Forest 3 Watford 2 … like two Olympic boxers

By: Tim | August 26th, 2008

With more end to end action than your average porno flick, this game was a cracker for neutrals. Pity I’m not a neutral, then, but I had a good feeling before Saturday’s match with Watford. I’m not really sure why, especially considering the unbeaten visitors had claimed four out of six points compared to our one. I guess it’s the same feeling that most fans get before 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Anyway, Aidy Boothroyd had this to say after the match: ‘We were like two Olympic boxers, flailing arms and everything, but not very good at defending’. Rarely has a manager’s post match analysis been so apposite – the game was full of neat attacking football, but the score-line owed more to the lack of good defending than good attacking.

The main positive for us was the contribution of Lee Martin. His opening goal was an absolute belter – turning inside to curl a 25 yard shot in to the top corner – and he seemed to be at the heart of every attack we had. When he was eventually subbed for Andy Cole late on in the game, his performance got the standing ovation it warranted. Now we know why Kevin Blackwell was so keen to keep him, and why Fergie is not so keen to let him go.

Although Breckin played quite well, we obviously missed the authority of Kelvin Wilson as Watford were able to exploit the holes in our defence and equalise 10 minutes later. Chambers was one of those holes, it looks increasingly like he hasn’t made the step up to Championship level football. Earnie soon made it 2-1 though, after slotting home a Guy Moussi pass before the break.

Moussi has firmly established himself as a fan favourite, which is great to see as his performances deserve it. Every time he gets the ball the word ‘Moose’ goes round the ground, it sounds like booing – not unlike the ‘Ruuuuud’ chants at United a few years back. I’m guessing someone has explained this to him as his performances don’t suffer. He even has a Bonnie Tyler-quoting website dedicated to him.

Watford drew level again just after half-time, but another positive for us came in the form of Tyson returning, and Cole making his competitive debut at the City Ground, the former scoring the winner just 3 minutes after coming on. If Tyson can remain injury free, and Cole can regain full fitness, we should score a hatful of goals this season.

We deserved the three points on the balance of play, with Earnie and Tyson both missing chances to kill the game late on. I hope we’re not in for more ‘great for the neutral’ type games though, especially at Pride Park.