Nottingham Forest 1-0 Derby County (EFL Championship) 09.11.19

Nottingham Forest beat Derby County in a tense East Midlands derby on Saturday and now head in to the International break in fifth place in the Championship five points behind leaders West Bromwich Albion with a game in hand but more significantly just three points from second placed Preston and three points ahead of Sheffield Wednesday in seventh place who are a position outside the playoffs.

As the muddy waters of the Trent looked dangerously high amidst grey skies over Nottingham the mood for the early kick off at the City Ground was set midst a terrific back drop display by the Trent End as both sides and (most) supporters remembered those who fallen for their country in the past.

After a terrific rendition of Mull of Kintyre it was Forest who started brightest but the home teams French Goalkeeper Brice Samba was first called into action as he saved from Tom Lawrence.

Sammy Ameobi a menace all afternoon then struck wide before Ben Watson drove a half cleared corner towards the goal which was well blocked by a defender. The first half was open with Forest largely on top but Derby a threat on the counter attack went close when Marriott’s shot was tipped around the post by Samba. Ameobi though often teasing Bogle in the Rams defence and linking well with Ribeiro cut in and struck a right footed shot which was tipped over well before almost a carbon copy this time on the left with the same outcome.

Derby went in the happier of the two at half time but it wasn’t long until that changed when Jayden Bogle gifted the ball to Lewis Grabban on 57 minutes who slotted home to capitalise fully on the young Rams defenders mistake and put the Reds 1-0 up.

That error and goal spurred Forest on more and the home side looked ever more dangerous with Derby like a tired boxer on the ropes as Sabri Lamouchi’s men looked for the kill.

First Tiago Silva who was magnificent all game went close from range, then Lolley had a shot deflected to Grabban who couldn’t get on the end of the rebound inside the area. Derby had a good chance on 77 when Samba again saved from Marriott after a fresh air shot might have caused more trouble but other than having to defend the odd set play Forest were more convincing 1-0 winners than the scoreline suggested and always looked comfortable especially after getting the lead.

The Reds third successive win against the Rams ensures they get to keep the Brian Clough Trophy with the home team supporters overjoyed in beating their rivals again.

Manager Lamouchi stated “”It is a fantastic result and I’m happy because we’ve made our fans proud of the players. Now we can go into the international break with a positive mentality before we come back to play Bristol City.”

Goalscorer Lewis Grabban who’s match winning moment was summed up by the man himself saying ““I had a little glance at where the keeper was and it looked like he hadn’t covered the near post so I just tried to aim for that and fortunately it went in.”

The Forest striker stated “Before the game we would’ve taken a one nil. We were able to hold on and I think we defended well in the end. The main thing was that we got the win. It was good for the fans, so I’m very happy.”

Nottingham Forest: Samba, Cash, Worrall, Figueiredo, Ribeiro, Watson, Silva (B Johnson 89), Yates, Lolley (Adomah 85), Grabban, Ameobi (Carvalho 72).

Derby County: Roos, Bogle, Davies, Clarke (Evans 15), Lowe, Shinnie (Waghorn 84), Bielik, Marriott, Holmes (Paterson 72), Lawrence, Martin.

Venue: City Ground (29,314)

*Main image @NFFC Lewis Grabban celebrates his winning goal.