Normally I fear change but today I decided to embrace it with a 'spoons fry up and a bus and train to DC so that I could properly "get in the mood" for the game
We went to a pub called the Cricketers which I'd never heard of (more change) and was very pleasantly surprised by it being a proper old pub with decent ales
The wifi was a bonus (for my son) and had I noticed that they did decent portions of cheeseburgers and chips it would have been the perfect start
Matt, the most pretentious of pre match eaters, did, however, enjoy the chilli nuts and pickled egg I bought him to keep his weird eating record intact...
Amy was kind enough to give me a card at the game and after all the beers I think I did genuinely wear with pride the birthday 1D badge it came with...
The crowd started in fine voice and it looked like a sell out and Ritchie almost rewarded the noise in the very first minute but his daisy-cutter from the edge of the box was always going wide
On 9 minutes a clear pre match plan became clear as O'Kane attacked down the right and put a low cross in towards Kermorgant
He volley passed it to Grabban on the right and Bournemouth's goal machine smashed it near post and their keeper made a great instinctive save
This was a game that Forest HAD to win, yet didn't press anywhere on the pitch
I can't remember a game when our players had so much time on the ball - weird??
My mate Steve had sacrificed his beer drinking as he had a 100 km bike ride the next day on behalf of the British Heart Foundation and the Forest fans were kind enough to contribute with a 20 minute sponsored silence
They finally did wake up then when McLaughlin finally created their first chance by cutting in from the left past two very weary looking tackles but his shot was so weak it almost stopped before rolling for a goal kick
Fair play to the away fans though, once they did wake up they made some proper noise, so much better than at the City Ground earlier in the season
What made the noise all the more impressive was that Forest were having to do so much running without the ball, chasing it from side to side as AFCB tried to pass the opposition into submission
Saying that, the keeper was largely untroubled which only goes to prove the point that it's not just about having the ball but what you do with it
A couple of half chances from Pugh and Grabban were the best the home side could muster and they were almost punished for their lack of cutting edge on 38 minutes
At that time, out of nowhere, a ball was slotted through the AFCB defence and Derbyshire was through on goal
Rather like an angry cat, Camp came out and tried to make himself as large as possible as the in-form striker weighed up his options
He elected for a low strike towards the far left corner but Camp was able to adjust his feet quickly enough to kick the ball away
Sure it would have been against the run of play but how often have we seen that situation this season
AFCB continued to press forward and with 2 minutes before half time the pressure finally paid off
A sloppy looking bouncing ball was flung out to the right and just as we were expecting Brazil to catch it, suddenly Francis was there to head it infield and run after it
The Forest defence were clearly caught still with their cigars and brandy in their smoking jackets and there was a mad scramble to catch him up but they simply didn't have the pace
Looking up, Francis dinked the ball to the far post and there was slinky-necked Kermorgant to power the ball down, heading it right into the bottom corner to make it 1-0
Half Time 1-0
The crowd were buoyant as the second half kicked off and it only took 2 minutes for AFCB to double their lead
A far more attack minded O'Kane found himself running at the ball and even though he never looked once like he had control of the ball, it kept sticking with him
Finally a tackle came in to relieve him of the ball but all it did was fall to Grabban just 6 yards out
It wasn't a one on one so instinct kicked in and he drilled the ball low at the goal
It must have been travelling at light speed cos no-one wanted to get in its way as everyone seemed to jump straight over it, including the keeper, and finally we had a goal at the North Stand!! 2-0
Just two minutes later, Kermorgant, still smarting from not being awards the player of the season (despite not being here for most of it) decided to throw his hat in the ring for goal of the season
The ball dropped to him just outside the centre circle and seeing the keeper off his line he launched and audacious 40 yarder
Back De Vries ran, jumped and caught the ball. His momentum had him landing well behind the line but he deployed his extendable gadget arms to ensure that ball itself never crossed - excellent thinking / keeping
Forest were clearly rattled. None more than Halford who, at another AFCB corner on 50 minutes confused the ref's whistle with a boxing bell and punched Kermorgant in the side
It was as clear as day but not for the first time this season it was missed by the officials - I don't think TV coverage will ever be allowed by the dinosaurs of the game past goal line technology but if ever there was an example of why it would be a good idea...
Five minutes later and the game was turned on its head
The ball was played wide left and as Francis turned he slipped and fell on the ball
Yes it hit his hand - but did he mean it?
A free kick was awarded and clearly our defence thought that as it wasn't a real free kick it didn't count
That's how I account for the fact that as the ball was zipped over there were 3 Forest players in a line attacking the ball
Two of them realised Halford was in the mix and not wanting to get the Kermorgant treatment they graciously stepped aside and he powered his header past Camp, who had no chance
Good delivery, good header - bugger 2-1
Just 10 minutes later it could have been even worse as a Forest corner bounced, 4 yards out, to the feet of Halford again but his conscience thankfully got the better of him and he smashed it into the car-park
A real let off and Forest were to rue that wasted opportunity just 2 minutes later on 69 minutes
The ball was played out to Pugh and as he cut inside Jara, he inexplicably just tripped Pugh up in the box
A softer penalty you will never see and as the North Stand stood expectantly, Grabban passed the ball into the right of net with the keeper diving the other way 3-1
Phew
Forest did try to press forward from then but were simply unable to keep hold of the ball and were always going to be at risk from the quick counter and so it proved in injury time
AFCB countered on the left and passed the ball to Rantie at the edge of the box, who had come on for the last 5 minutes for Grabban (much more sensible sub than bringing Pitman on)
What had preceded this move was a rousing chorus of "if Rantie scores, we're on the pitch"
I'm no psychologist but making him feel like the fat kid in the playground with a built up shoe and glasses like milk bottle bottoms that always gets picked last for teams, isn't going to improve his fragile confidence
Seeing the goal in front of him, he passed it wide (no surprise there then) to the free Kermorgant who smashed it across the keeper into the bottom left corner to make it a thoroughly deserved 4-1 final score
Summary - Not the best I've seen AFCB this season but still far too good for Forest
The passing and moving was excellent and the lack of chances I'm putting down to Forest's gobsmacking decision to park the bus rather than go for the win right from the first whistle
Next season I hope that we will see ourselves as contenders as others have clearly seen our qualities and are setting themselves up more and more to nullify them
I do think we have finally thrown off our small club complex and if we start the coming season as we have played since January, the rest of the league won't have the luxury of the head start we handed to them
Lastly, look out in the coming weeks for a link to a petition I'm creating to campaign for weekly pitch invasions
I could finally just get out of the stadium without people rushing to the steps then standing there for 10 minutes to have a good old sing song
Star Man - O'Kane - industrious throughout finally showing that he can compete for that Arter role of terrier in the middle whilst keeping the team going forward
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