News

Head to Head – Notts Forest -Vs- Peterborough

|
Image for Head to Head – Notts Forest -Vs- Peterborough


Vital Posh looks at previous matches between Posh and Nottingham Forest.

Peterborough United face their third midlands rival in a row on Boxing Day when they travel to the City Ground to play Nottingham Forest in the npower Championship.

League meetings between these two teams are few and far between with just four league games being played over the years; with Forest winning all of them!

League Results

1993/94  02-Mar  Forest 2 – 0 Posh    League Division One
1993/94  30-Apr  Posh   2 – 3 Forest  League Division One
2009/10  03-Oct  Posh   1 – 2 Forest  Championship
2009/10  20-Mar  Forest 1 – 0 Posh    Championship

Last Time Out

The last time Posh travelled to the City Ground was two seasons. With just 9 matches remaining, including this match, Posh were already doomed to relegation.

With just 30 points on the board and eight points from safety Posh were counting down the games until they were officially relegated. Forest were at the other end of the table in third place chasing both Newcastle and WBA for that automatic promotion place. A win over Posh would boost their chances of achieving that.

The match at Forest offered a nice short trip for the Posh faithful to back their team in an effort to restore some pride.

Despite being on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline, Posh did restore some pride with a battling performance as well as creating a few chances in front of goal.

Things didn`t start off well though as Posh were suffering from an injury nightmare before the coach got stuck in traffic before it even arrived to collect the Posh players from London Road!

With the players driving themselves to the ground, some of whom didn`t arrive at the City Ground until 2.15pm due to further traffic congestion on the A52, Posh started off well as they adjusted to an unusual formation. For example, Mark Little was partnering Gaby Zakuani in the centre of defence!

After only six minutes though, Forest won the first corner but they couldn`t take advantage after Zakuani was fouled by Chris Cohen, the PFA Player of the Month, as the corner was taken.

Chris Whelpdale had an effort at goal, but his low shot went wide of the target.





Unfortunately for Posh, it wasn`t long before Forest got their noses in front when a cross from Cohen was nodded back across the goal to find Rob EARNSHAW Who had the simple task of tapping in from close-range.

On 20 minutes, goalkeeper Joe Lewis was forced to make a fine save to deny Earnshaw from doubling the advantage following a quick counter-attack by Forest after Exodus Geohaghon was caught in possession.

Craig Mackail-Smith had an effort on 25 minutes but his sharp turn and shot was parried by goalkeeper Lee Camp.

Charlie Lee then tested the goalkeeper from long range before Posh created their best opportunity of the game. An excellent pass from Sergio Torres found Rowe down the left who burst into the area only to see his shot saved with the outstretched leg of Camp.

An awful challenge on left back Scott Griffiths right in front of the Posh bench enraged the Posh players and management but Majewski was lucky to be on the home side as he just received a yellow card!

With half-time impending, Geohaghon had an effort which went wide after good play again by Torres.

Half-time: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Posh

The two fullbacks were replaced by Posh at half-time with Dominic Green and Reuben Reid coming on. Charlie Lee reverted to centre back while Mark Little moved to the right-back position.

The substitutions certainly did the trick as Posh pinned Forest in their own half. Kelvin Wilson was the next one to go into the referees book; this time for a tackle from behind on Mackail-Smith after 49 minutes.

Camp was certainly on-form in this match as he first denied Gabriel Zakuani by tipping his header from a corner over the bar. He then denied another header, this time from Mackail-Smith.

Forest gradually got back into the game as they won a succession of corners but Posh defended well to keep them at bay.

Dominic Green nearly equalised moments later as his fierce left-wing cross was eventually cleared by a combination of Wes Morgan and Adam Chambers at the near post. Green then saw a shot parried away by Camp on 68 minutes as Posh tried in vain for the equaliser which they deserved.

Cohen then had a long range effort for Forest, but Joe Lewis was up to the task as he made a superb fingertip save

Forest substitute McCleary nearly scored with his first touch, had it not been for an outstanding save from Lewis.

Forest had another name added to the referees notebook when Cohen was cautioned for a rash challenge on Torres in the 76th minute.

Torres saw an effort deflected wide after beating two defenders with the resulting corner gathered by Camp.

Rob Earnshaw was replaced in the 84th minute by Dele Adebola moments after seeing an effort headed clear by Zakuani

Dominic Green had had an exceptional game after coming on at half-time and had caused the Forest midfield problems.

With just four minutes of play remaining, a good corner from Green into the box saw Zakuani tugged, but the referee waved away appeals for a penalty.

Not surprisingly, Lee Camp was named Man of the Match

Final Score: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Posh

Forest: Camp, Perch (sub Chambers 20min), Morgan, Wilson, Anderson, Earnshaw (sub Adebola 85min), Cohen, Gunter, Moussi, Blackstock, Majewski (sub McCleary 72min).
Unused subs: Tyson, Garner, McGoldrick, Smith.

Posh: Lewis, Zakuani, Lee, Rowe, Little, Geohaghon, Gilbert (sub Green 46min), Griffiths (sub Reid 46min), Torres, Whelpdale, Mackail-Smith.
Unused Subs: McKeown, Day, Crook, Koranteng, Simpson.

Attendance: 24,582 (1,684 Posh fans)




The defeat saw Posh remain in last place while losing ground on the teams above them. They were now 10 points from safety.

Forest stayed in 3rd place with the gap between them and WBA remain at 8 points.


UP THE POSH

twitter Follow me on Twitter: @MWL1967

Join The Vital Debate



Join Vital Peterborough United!

With news and views, along with a forum, polls and article comments, everything you need in a fans site is right here!


Vital Posh is 100% interactive. Not only can you have your say on the articles and the forum but you can also suggest an article or a poll so you can air your views.

So why not join Vital Posh today?
It’s easy to REGISTER HERE. Simply click the link and enjoy getting involved!.


Message Board
To visit the message board, click here.


Get involved
This website is your website and we are looking for people to help run the site. Do you go to most of the games and have an opinion? Why not write a match report? Perhaps you are a budding journalist or even just someone who is very opinionated? Well why not join our team? If this interests you please contact Vital Posh at peterborough@vitalfootball.co.uk .



Vital Peterborough is also on: facebook twitter

Share this article

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *