Nottingham Forest virtually secured their First Division survival at
Hillsborough to leave Sheffield Wednesday still in danger of relegation.
Goals from Jack Lester and David Prutton sealed the points for Paul Hart's
men, who are technically not safe despite a vastly superior goal difference,
while the Owls are left looking nervously over their shoulders.
The drab first half came to life just three minutes before the interval when
Lester drilled a low right-foot shot into the bottom right corner of Kevin
Pressman's net.
And Forest needed just three minutes of the second half to double their lead
when defender Prutton netted only his third goal of the season with a right-foot
shot into the top right corner.
Wednesday boss Terry Yorath named an unchanged starting line-up after seeing
his side collect four vital points over the Easter weekend.
Forest, who had won just two of their last 17 league and cup games, were
boosted by the return of skipper Riccardo Scimeca after a virus forced him to
miss the Easter Monday home defeat by Walsall.
Wednesday striker Shefki Kuqi had the first shot of the match but he failed to
hit the target with his left-foot effort.
Forest failed to create a goalscoring chance until the 22nd minute when Marlon
Harewood drilled a right-foot shot from 25 yards out but failed to trouble
Pressman.
On-loan Birmingham winger Jon McCarthy continued to cause problems down the
left but his crosses were well dealt with by the Forest defence.
McCarthy was the next to try his luck on goal in the 36th minute but shot wide
before seconds later Kuqi managed to hit the target from just outside the area
but saw his shot caught by Forest goalkeeper Darren Ward.
Lester's opener came against the run of play but gave Forest a vital lift
heading into the half-time break and Prutton's strike was a huge blow to
Wednesday's hopes of a second-half comeback.
They continued to battle for a breakthrough but Kuqi again failed to hit the
target in the 64th minute, while Lester twice shot wide as Forest tried to kill
the game off.
Kevin Gallacher was denied by Ward eight minutes from time and Paul McLaren
also shot wide but Forest held on comfortably.
Teams
Sheff Wed: Pressman, Broomes, Maddix, Burrows, Haslam, McLaren, Quinn, Donnelly (Armstrong 46), Kuqi, McCarthy (Gallacher 57), Sibon (Ekoku 46).
Subs Not Used: Siddall, Geary.
Nottm Forest: Ward, Brennan, Scimeca, Hjelde, Prutton, Louis-Jean, Reid, Gray, Williams (Bopp 23), Lester, Harewood.
Subs Not Used: Formann, Proudlock, Kevin Dawson, Westcarr.
Goals: Lester 42, Prutton 48.
Att: 21,782
Ref: M Messias (York).
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