Carlisle United 0 - 2 Nottingham Forest

Irony barely comes into it. Four days ago, and my friends bombard me with texts of despair over a woeful show at The Keepmoat which, as far as I and a great many others were concerned, positively spelt the end of any hope of automatic promotion. Not enough determination, sponsored hoofball and us fans rapidly losing faith in a manager with about as much knowledge and understanding of attacking football as Harriet Harman MP has of how to relate to her constituents. Hardly a recipe for optimism when you're about to travel to a club who's won 14 home league games in succession and with one foot already on the promotion ladder.

So, in a way it was kind of inevitable that Forest, who've given little for their fans to smile about this past few weeks, put an end to Carlisle's winning run with arguably their best display since beating Crewe back in November.

Six hundred Trickies were there to see it, and to think I almost wasn't one of them when I nearly fell for a joke earlier in the day when my girlfriend texted me saying the game had been postponed yet again due to a waterlogged pitch. Good job I remembered what day it was.

This game was on all right - at the third time of asking, and, despite the lack of shelter from the wind swirling around Brunton Park which was cold enough to worry brass monkeys, I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

Injury to Kris Commons and James Perch meant starts for Luke Chambers and Lewis McGugan. Evidence of Forest doing their homework was confirmed when, having won the toss opted to change ends to take advantage of the wind behind them, something you knew wasn't going to go down too well with the home contingent. And for once, we started well with a full scale attack, forcing a corner as early as the third minute and getting the ball forward via different channels each time. It took us a while to get to play the ball to feet though (nothing new there then!) but once we did, and manage to feed the ball in Tyson's direction we looked marginally more dangerous than our hosts, whose main threat was to try catching us on the break. Still the annoying tendency to blow it in the final third, usually with Agogo (complete with those bright orange boots) nowhere near where he needed to be [Is it my imagination or does he seem to drop deeper each game he plays?] but Tyson was at least making a nuisance of himself, with Ormerod proving a useful sidekick.

This partnership however was only to last until half time, and with Tyson's fragile state once more becoming apparent and Garath McCleary duly replaced him. The only other casualty up to this point was referee Mark Halsey who'd been unable to continue after the first half hour, and fortunately his replacement, Mr Oliver has been one of the more Forest-friendly officials this season. Then shortly after the restart Big Wes was unable to continue, but the enforced change did nothing to spoil the great work being done at the back. The only real scare at this stage came when Danny Graham, Carlisle's main goal threat in the absence of the injured Joe Garner, unleashed a thunderbolt from 30 yards out forcing a top-drawer save from Smudge who, it has to be said was having a superb game, playing with confidence when called upon, though you could hardly say he was the busier keeper tonight.

As we sat shivering in the far corner of the Cumberland Building Society Stand I began to get that feeling that a solitary goal - probably a penalty - was likely to settle this match, though even at this stage it looked like it could go either way, and half time (plus the enforced changes) had not upset Forest's momentum, and were starting to play really well.

Then came the telling moment. Lewis McGugan was rather clumsily brought down by Chris Lumsdon 30 yards out, and Lewis's resultant free kick found Luke Chambers whose bullet header finally beat Westwood (him of the same Gordon Banks display at City Ground only last month) to send the ball into the the top corner and the 600 Forest fans into rapture. I'd been wondering if we were ever going to score against Carlisle, having failed to do so in the previous
three encounters, but this had been well worth the wait.

More significantly, it was at the same stage of the game (75 minutes) in which we always struggle to find a way back, just like when we played this lot last month and gave away that calamitous goal. Carlisle however, did not let heads drop, in fact the goal intensified the atmosphere both on and off the pitch. The travelling fans launched into a few songs, and it may have been a case of sing when you're winning, but quite frankly who cares?

Strange, but I was no longer feeling cold now. Felt as if I'd just had a cup of hot chocolate. Amazing what a goal can do.

There was still time for another couple of scares. In a game which had reverted to end-to-end football with McCleary the main threat for us, and Bridge-Wilkinson for them. It was a free kick from Bridge-Wilkinson 25 yards out which was met by Livesey who fired goalwards. It was truly hearts-in-mouth time as the ball hit the cross-bar. A fraction of an inch lower and Carlisle would have levelled, but we rode our luck as the rebound was headed over and we heaved a huge sigh of relief.

But wait, we're not finished yet. Deep into stoppage time, and with a number of home fans already heading home, Emile Sinclair (on for Agogo with five minutes to go) was the beneficiary of a Chris Cohen cross. As the resultant shot committed Westwood in order to make a close range save, it just needed someone else nearby to finish the job. That someone was there, and it was in the form of McCleary who gleefully stabbed the ball home for his first senior goal. Game over, which it really was just a couple of seconds later and the excellent Julian Bennett led the players over to salute the ever loyal travelling fans. As I was not at Doncaster last week I can only imagine how the atmosphere at the full time whistle must have contrasted with the feeling right now - probably as different as white knight to black bishop.

Carlisle manager John Ward was magnanimous in defeat afterwards, and in his post-match interview on Radio Cumbria he praised the effort made by his players and acknowledged the praise heaped on them by their fans at the end as if it had been they who'd actually won this game. As well he might. This defeat for them made about as much difference to their automatic promotion prospects as it did to ours, especially with Leeds doing them a favour by beating Doncaster, leaving them no better or worse off than before this game. With games running out is it any wonder their fans were almost ecstatic, even in defeat?

As for us, well isn't it typical? Our chances of automatic promotion have all but disappeared and we pull a rabbit out of the hat like this, and totally against the run of form. Maybe acceptance of this situation has helped ease the pressure just a tiny bit, enough for the players to bring out the creativity to produce performances like this, reminiscent also of the stuff we conjured up during the Charlie and Frank period. And yes, the lottery of the play-offs seem as frightening a prospect as ever, yet in contrast to my report on the Brighton match where I'd commented how we'd be lucky to even make the top six, now I suspect other teams in the mix just may be starting to shuffle slightly less comfortably than before at the prospect of facing us in this mood.

Granted, we're not there yet, and the players will have to remain focussed on the run-in to avoid any calamities, something we know about only too well. But tonight's result has only proved that anyone, regardless of form can slip up, leaving us in an ideal position to capitalise.

Enough for us still to even make the top two, perhaps? Surely not...

Ref Watch: Mark Halsey - fears of a typical homer display (this guy's reputation precedes him) were ended just after half an hour when injury saw him replaced by this season's Friend of Forest, M Oliver who let the game flow pretty well in spite of the difficult playing conditions.

Entertainment Value: I've always felt that matches played in high winds rarely make for entertaining football. Tonight was a worthy exception, with Forest contributing the lion's share. 7.5/10

Atmosphere: The 600 Forest fans did a reasonable job making themselves heard against a near-capacity home support, although Radio Nottingham listeners didn't benefit from this. No prizes for guessing which small section of the ground was making most noise after 75 minutes though.

Highlights: Solid defending throughout with a couple of top-drawer saves by Smudge; Chambers' bullet header to break the deadlock was a sweet moment indeed; acknowledgement of the travelling fans by the players at the final whistle.

Lowlights: Could have made more of the chances earlier in the game, but that's about it really.

Stinker: I think the weather gets it for this one.

Stormer: Smudge has been under fire on more than one occasion since that howler when Carlisle visited City Ground. Here, he was outstanding and in control. Credit also to Julian Bennett and Garath McCleary who just never stopped plugging away.