By CCFC Sid
April 7 2005

A near full house (Where have you been all season people?!) saw CCFC take a giant stride in making sure at least two teams in The Championship can't catch them. Now if we can just pick off a third.... A cracking Gary McSheffrey penalty, followed by an Henry-esque few moments of brilliance from Dele Adebola put CCFC 2-0 up before half-time, giving CCFC a lead they never looked like squandering - how many times have we been able to say that this season?!

And, had CCFC used the wind to their advantage in the second half, they could have done Forest severe damage in the "goals against" column. Forest were let off the hook, but never looked likely to make CCFC pay for their profligacy....

It's very rare this season that so many players have been contenders for "Man Of The Match" award, but the names of Page, Doyle, Hughes, Adebola, and McSheffrey were all mentioned, while the rest of the side couldn't have been to far behind either.

Forest's chances of staying up now look as difficult as the task taken on by one brave sole in the Main Stand, Block M last night - to get those seated around him to actually sing! (And hats off to the man, because momentarily some of them did!).

Richard Duffy almost scored a Hyppia(!) style goal with about 10 minutes on the clock (Stealing in at the back post, but being unable to score past Gerrard), while Dyer tormented Forest's defence far more than he had bothered Brighton's five days earlier, with Commons booked for a foul on him.

The opening goal came after Taylor had handled in the Forest area, and despite Gerrard's best attempts to unsettle the CCFC youngster, Gary McSheffrey stepped up to smash his spot-kick in the top right-hand corner.

A decent cross from Hughes was just missed by Adebola and Goater, and minutes later a cracking McSheffrey effort was parried to Adebola, only yards out. Somehow he managed to miss, and in days/weeks/months gone by, this would probably have seen him disappear for the rest of the game until being substituted - but not this day!

Five minutes before half-time Adebola collected the ball just inside the Forest half, right on the touch-line, and in true Forrest Gump style, ran, and ran, and ran! The goal showed everything that is great about said player, and also everything that infuriates about him too. We know what he is capable of, he knows what he is capable of, but he just cannot seem to reach the necessary level of consistency....

In between, Dyer was put clean through by a McSheffrey pass, but was given offside, while McSheffrey was also booked for a scissors style challenge on a Forest defender. Unnecessary, and hopefully not costly....

The half-time break saw Forest players come out a few minutes early, and go through what looked like the equivalent of the after-match "warm down" routine!

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, with Forest pinned into their half throughout. And, while substitutions were made by Megson, this changed things very little, with Dyer and McSheffrey missing decent chances to put the game way beyond Forest's reach.

Commons, who has in the past scored a couple of quality free-kicks against CCFC, wasted one opportunity, and seemed to be the one Forest player that actually had a clue. If they are relegated, he will surely leave....?

With 20 minutes left, a Doyle through ball saw McSheffrey given the freedom of the entire Forest half of the pitch, but his effort picked out Gerrard rather than the back of the net. Minutes later, Benjamin replaced Goater.

Steele, who had looked solid for the entire B&HA match and most of this one too, had a couple of "flapper" moments, including spooning an effort into Robert Page, who using either his chest or arm, gave the ball back to his keeper! Half-hearted penalty appeals were heard coming from the Forest fans, but nothing was given (And rightly so!).

Fair play to Forest supporters for keeping their sense of humour, singing "we've had a shot on goal" (After 80 minutes), followed by "we want two" soon after!!

The only downer for this match was the site of Stephen Hughes being stretchered from the pitch (A minute after being booked), with what looked a quite serious injury (As of yet, no details). He was replaced by Isaac Osbourne, while Dyer was replaced by Andrew Whing.

The two CCFC substitutes linked well to set up a CCFC attack, with Whing being fouled by a Forest defender before he could send his cross into the Forest area. The free-kick came to nothing.

Taylor hit the bar for Forest with seconds of the five minutes injury time left, and the final whistle brought obvious relief to the vast majority of those still inside Highfield Road.

West Ham away on Saturday should be a tougher task, as CCFC seek those final few points to take them to safety....

The only gripe: Once again, to many "complimentary tickets" given out - CCFC is not a charity!