Match report

We had to reshuffle the team twice due to injury; we had to deal with some bizarre home-orientated refereeing; we had to dig deep to hold out an impressive Forest onslaught late on. But roared on 2000 baying Jacks, vocal throughout, we managed to produce a deserved and impressive victory at the City Ground today. A real 15 man effort and a courageous one at that.

There were plenty of impressive performances from Swans players today, but in the end it was just one moment of sublime brilliance that sealed it and secured the three points. Make no mistake, we have not had a player who can do this kind of thing for 20 years - well done LT.

The starting line up was as expected. Gueret was in goal, with Williams and Ricketts at left and right back respectively. Watt partnered Izzy at centre half, with a midfield of Robinson (left), Tate and Martinez (centre) and Britton (right). Fallon partnered Trundle up front.

The early stages saw the Swans playing the more composed and constructive football, with Martinez orchestrating matters, and Britton and Robinson getting forward with energy and enthusiasm. The home side was a little more direct in their approach, and it was clear they would be a threat in front of goal. The first attempt on goal came from Robinson, who cut inside from the left before firing well over. A minute later, Nathan Tyson repeated the feat at the other end. We had a scare on 12 minutes when we failed to clear a free kick which was lofted into our box. From the rebound, a weak header from a Forest player crept just past the post with Willy beaten.

We responded immediately by coming close to taking the lead. Fallon burst through on the right side of the penalty area, only to be robbed of the ball. The rebound fell into the path of Trundle who ghosted past two defenders before driving his low shot against the post. He will know that having done the hard work, he should have put that one away. From the rebound Martinez fizzed the ball just past the angle of post and bar. Shortly after this, Watt was blatantly fouled, although referee (Mr Megson-Lovechild of Forestville) chose to ignore the incident. A few minutes later, Watt (impressive to that point) had to be removed. Forbes replaced him, and went to right wing; Tate dropped to centre half and Britton moved into a central midfield role.

It was in the wake of this first reshuffle that we fell behind, and it was all the more disappointing as we had been the better side up to that point. A simple through ball caught out Izzy, and Tyson nipped in with a smart finish. Suddenly there was life in the premiership wannabes in the impressive stands, hitherto rather statuesque.

A couple of minutes later, Izzy was booked for a foul on the rampaging Tyson, and we began to wonder whether this was going to be a really bad day at the office. But credit to the team, they rallied with a goal of rare quality. Forbes made a terrifically timed run across the two centre halves, and was picked out by a perfectly weighted through ball from Martinez (who says he can only play the ball square?). Forbes responded with a perfectly weighted lobbed volley over the advancing keeper - a great goal to send us all into raptures.

It was fairly even for the rest of the half, but the better chances were forged by the Swans. The best of them came from a quickly taken Martinez free kick. Trundle was robbed, but the ball fell to Britton who drove in a low shot, which the keeper held under pressure from Fallon. Tyson continued to cause us problems, and Ricketts was booked for a foul on him, before Robinson responded with a free kick which was comfortably saved by the keeper. Then just before half time was almost stole the lead when the tenacious Robinson charged down an attempted clearance from the home full back. As the ball broke for him, he attempted a first time lob over the keeper but unfortunately dragged the ball wide. A great first half, in which parity was fair, but a lead had not been beyond us.

To be fair, the home side looked transformed in the second half and they attacked with zest from the first whistle. In particular, Tyson was a constant threat and Tate had his work cut out to stop him. But the former Swan was ably supported by the impressive jack Lester, with Kris Commons surging forward from midfield. On 52 minutes the early Forest pressure almost brought dividends for them when a low shot was blocked excellently by Tate. A minute later Tate was booked for a foul on - guess who - Tyson. On 56 minutes Tate conceded another free kick on the edge of the box, which was quickly taken. A fierce drive was unleashed towards Willy's near post, but he responded well to parry wide. On 61 minutes Lester headed just wide from a teasing cross, and in the process of defending this Izzy was injured. He was replaced by Shaun McDonald, which forced another shuffle. Ricketts moved to join Tate at centre half while Forbes dropped to right back. McDonald took over Forbes' wide right role.

