Billed as the ‘last chance saloon’ for Colin Calderwood, I expected this to be a nervy tie, and wasn’t disappointed.

The manager put out a changed team and formation from the one that saw out the dour draw away at Doncaster. Three up front including Physio’s favourite Rob Earnshaw was a bit of a gamble – but what did Calderwood have to lose? (apart from his job of course…)

The most surprising change was at Right Back where the recalled Brendan Maloney was selected ahead of Chambers. Forest must have won the toss for a change as they didn’t have to change ends (I hate it when that happens!) and started the game with some intent to attack although looking very nervous. At times you wondered if some of the players actually knew each other, with a few passes going to nobody.

Barnsley weren’t really any better though and looked decidedly dodgy at the back, especially keeper Muller. It was Barnsley though that spurned the first chance with Macken heading wide when it looked easier to score. Credit to Maloney though for putting him under pressure.

Anderson continued his series of fine first halves with some dangerous runs at the Barnsley defence, ably supported by Maloney. On one such run, Anderson was checked cynically just outside the penalty box by De Souza (it was more of a wrestling manoeuvre than a tackle), with the defender getting off lightly with a yellow card. From the resulting free kick, the disappointing McGugan cleared the cross bar.

Forest did look dangerous down the wings and it was from Tyson bursting down the left and putting an excellently paced cross that fell perfectly for Garner to place a downward header into the back of the net. Rapture for the until now quiet Forest Fans, and the bumper crowd actually started singing.

For the remainder of the half Forest continued to battle with the much-improved James Perch winning the ball in the middle of the park with some strong tackling. Forest were unable to capitalise on the impetus they had, but showed more desire than their opponents with Barnsley restricted to the occasional cross that Camp dealt with comfortably.

There was what looked like a ‘stone-wall’ penalty shout for Forest as Garner was sent flying across the penalty box, but the referee waved play on. As this was the other end of the pitch from me, it’s difficult to comment on how right the referee got it – but it does leave you wondering what Forest have got to do to get a penalty decision in their favour. So in at half time with Forest deservedly 1-0 up and a standing ovation from the fans.

Forest started the second half brightly for a change and continued to trouble Barnsley. McGugan made a good run down the left, evading several challenges before pulling the ball back from the by-line to Earnshaw. A little more pace on the ball would have probably seen Earnie score, but as it was a defender was able to get in the way of the shot. Another neat bit of skill from McGugan saw him create some space and have a ‘dig’ from around 25 yards. The keeper was beaten but the ball clipped the crossbar and went over.

Around the hour mark, Barnsley brought on Cureton for winger Whaley. This attacking substitution gave some renewed impetus to Barnsley who piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser. A long curling shot from De Silva forced Camp to make a fine save down to his left at the expense of a corner. Kelvin Wilson made the obligatory mistake to let Cureton through on goal, but Joel Lynch spared Wilson’s blushes with a covering tackle. Lynch also found himself in on the action at the other end of the pitch as he got forward and unleashed a shot that Muller had to tip over the bar.

Barnsley made another attacking substitution with about 15 minutes to go, and you could feel Forest starting to rock a little. McCleary came on for the unfit Earnshaw and Thornhill replaced the tired Anderson. Still Barnsley came forward, trying to get a goal. We feared the worst as Foster climbed high from a corner, but fortunately his header hit the bar. Forest brought on Reid for Garner to try and eat up some of the 4 minutes of stoppage time. Barnsley pushed everyone including their keeper up for a free kick unnecessarily given away by McGugan, but Camp was equal to De Silvas effort.

A massive cheer erupted from the Forest fans at the final whistle, and applause all round as players and manager clapped the fans in return. Not the most free-flowing and skilful game you’ll ever see, but fully deserved in terms of effort.

Match Ratings

Camp. A solid performance from the stopper. 7

Maloney. Looked like an experienced Full Back. 8

Lynch. Strong and resilient. 8

Morgan. Steady as ever. 7

Wilson. Still the weak link in defence. Should not be Captain. 6

Perch. Strong and brave in the tackle. Protected the back four well. 8

Anderson. Quick and dangerous. Tracked back well. 8

McGugan. Frustratingly skilful, but sometimes tries to do too much when a simple through ball or pass would do. Set pieces were very poor. 6

Tyson. Worked tirelessly. Superb run and cross to set up the goal. 8

Garner. Well taken goal. Always seems to be looking for a fight. That can be both a good and a bad trait. 7

Earnshaw. Obviously not fit, but never stopped trying. 7

Subs

McLeary. Was called on to defend mostly, but did this well. 7

Thornhill. Didn’t get to attack much, although did get himself in a great position, but wasn’t played in by McGugan.

Reid. Only on the pitch for a couple of minutes, didn’t touch the ball so cannot rate.

Colin Calderwood. It’s a results business and today he got the result. Perhaps should have brought Earnshaw off earlier, but it’s hard to be too critical. 7

Referee. Didn’t have too many decisions to call. As I couldn’t see the penalty incident I am not going to criticise him for that. Could have used common sense rather than the letter of the law when he booked Tyson. This just made him seem petty. 7

In Summary, a great result for Forest and we’re off the bottom of the table again. With Cohen to return and Earnshaw gaining match fitness we will hopefully continue to improve. We really need to get maximum points from the away trip to Coventry next week to show that we can survive in this league though.