Forest moved another three points closer to safety today as they pulled off a great 2-1 away victory at Sheffield United.
Joe Kinnear has turned things round big-time since he arrived in February, with a record of five wins, four draws and two losses in 11 games.
And the win at Bramall Lane was sweet revenge for the play-off semi-final defeat nearly 11 months ago.
The opening 45 minutes were pretty poor by anyone’s standards. However, the highlight came in the 24th minute when Andy Impey ran at the Blades’ defence before rifling the ball towards goal. It took a deflection off Blades’ skipper, Chris Morgan, before falling to the feet of Marlon King.
King, brimming with confidence since his suspension, hammered the ball past Paddy Kenny.
United continued to control the play, but they never managed to put Forest ‘keeper Paul Gerrard under any real pressure.
After the break, United came out with all guns blazing as they went in search of the equalizer, and they came close just five minutes in as Simon Francis crashed his header against the woodwork.
United finally got the reward for their hard work in the 58th minute when they were awarded a free kick 20 yards out.
Wright took the kick, and as it hit the wall it took a wicked deflection past the diving Paul Gerrard.
It would have been easy for Forest to sit back at this point and settle for the point, but such is the fighting spirit in the team at the moment, that they responded well and upped the tempo as they set about regaining the lead.
And they did just that in the 74th minute as Gareth Taylor returned to haunt his former club, with his seventh goal of the season, rising at the far post to meet an Andy Reid corner, he powered it into the net.
It was a great goal, and one that means more hard work for the Blades as they try to reach the play offs, whilst Forest continue to move towards safety.
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