Jack Lester took just 14 seconds to open his account for Nottingham Forest
against Norwich at the City Ground.
But it proved to be a false dawn as Welshman Iwan Roberts grabbed his 14th
goal of the season to earn the Canaries a point in a bad tempered affair which
saw the hosts finish the game with 10 men.
Lester had not scored in his four games since joining Forest in a £300,000
deal from Grimsby last month but he wasted no time in getting on the scoresheet
tonight.
The home side rolled the ball back to skipper Riccardo Scimeca from the
kick-off who sent a hopeful lob into the Norwich half.
Matt Jackson completely misstimed his header and Dougie Freedman's deft flick
found Lester who got ahead of the defence to rifle the ball past Andy Marshall
from 15 yards.
Lester was obviously lifted by his early goal and Marshall did well to block
his effort at the near post 10 minutes later as Forest poured forward.
Norwich's only clear chance of the opening 15 minutes came when Paul Dalglish
got ahead of Scimeca to test Dave Beasant's reflexes with an angled drive - but
the ex-Newcastle winger was penalised for a foul on the Forest captain.
The Canaries continued to try and hit the hosts on the break and got their
rewards when Roberts drew them level on 28 minutes.
Daryl Sutch charged down the right flank and his centre was miskicked by
Frenchman Matthieu Loius-Jean, giving Roberts the opportunity to sidefoot past
Beasant from close range.
Lester almost got a second 10 minutes before the break when he turned neatly
in the six-yard box, but his low-shot was deflected behind.
Scimeca had the ball in the net just before half-time when he headed a
well-worked freekick inside Marshal's near post, but his effort was ruled out
for offside.
David Platt's teamtalk seemed to have hit the right note as Forest began the
second-half in the same manner as they had started the match.
Lester tested Marshall with a couple of long-range efforts early on as did
Chris Bart-Williams and Freedman but Norwich still looked dangerous on the
break.
Forest brought Canadian international Jim Brennan on in place of David Prutton
to try and inject some width into their game with half-an-hour to go.
A few minutes later Marlon Harewood replaced Lester as Platt went all-out for
his side's third successive home win.
But that plan was thrown into disarray on 72 minutes when Nigel Quashie was
dismissed for his second-yellow card following a rash late-challenge on Sutch.
Forest had chances to win the match in the last 10 minutes but Freedman headed
wide when picked out at the back post by Alan Rogers.
Teams
Nottm Forest: Beasant, Louis-Jean, Scimeca, Vaughan, Rogers, Prutton (Brennan 59), Bart-Williams (Gray 81), Johnson, Quashie, Freedman, Lester (Harewood 63).
Subs Not Used: Crossley, Cooper.
Sent Off: Quashie (72).
Booked: Quashie, Harewood.
Goals: Lester 1.
Norwich: A. Marshall, Kenton (Milligan 72), Fuglestad, Fleming,
Jackson, Sutch, Russell, de Blasiis, Llewellyn, Roberts,
Dalglish (L. Marshall 81).
Subs Not Used: Green, Mackay, Forbes.
Booked: Roberts, Dalglish.
Goals: Roberts 28.
Att: 15,640
Ref: J Brandwood (Lichfield).
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