This time, the shuffle worked in our favour because shortly after we took the lead. Britton had been a constant thorn in the Forest side from his central role, and he pounced on a loose ball before sliding a pass out to Trundle who had pulled away to the right of the penalty area. LT controlled, cut inside two defenders, and then unleashed the perfect chip over the stranded keeper. His celebration was priceless, simply turning and walking slowly towards the touchline before being mobbed by his teammates. A minute later Trundle limped out of the game, hopefully not a serious knock, to be replaced by Leon Knight.

The Jacks behind the goal were delirious now, and the roar from behind the goal was deafening. And it remained this way for the final 25 minutes of play. It was mainly backs to the wall stuff, with Forest surging forward, and all our efforts concentrated on repelling them. They did create some chances. Firstly, Tate headed away a teasing cross as it appeared to be falling on to Jack Lester's head. Then on 75 minutes, the ball pinged around our penalty area before Julian Bennett headed wide.

On 83 minutes there was another scramble in our penalty area but we managed to block any serious efforts on goal. And lastly, deep into injury time, Tate cleared a header off line. During this spell we hadn't shown any real goal threat - a couple of wayward efforts only. But honourable mentions in defence go to Tate and Forbes, and defending from the front, Robinson and McDonald. But it was a great all round team effort against an impressive home side, and in difficult circumstances due to the injuries. At the final whistle the celebrations were joyous and deserved from players, management and fans alike. Player ratings:

Gueret - 8 Pretty solid and one excellent save.
Ricketts - 6 less impressive at centre half, but battled well
Williams - 7 Assured in defence, though there were a couple of lapses late on as he tired.
Iriekpen - 6 Worked hard in defence, and he had to.
Watt - 7 Played well, but unfortunate with his injury
Britton - 8 A really lively and tenacious performance throughout
Martinez - 7 Pulled the strings in midfield moving forward; had to dig deep when we were under pressure
Tate - 8 really had a job to stop Tyson, but he managed it - somehow! Two very good clearances to save the points.
Robinson - 7 Tireless in all his duties, and always looked dangerous going forward
Fallon - 5 Won a fair number of headers, but seemed to struggle with the pace of the game. More effective in defence.
Trundle - 8 Was a constant threat with his movement across the front line and usually occupied at least two markers. delivered the goods with the critical goal.

Forbes - 8 (MOM) Great goal, and tireless running. Wore his heart on his sleeve as he switched to defence and performed really well there.

McDonald - 6 Battled hard to keep the pressure off

Knight - 7 A difficult time for him to come on as we were only really looking to defend. He showed some great touched and held the ball well.

And credit to KJ and KN for intelligent team reshuffling when faced with the injuries, and for motivating the side to a great win.

A word about the Forest fans who showed themselves to have true premiership pedigree: they sat down for most of the game, only sang when they were winning, and streamed towards the exits more than 5 minutes before the end of each of half. Oh, and having a full back who was the spitting image of Des Walker smacked of wishful thinking. Great support on the other hand from the majority of the travelling Jacks - terrific vocal backing throughout, most of it in positive vein. A shame about the few that decided to get themselves arrested. All in all, a great win which will hopefully restore some confidence and allow us to kick on from here. Some injury worries and some cards racked up, and we will see what impact they have. But let's enjoy this one, and hope that we can finish off Bradford this time!
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Nottm Forest: Gerrard, Curtis, Thompson (Bastians 77), Breckin, Bennett, Southall, Clingan, Cullip, Commons, Lester, Tyson.
Subs Not Used: Eaden, Perch, Bopp, Pedersen.

Booked: Commons.

Goals: Tyson 21.

Swansea: Gueret, Ricketts, Iriekpen (MacDonald 65), Watt (Forbes 18), Williams, Britton, Martinez, Tate, Robinson, Trundle (Knight 69), Fallon.
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Thorpe.

Booked: Iriekpen, Ricketts, Tate, Britton.

Goals: Forbes 27, Trundle 67.

Att: 19,132.
Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk).

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