Well finally after all these years I have been to Forest. I am not a 'collector' of grounds and there are plenty of grounds I have not visited but a few years ago I realised that although I have been to most of the Midlands ground including Notts County I have never been to Forest and it became a 'thing'.Then for the 5 of the last 6 games I have been away or they were night games (no trains home) or last season loyalty and I could not get a ticket. Hated seeing the fixture list and that the Forest game was Boxing Day, was chuffed when it got put back to 27th, gutted when loyalty game but over the moon to actually get one in the end.So I set off happy that i was off to Forest. Not impressed with the place, although the ground is decent and the atmosphere was great at times - bit odd that the whole ground joined in with the strange 'Mull of Kintyre' song at the start of each halves and then throughout the game only the fans closest to us (we shared the one stand) made any noise .We started Ok and had most of the ball BUT we are so easy to play against. They just defended deep and let us pass it around with no penetration and then hit us with balls over the top. A very easy day for them, and anyone else, whilst we continue to do this. Sure enough just as we were looking comfortable a big hoof over the top and Bellusic went for the acrobatic overhead instead of just heading it away or letting the ball go and staying on his feet. This total cock up was compounded by Silvestri running out of his goal and the Forest striker got a tap in. The game then continued in the same fashion, us with the ball, them defending on the edge of the area and hitting us on the break. It was a dire game in many respects and when a long range shot on 75 minutes was tipped over the bar by Silvetri we worked out that that was the first save either keeper had made!But after 75 minutes of tedium the game really exploded in the last 15minutes. Evans sent on Doukara and then Ant enucci as we went for it. A decent move involving Doukara led to the ball falling to Byram and he took a touch and tucked it away brilliantly. Byram and the rest of the team celebrated right in front of me - we were 3 rows from the front, and the joy and exuberance was great to see. After that we found another gear and really took it to them - first a great cross found Antenucci and he should have scored but sliced it wide. Then the ball came to Wood on the far post but instead of scoring (which he should have done) he hit it with his shin and it bobbled wide. We nearly paid dearly for these misses as a shot from nowhere from one of theirs hit our post as a rubbish game became a real nail biter.Coyle came on and the whistle went - 1 1, a result that we would have settled for pre game but was a bit of a let down given how the game went.Bridcutt was our stand out player but, despite my previous reservations and other listers views from yesterday I think both Murphy and Wootton came out with some credit yesterday and had more than decent games. Bellusci was his normal self 88mins of decent play coupled with a moment of stupidity and one loss of temper. Wood is really suffering a crisis of confidence and a number of fans are on his back which never helps. Also big credit to Evans, it would have been so easy for him to have just sat back and claimed that we were the better team - something I remember O'Leary doing on a few occasions,- and watched the clock tick down. Instead he sent on two forwards and really went for it so well done Steve. He does seem to have brought a new feeling of togetherness into the squad and whilst his gestures to the Leeds fans post match are a bit ott he is a bit of a breath of fresh air. Funny to sing 'sky tv is f..s..' as Byram etc were being interviewed post game.Finally as with all away games they are not complete without some sort of mishap , adventure or problem. This time it was post game, we thought we would have a few beers for the train home. The off-licence on the station was not allowed to sell beer till 8pm, but the kind manager pointed to the Tesco Express 50yards away that he said would serve us. Well he was half right - they could sell beer but only in cans and not in single units !! Well done the police some fine thinking there. We had a good trip back with some other fans in our carriage picking a best Leeds XI, followed by a worst one, and English one, a foreign one, a 'black one' (bit uneasy with that one) one with players with surnames beginning with a vowel etc. As we were doing this there was a lot of noise in the other carriage by the 'Stockport whites' and a certain well know fan with a walking stick. When we got to Stockport passengers were basically locked on the train till the Transport police came and took Sticks away and made everyone get off that train and onto the stopping one ! The tannoy blamed it on the fact that a guard had been assaulted, (so maybe the no beer rule should have been stricter ?) So cheers, Steve, no doubt given your previous you will still be in the Ridings on Tuesday night !All in all a decent day out, a decent result and performance, and Forest ticked off my bucket list.Back to ER on Tuesday and a very hard game v top of the table and then MKDons on Saturday . I will be happy with 4 points from those two gamesDave
_______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
