Barnsley V Nottingham Forest: Last Time Out

The last time these two sides met it ended in dramatic fashion, with Forest stealing all three points at the death. Here is Vital’s match report from Nottingham Forest V Barnsley:

Forest On Fire

For 90 minutes it looked like the Tykes would at least hold on for a hard earned point against an organised Nottingham Forest outfit or possibly even nick all three, but in the final 2 minutes of stoppage time it was stolen from under their noses by Guy Moussi.

Barnsley went into the match on a three game winning run, Forest on four, so in this battle of the Championship`s form teams, something had to give. Unfortunately it was the Barnsley defence and Forest made it five from five to go two points off the league summit.

It was almost oh so sweet for the Tykes when Iain Hume`s effort hit the top of Lee Camp`s cross bar in the first half but then Forest began to control their game and forced Luke Steele into some brilliant saves. Forest had eleven shots on target to Barnsley`s five and forced ten corners to Barnsley`s two, proving that if nothing else both ‘keepers were in fine form.

As the match wore on it looked increasingly as though it would end as a 0-0 stalemate as both defences cancelled out their respective opponents attacks, but in the third minute of the four added on by the referee, Frenchman Guy Moussi struck the killer blow, following a long punt forward by Lee Camp and chest down by Dele Adebola.

It really was classic route one football that undid the Reds in the end after some stout defending from much more concentrated and intricate Forest attacks.

Unfortunately for the Frenchman, his celebrations landed him a red card and immediate suspension, as referee Nigel Miller had no choice but to book the match winner for a second time in the game after he vaulted the advertising boards and jumped into a jubilant crowd of Forest fans.

All in all it was a harsh lesson for Barnsley to learn and has given them a taste of what Ipswich Town had to suffer at Oakwell a couple of weeks back when Jon Macken grabbed a last gasp winner for the Reds to heap pressure on winless Tractor Boys manager Roy Keane.

After looking like we’d come away with a point against one of the best sides in the Championship we threw it away. Lessons were learned at the City Ground and hopefully we’ll put them into practice tonight, unlike Saturday against Palace when we could have thrown it all away again for lack of finishing ability.