Forest 2 - 0 Ipswich Town

After the disappointing performance on Tuesday, this was a step in the right direction with another home victory and a much improved display. We freshened things up with a change in formation and personnel which had the desired effect.

With Bertrand suspended, Gunter moved across to left back, shifting Chambers to right back and most importantly, restoring Wilson back to centre half. In midfield, McKenna and Cohen protected the back four with McGugan, Majewski and Anderson rooming in midfield with the returning McGoldrick leading the line up front.

We escaped a couple of nervy moments giving the ball away badly in midfield but Ipswich weren’t good enough to take advantage. Having survived those scares we scored at important times to coast to a routine victory. For the opener, Majewski released Cohen down the ball to pull the ball back for McGoldrick to score off the post, a goal in the middle of a good spell for us.

Then just as it looked like we wouldn’t get that deserved second goal, McGugan continued his recent excellent goal scoring run. We broke from the half-way line and Cohen was cynically brought down 35 yards out. McGugan had nothing to lose, struck it sweet, heading towards the keeper and then swerving away with pace into the top corner. The keeper left with no chance by one of the goals of the season.

The second half was a fairly relaxed affair after the visitors had an improved early spell. One low shot through a crowded area was luckily straight at Camp whilst they had a number of decent openings spoiled by wasteful finishing. Only in the closing stages did they create any clear chances during which Camp excelled with a couple of sharp saves.

At the other end, Tyson, Moussi and Cohen all saw well struck efforts well saved by their keeper.

Camp’s faultless performance was a return to form after an indifferent start to this season. He produced a number of smart saves in between some wayward Ipswich finishing and showed immaculate handling from a number of crosses and set pieces during a few decent spells for the away side.

MOTM Wilson’s return showed exactly why he should be the number one centre back at the club. After losing his place to Chambers, he cruised through the game showing those moments of class that sets him apart. Hopefully this is the excuse needed to get him back into the starting XI and hopefully leading to a new long term contract.

Gunter’s reading of the game got us out of trouble on a couple of occasions. Morgan and Chambers did a reasonable job but too often over played with the ball and got us into unnecessary trouble.

In midfield, we looked much more energetic which saw us consistently challenging for the ball instead of lazily standing off the opposition without apply pressure. This tactic, used to good effect last season, allows us to win back possession and then break from deep with pace. The movement off the ball was also much improved and gave options to those looking to make a forward pass.

McKenna in particular looked much more effective with Cohen alongside him and led from the front with a number of important challenges. As soon as the captain started hassling the opposition then this set the standard for the rest of the team. Cohen, Majewski and McGoldrick all made tackles from nowhere. In contrast to last Tuesday, the midfield were everywhere and we looked a much better side as a result.

McGoldrick took his opportunity and his performance was an improvement on Blackstock’s disappointing recent form. Up against two burly centre halves he was never going to win much in the air but on the ground he linked up well and even won his share of tackles. An encouraging start for his this season.

Tags: Games Won, MOTM Kelvin Wilson, Clean Sheet