Nottingham Forest 3 - 2 Watford

OK, I've enjoyed the Olympics, and hopefully at least a handful of our overpaid Pampered Premiership Primadonnas (PPP's) might at least sit up and take notice of the true value of sportsmanship and achievement on a shoestring, as demonstrated by the likes of swimmer Becky Adlington (well, I had to quote a local example, and it is her picture on the front of today's paper!) instead of indulging in the childish gamesmanship (most of Arsenal first team including the Whingeing Arsey One) which got right up the noses of most football-loving folk (especially if you are not a fan of the so-called Big Four), and Portuguese dictionaries are currently being re-written to include a new definition of slavery and how glad I am that the culprit is going to be sidelined for at least three months (is it too much to hope that Ronaldo's much craved-for move to Real Madrid will follow straight afterwards?).

My return home to this side of The Atlantic coincided with the start of The Premiership season, and I still felt obliged to tune into BBC's weekly Score programme, the 'highlight' being the sight of Ray Stubbs practically wetting himself whilst marvelling at how wonderful the English Premiership is, and his attempt at sharing this feeling with fellow pundit Martin Keown being met with a response about as enthusiastic as a boffin realising that studying the sex life of a mushroom is a far more interesting subject. Like I say, I still felt obliged to tune in to the programme, even if only just to see how bad it can get. I was not to be disappointed.

Don't get me wrong. I genuinely hope the day Forest will be once again playing Premiership football will come sooner rather than later, albeit on a far more level playing field than is at present. That is only going to happen once the radio phone-in's no longer feature frustrated fans of Premiership also-ran's reduced to lamenting how 'boring' the top flight is due to the such predictable dominance of the celebrated Big Four. My thoughts entirely.

Anyway, moving on from this fan's customary early-season pop at the Premiership elite, how was today's main event? A glance at the matchday programme confirmed that head-to-head we have the edge over Watford, although I've always maintained they are a difficult side to beat. Not impossible, mind, and I do recall watching a thrilling win at Vicarage Road seven years ago in what has to date been my only visit there, and if I'm not mistaken even our relegation season three years ago produced a stay of execution thanks to a similar result there. All that said, however, I've never considered the Watford fixture to be the most exciting prospects, and against a side who I'd tipped to return to the Premiership last season I was not expecting too much from today's game.

But regular readers of these reports may just about recall me saying that against another side who've enjoyed similar fortunes to The Hornets, a Crystal Palace side whom we've faced in successive August Bank Holiday weekends which both turned out to be right up there among the most thrilling encounters witnessed by Forest fans in recent years.

Years later, it's August Bank Holiday weekend once more, and what a treat we got today!

This was undeniably a game where both sides really went for it right from the off. We had the best of the opening moves when Earnshaw combined with McCleary (deputising for the injured McGugan) to set up Moussi who then blasted the ball wide. The tide turned almost immediately and for the next few minutes we found ourselves pinned back in our own half with Williamson and the dangerous Doyley giving Wes and Brecks a testing time, and left us in no doubt this was a whole new ball game we were gonna have to get used to after the last three seasons.

So it was only to be a matter of time before the scoring would be opened. What was not expected was which end it was going to happen. Guy Moussi I had already heard was making an excellent impression with the fans (with almost a boo-like chant as a token of their affection) with some excellent performances since arriving on Trentside, and another example of him making things happen in midfield came when he beat two defenders before finding Cohen exploiting the space out left. Cohen's pass reached Lee Martin who advanced before unleashing an absolute beauty from 25 yards which Mart Poom was never going to get the slightest whiff of. A truly stunning goal to open Forest's home goal account, and seemingly out of nothing as well!

Heartened by this unexpected advantage, Forest proceeded to dominate and the tide turned once again, back towards the Bridgford End. There was some good passing by Forest, now that the game had settled down, and chances were certainly being created. Martin continued to be a constant thorn in the side for The Hornets, especially since their lardy defence were too focussed on trying to keep Earnshaw in check, giving Martin carte blanche to wreak mayhem.

Eventually though the tide began to turn once more, and danger was averted with a well-defended free kick after Rasiak (never the most popular of players to visit City Ground due to his Derby history) managed to con the referee - about which we will return later.

No, let's return straight away, since the very next incident was to cost us. I guess it wouldn't take long before we'd discover one of the downsides to returning to second-tier football, especially since I'd considered us to have a fairly decent run with officials last season. Welcome to the the wide-ranging world of Championship refereeing, veering wildly between crass pickysville to wavering inept-city. And the assistants were worse. A good tackle by Bennett within a yard of the by-line had all of the Trent End satisfied it had bounced off the Hornet's leg before going out. Goal kick, surely. No, says the lino who flagged for a corner, to much consternation from the fans. In comes Harley's corner which finds Bromby on the near post who thumps the ball towards goal, only for Smudge to pull off a superb block, diving low to send the ball skidding just right of the far post. Too bad it was Tommy Smith (another ex-sheep dip resident) who was first to intercept, and tight angle though it was, managed to lift the ball back across goal where it nestled in the opposite corner to level the score.

