Ricardo's Report v Forest

[ricardo 7,384]

As the years have gone by I ''ve been less and less affected by nerves before a game and today everything was going along swimmingly until about 5pm when Ricardo was suddenly struck by several visits to the smallest room. Maybe it was the visit to the wine bar for my pre match Peroni but whatever it was it was certainly "squeaky bum time".I usually like to arrive about 10 mins before the off but today I was a good half hour early and the sight of both Holty and Wes warming up settled my nerves no end. City won the toss and attacked the River End and from the first whistle you could see that both sets of players were up for it. After a couple of minutes Tyson chased a throughball in the righthand channel which looked a goalies ball all the way. Ruddy got to it alright but his clearance cannoned straight off Tyson and flew back directly into the net. It was enough to make strong men weep and Ricardo''s confidence was well and truly shattered. Fortunately our boys are made of sterner stuff and roared back at Forest. Wes had already been dumped a couple of times and on the third occasion earned a free kick 30 yards out on the right flank. Fox''s peach of a cross found its mark as Holty leapt head and shoulders above everyone to net a glorious equaliser.With the crowd in full cry it was now hectic end to end stuff with both teams trading blows. Forest had a 20 yard freekick fly inches over and then Andy Surman was just wide with a cross shot after showing great skill to control a high ball, make ground into the box to turn and shoot. The Forest central defenders were playing too far apart and Jackson twice nearly broke through. The second time it was only great work by Camp that prevented City going in front. Back came Forest again and on 27 minutes some great link play on the left from McGugan left Moussi with a clear chance which came back off the right hand post and was eventually scrambled clear. On 37 minutes Holt picked up a ball 30 yards out and his quick pass to Surman split the defenders on the edge of the box. Surman was calm and collected and easily beat Camp with the Forest defence begging in vain for an offside flag. An enormous cheer greeted the halftime whistle that ended a half in much better fashion than Ricardo had expected after the opening minutes fiasco.The hectic pace continued as the second half opened but with City looking the more likely to score. Surman flashed one wide and then the speedy Jackson almost beat Camp from an angle on the right. This was Jacksons best game to date IMO and his pace really bothered Forest. There was plenty of skill on show from both sides but a lot of physical stuff was let go by the ref also. Forest continued to have plenty of the ball but despite good build up play they couldn''t get near enough for a decent strike on goal. On the hour mark Lansbury replaced Fox and twice nearly got Jackson in with astute through balls. Wes departed on 78 minutes to rapturous applause to be replaced by the King of Spain but there was no let up in the pace of the game. Jackson almost sealed it with a header that flashed wide and then late on when his shot cannoned of the outside of Camps left post. Forest brought on Earnie as a last gasp effort but Ward and Whitbread held the door closed at every Forest attack. As the four minutes added ticked by Konchesky saw red for one foul too many and the 26k plus crowd bayed for the whistle that signalled a hard earned, but deserved 3 points.Ricardo thought it was a great game and the crowd was almost as noisey as in the old 38k ''59 Cup run days. Snowy the cat had been very vocal all day so he obviously knew it was going to be a noisey old night. Andy Surman gets my MOM for his fine all round performance and well taken winner.The rest of them were immense to a man. With Holty and Wes back fit I don''t see how we can fail to round this season off in the style it deserves.

[ricky knight 0]

Think you are right regarding Surman now looking a quality player and was my m.o.m, closely followed by Jackson who worked his socks off all nite, unlucky with his disallowed goal, sky proves onside, good team display, hope we can take tonights form down the road thursday.

[Chrisr 0]

Cracking stuff Ricardo. I was worried sick at half time and said to the chaps we would need four. The second half performance was one of the best i''ve ever seen a Norwich side play in defense of a lead. The three or four minutes Lansdbury and Holt put themselves on the line for at the end could prove priceless come the end of the season.Good job the next one has a little less riding on it... 

[Twitchy 0]

An absolute delight of a read Ricardo, cheers my good man and a tip of the hat to our feline friend.

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="ricky knight"]Think you are right regarding Surman now looking a quality player and was my m.o.m, closely followed by Jackson who worked his socks off all nite, unlucky with his disallowed goal, sky proves onside, good team display, hope we can take tonights form down the road thursday.[/quote]Interesting to hear that goal was actually onside Ricky. Impossible to say from my position but it did look very close. He was very unlucky not to notch one tonight.

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="Chrisr"]Cracking stuff Ricardo. I was worried sick at half time and said to the chaps we would need four. The second half performance was one of the best i''ve ever seen a Norwich side play in defense of a lead. The three or four minutes Lansdbury and Holt put themselves on the line for at the end could prove priceless come the end of the season.Good job the next one has a little less riding on it...  [/quote]I have to say that I was surprised there were no second half goals. Forest looked a handy side going forward but we snuffed out the danger second half. The longer it went on the less they looked like getting it back.

[ricky knight 0]

To be fair you could see why it was flagged it was touch and go but he was onside just but he deserved a goal tonight for his work rate.

[Josh 0]

Have to say Jackson''s goal looked offside to me on Sky but couldnt hear any analysis in pub

[211203 0]

I was watching Sky with some neutrals and when Surman scored intially we all thought he was offside.  But the replay clearly showed a forest player across the pitch who was playing him on by about a yard - wasn''t noticeable first time as he was a distance away and may have been out of the camera shot.  Clearly onside.

Also we thought the Jackson disallowed goal was incredibly close - shame ''cos it was the best shot of the game IMO.  If the Forest player had been between Jackson and the lino rather than the other side, we all thought it would probably have been given.

 

Overall we were all surprised there were no more goals in the 2nd half. One big miss for Forest was the through ball over the top that the striker played straight to Ruddy.  Although we had our chances too and they looked less and less likely to score as time went on.  And really Ruddy didn''t have to make a difficult save in the 2nd half.  I didn''t notice Earnshaw do anything.

 

Was a big win ''cos got to expect Cardiff to win today and it keeps us in contention even if they do, and let''s hope they slip up again !

[Cosmic Twin 189]

Another great report, Ricardo!

Does Snowy support the views expressed in your last line? (I''ll feel more confident if he does! He was very astute last season.)

 

 

[GMF 736]

Great report Ricardo.

I actuually thought there were four or five players in with a shout for MotM, Holt, Jackson and Surman to name but three, although Whitbread nipped it for me. I thought he was awesome against a pretty difficult and pacy Forest front line.

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="Cosmic Twin"]

Another great report, Ricardo!

Does Snowy support the views expressed in your last line? (I''ll feel more confident if he does! He was very astute last season.)

 

 

[/quote]The little guy makes me work hard to interpret his actions Cosmic. He''s just sat with me watching a recording of the match. He got up and went out for a stroll just after Surmans goal so he obviously knew it was all done and dusted.

[Sephiroth Owa 0]

Great report as usual.It was nice to see Hoolahan back. The pressure he takes off of the rest of the midfield when he turns and takes 2-3 players out of the game is something we definitely missed against Swansea. I can''t comment on the Watford game as I didn''t see it.As for Surman, the thing that impresses me is the way he passes. He doesn''t seem to break his stride when he does, it all seems to be part of his movement which can only confuse opposing defenders.Nevertheless, another great performance and 3 VERY needed points.OTBC