins who had injured his back during training in the week. Agogo went on to put in a performance that showed the attributes of the striker and made you realise what we had been missing whilst the big Ghanaian was away at the African Cup of Nations.

The game started with a succession of miss placed passes and all to frequent off-side decisions. This would go on to set the tone for much of this League 1 clash. Nathan Tyson tested out Swindon's giant Slovakian goalkeeper, Peter Brezovan, by chasing down the goalie as he delayed over a back pass. The Robins stopper recovered sufficiently after smacking the ball against the on rushing Tyson.

Swindon's Jon-Paul McGovern tried to chip Paul smith from the right edge of the 18 yard box whilst the quick and enthusiastic Anthony McNamee on the left also fired wide. Referee for the day, Mr. Foster was called upon on the 19th minute but it appeared he had left his rule book at home. Tyson, chasing onto a through ball with Jerel Ifil was brought down on the edge of the box. Ifil was indeed the last man but un-like the letter of the law the big centre half only saw yellow.

26 minutes on the clock and another good run from Tyson ended in a chance for Commons, but Decembers player of the month squandered it. The game failed to provide any real shape with an abundance of miss placed passes and a frequent game of head tennis being the order of play. It was McGovern who had the next real chance but he once again fired wide from the right.

Junior agog showed his real desire and determination as he tried to force his way through the heart of Swindons defence.. The Ghanaian was brought down 20 yards from goal and up stepped Lewis McGugan, new contract and all. The first effort was straight into the wall but McGugan composed himself and smashed the next effort goal wards. Brezovan was alert though and pushed the shot away for a corner.

Deep into added time in the first period and referee Foster had us all scratching our head's when he awarded a free kick against Wes Morgan on the edge of the Forest box, Morgan, sporting large white strapping after needing nearly ten minutes of treatment off the field following a cut to his head, was stunned further as Mr.Foster booked the forest centre back. The free kick was hit straight at Smith and with hat the half came to an end.

A few moans and groans could be heard around the ground but nothing of the sort we heard last week following the first half against Millwall.

Forest started the second half superbly well with an ever improving Matt Lockwood, deputising for Julian Bennett, winning the ball out left with a strong challenge. He then played a wonderful through ball for the on rushing Tyson, Forest's number 9 raced into the left edge of the area before dispatching the ball past Brezovan for his 9th of the campaign. Moments later Tyson could of made it 2-0 but fired over the bar. The goal had nudged Forest into a higher gear and Swindon were struggling to contain the host's.

Commons fired in a shot left footed and Lewis McGugan danced past the last man only to lose his usual coolness and blast over from close range. But it was Agogo who should of converted Forest's next chance. Tyson once again sprinted into a good position before squaring 8yards out, leaving Agogo with a virtual empty net to aim for. Whether it was Agogo's bright Orange boots or his eagerness to score that put him off i'm not sure, either way he miss hit the shot and sent the ball spinning well wide of the target.

With Swindon trying to press forward Forest continually looked to play the ball over the top for the speedy forwards to run on to, but with Aljofree commanding the back line the Forest pair were successfully caught off-side on several occasions.

Swindon failed to register a shot of any real note on the Forest goal with Easton's header as good as it got whilst Cohen failed to convert after more good work from Tyson.
Tyson was subbed soon after and early prognosis is the once again Forest will be without the striker for several weeks due to a ham-string problem.

The Last 15 minutes saw few chances but it was enough time for the referee to make one last big call. Jerel Ifil re-enacted his foul on Tyson from the first half, which saw him booked, this time on sub Emile Sinclair. Once again the centre half brought a player down on the edge of the box and once again he was last man. This time Mr.Foster only gave the free kick and spare Ifil from the early bath.

After nearly 5 minutes of injury time the ref drew to an end another relatively easy home 3 points for the Reds. Forest keep their 16th League 1 clean sheet and extended their un-beaten home run to 14. With Carlisle and Leyton Orient both to play this week, both away, the loss of Tyson could prove costly but with the timely return of Junior Agogo coinciding with the availability of Holt, Bennett (suspended) and Hoskins (injury) for those games Colin Calderwood must remain up beat and push Forest onwards and ultimately more importantly upwards.

Alan March.
Commentator for Visually Impaired Spectators at Nottingham Forest and Wembley Stadium.