Credit then to Forest who may have felt rightly aggrieved by this, but instead returned to the offensive, only narrowly failing to regain the lead when the excellent McCleary set up Cohen with a good chance, but slowly we were beginning to pull Watford's defence apart, and this eventually bore fruit in the 35th minute when Moussi helped cause Watford to leave an Earnshaw-shaped gap in their defence directly in front of goal. Earnshaw pounced, and although Poom came out there was little doubt over where the ball was destined. This first league goal for Earnshaw was the moment I had waited for ever since we delivered him from the hell-hole at the other end of the A52 during the summer, and to see the celebratory back-flip on my first visit back to City Ground certainly resulted in at least one happy fan. Ironic in a way, since it is virtually five years to the day that we witnessed being on the receiving end of an Earnshaw strike when he and his then club Cardiff tore us apart during the early stages of a very torrid season for us.

So, a contented City Ground at half time which had provided a suitable cauldron-like atmosphere throughout the opening period, and more was to follow. The end-to-end play became more defined as both sides contined to attack and counter-attack, with Forest stirring memories from several years ago when we looked well capable of catching them on the break. It was an hour before Watford made their second half changes (the familiar sight of Will Hoskins had stepped off the bench for McAnuff midway throught the first half), which was to shake things up a little, although perhaps not quite in the way Forest would have liked. When a wide ball found Doyley in acres of space out on the right, the Hornets fans all rose as one in anticipation. Our defence on the whole performed pretty well today, but without Kelvin Wilson to marshall the back line and give us that bit of width we lacked, there were gaps for Watford to exploit, and Doyley's cross found Tommy Smith who promptly buried it from 12 yards with a well-hit first touch.

Some game this was turning out to be, having led twice only to be pulled back on both occasions. It was time for a change of our own, and McCleary (who'd shown every bit of character today like he had done in the closing stages of last season) made way for the man we're so accustomed to missing at this stage of the season. I'm probably not alone in wondering how Tyson will perform at this level, but the sight of him coming off the bench this afternoon was undeniably welcome.

Within two minutes he'd made full statement of his intentions. As if his first touch of the ball hadn't been dangerous enough by forcing Demerit to turn a low ball over the bar, he was the beneficiary of a well-struck Earnshaw free kick which cannoned off the inside post, flooring Poom in the process, leaving Tyse the easiest of tap-in's from a couple of yards, sending the home fans into rapture, almost on the same scale as on May 3rd.

When Watford had equalised it looked as if it might just take one more goal to settle this contest, however it soon became apparent it was going to need another to make it safe enough, and we came very close to achieving this when Tyson turned provider having broken free. He laid on a pass for Earnshaw, but by the time he'd done this he'd been forced slightly wider than ideal and Earnshaw could only shoot wide. Eventually Martin - to a deserved standing ovation, no less - made way for the fan's other eagerly awaited moment - the grand entrance of one Andrew Cole, having made sufficient progress recovering from injury even if he looked slightly less than happy during warm-up, and four minutes to make an impression whilst We were trying to shut up shop was hardly going to be his best time to shine. Nonetheless the arrival of yet another Nottingham-born player and with achievement of his pedigree, this was a truly exciting moment.

Just a few minutes more to hold out, yet it still seemed an eternity as both sides still engaged in end-to-end football. One or two scares, but Rasiak was kept in check for long enough and at the other end Sinclair (on for Earnshaw) and Tyson kept up the pressure. Biggest sigh of relief though came when Smudge managed to grab the ball headed down from a long throw right at the end amid screams and whistles from the fans in anticipation of the final whistle, which, when it finally came sparked a similar explosion of noise from the fans to the one we witnessed back in May.

When I first viewed the fixture list I was under no illusion about the first few games of the new campaign. Whilst being unable to find Sky Sports screen to watch the Reading game in the neck of the woods where I was staying I was still fortunate enough to catch some brief highlights on some anonymous Stateside 'Sar-kerr' channel, and most independent internet reports I read suggested we gave a pretty good account of ourselves. I gathered it was a slightly different story at Swansea last week, but there's bound to be further similar frustrating encounters at some point or other. Add today's win to our overall points tally and we are on a par with how we fared after three games when we were more than holding our own in this league several years ago. The only slight concern I have at this stage is hoping that we don't run out of steam too quickly if all the games from this moment on are as intense as this, particularly if there are further problems with injuries. I guess we'll soon discover how effective pre-season stamina training was.

And look who it isn't we've got next weekend! Whether or not that will be the time we finally get a win (or even a draw for that matter) at the venue where we have the poorest record in the entire football league, only time will tell. Molineux will no doubt be just as hostile as it's always been, but with a squad which today has shown what it is capable of, anything is possible.

It's great to be back!

Ref Watch: Mark Haywood - May have correctly awarded the free kick which lead to the winning goal, but this guy was a complete Numpty, taking about five hours to halt play when playing the advantage would have been more sensible. Annoyed the home fans for about the first hour, then winding the visitors for the remainder. Welcome back to the Championship!

Entertainment Value: An absolute cracker, with both sides going for it. 9/10

Atmosphere: Ebbed and flowed as the scoreline changed, but built up steadily as victory drew nearer.

Highlights: Breaking the deadlock with Martin's stunning goal; returning to the attack after conceding; plenty of creativity with plenty of attacking options.

Lowlights: The PA guy - I know that stirring up the atmosphere is a vital requirement which he certainly achieved, but it was in such OTT fashion, it was reminiscent of a game at Molineux some years ago where the spouting of endless drivel just grated on me. I dread to think what he's going to come out with come the occasional off-day by Forest.

Stinker: No-one today.

Stormer: McCleary, Moussi, Bennett and Earnshaw were all excellent, though Lee Martin just edges it today with his inspirational play and stunning opener.