Reds In Reserve

With a Draper among the scorers and a former Magpies player-manager as the fourth official, this felt more like Meadow Lane than the City Ground.



But, as he stood on the touchline, Ian Richardson, who is being fast-tracked with a view to becoming a Football League referee, will have had more than a few moments of action to stand back and admire, as Forest reserves registered a 3-1 success over Shrewsbury.

The first came from the boot of Nathan Tyson who, amid a quiet all-round performance, provided one moment of quality that summed up his abilities as a striker.

Given the chance to regain some match sharpness following his recent suspension, Tyson found few opportunities.

But, while he directed one second-half header narrowly wide, by then he had already done the damage with a trademark finish, firing a low shot beyond the advancing keeper after being sent clear. His 27th-minute effort may have been cancelled out within two minutes, by a well-taken effort from Shrewsbury midfielder Ross Draper, with the kind of long range strike that namesake Mark would have been proud of in his Notts days.

But there was still another moment of quality to come from Forest, this time from teenager Brendon Moloney.

The academy player had performed in accomplished fashion at right-back but, after being pushed forwards into midfield following the introduction of Mark Byrne, he was quick to demonstrate his attacking instincts.

After powering down the right flank, the Irishman cut into the box and fired a decisive left foot finish to restore Forest's advantage in the 76th minute.

Tyson was involved again as they killed the game off in the final minute as he forced a fine save from keeper Scott Shearer with a powerful header, only for the Shrewsbury man to be beaten by Robert Hughes, who rifled the loose ball into an empty net. It rounded off an encouraging performance by a young Forest side in which Tyson, keeper Rune Pedersen, Robert Hughes and Kevin James - who was continuing his comeback from a long-term shoulder injury -were the only players with much first team experience.







Nottingham Evening Post

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.