Hart's joy tempered by Lester loss
Nottingham Forest 2 Reading
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Your support makes all the difference.Neither their failure to accept a reasonable proportion of their chances nor the late sending off of Jack Lester could spoil the afternoon for Forest as they re-established their promotion credentials with a dominant display.
The strike partnership of David Jonson and Marlon Harewood claimed a goal in each half to reflect Forest's superiority fully. There could have been half a dozen more before the referee, Mark Cowburn ensured that the game ended in controversy. Over officious in the first half, he sent Lester off for his second booking – a minimal contact on Sammy Igoe as they both went for the ball.
"I think he was very unlucky and if you took a census around the ground I wouldn't be the only one,'' said the Forest manager Paul Hart, who could face action himself over his confrontation with the referee at the end of the game. Hart added: "I don't even know what he was booked for the first time. If the referee does report me, I'll take this right to the end.''
Gareth Williams captain in place of Walker, made a particularly inspirational start and it was his forceful run and precise pass that gave Jonson, sporting a new blond hair-do, the chance to score his 21st goal of the season.
Reading, barely able to get into the game, were not helped by the loss of their one out-and-out striker, Nicky Forster with a hamstring injury. If they were hanging on grimly in the first half, they were in constant danger of being swept away altogether in the second
With Williams, Andy Reid and Riccardo Scimeca controlling midfield, the chances came regularly, Matthieu Louis-Jean hitting the post with a header and Lester, Jonson, Reid and Williams all going close. When the second goal did arrive, it was rather special. The overworked Marcus Hahnemann, under pressure from Lester only cleared as far as Reid, who stroked his pass through for Harewood with perfect weight. The striker took it past the goalkeeper and slid it into the net from a narrowing angle effectively to kill the game.
Harewood should have had a second when put clear again by Reid and there was still time for Lester to have one saved before his dismissal, and for Jonson to hit a post.
"In possession, I thought we played some unbelievable stuff,'' said Hart of a performance that wiped out the memory of back-to-back defeats at Burnley and Bradford.
Reading's hiatus is going on a little longer, with their manager, Alan Pardew, conceding that they had been badly affected by Forster's premature departure.
"Forest are a very good side, but I don't agree that they should have scored more. I thought two was about right."
That said, Pardew's disappointment was tempered by the fact that sixth place at Christmas is far better than anyone expected of Reading at the start of the season.
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