David McGoldrick played the full 90 minutes and created Town’s goal for Adam McDonnell as the Blues’ U21s drew 1-1 at home to Nottingham Forest. McGoldrick teed-up McDonnell on the edge of the area on 54, Liam Adams having put the visitors in front five minutes earlier.
McGoldrick was starting his first game since suffering a hamstring injury in mid-December and was joined in a strong U21s starting line-up by Jay Tabb, Paul Digby, who skippered, and trialist Keiran Morphew.
Needham Market defender Morphew, 22, was playing his second game for the U21s having impressed in his previous run-out against QPR in February.
Amongst the subs was Charlie Brown, a striker who is still a pupil at Felixstowe Academy. Forest named a younger team than the Blues with skipper Jorge Grant and keeper Dimitar Evtimov the only players regularly involved with their first-team squad.
With manager Mick McCarthy watching, McGoldrick hit the game’s first effort well-wide in the sixth minute, then on 12 Liam Adams crossed from the right for Forest, Grant flicked it on and Gerry McDonagh hammered a volley straight at Blues keeper Jacob Marsden. A few inches either side of the Town number one and the visitors would have been ahead.
But that chance was a rare Forest foray forward into the Town area with the Blues largely in control and having most of the ball but without being able to create an opening.
Kundai Benyu, who was playing his first U21s game after four months out with a knee injury, was booked in the 32nd minute for kicking the ball away ahead of a freekick.
A minute later, McGoldrick sent over a cross from the right, but it flew beyond Conor McKendry at the far post.
Soon after, the Ireland international, who was getting more involved in the game, was fouled five yards outside the area to the right and took the freekick himself, the ball deflecting behind off the wall.
From the resultant corner, McGoldrick flicked McKendry’s near-post corner across the face of goal and it was bundled behind.
Forest threatened on 37 when McDonagh reached a through ball and slid it beyond the advancing Marsden from the edge of the box but with little power and Morphew was able to clear from inside the six-yard box.
On 43, shortly after Forest’s Toby Edser had been somewhat harshly booked for not moving the ball back a few feet as he prepared to take a freekick, McGoldrick nodded down a corner in from the right but Shane McLoughlin was unable to make a clean contact and the visitors’ keeper Evtimov saved.
At the other end, McDonagh shot well wide from distance before referee George Spraque brought the half to a close. Town had had the better of it overall but without creating enough clear-cut opportunities.
A minute after the restart Grant drifted past Digby and Morphew before hitting a low shot which failed to trouble Marsden.
But three minutes later, the visitors did grab the lead. Ben Brereton sent Adams away in space between Digby and left-back Tabb, and he took the ball into the area before confidently beating Marsden.
However, the lead would only last five minutes. McGoldrick, who moments earlier had seen a lob from distance well saved by Evtimov, brought the ball forward to the edge of the box before teeing-up Adam McDonnell, who shot low into the corner of the net to the keeper’s left.
1-1 vs Nottingham forest tonight, good shift from the boys & good to get on the scoresheet😅ðŸ¸
— adam mc donnell (@AdamMcDonnell97) March 21, 2016
On 61 schoolboy striker Brown was handed his U21s debut in place of McLoughlin up front alongside McGoldrick, then three minutes later Flynn Downes took over from Benyu, who had taken a blow to the head as he looked to get to a Josh Emmanuel cross from the right having put in an impressive shift on his return.
McGoldrick almost conjured a second goal for the Blues in the 66th minute when he cut in from the left and hit a low shot which James Blanchfield just couldn’t reach and turn in at the far post.
Sub Brown was sent away beyond the Forest defence by McDonnell on 73 but stood on the ball and the chance was gone. Two minutes later, Grant shot wide from a tight angle on the left for Forest.
In the 84th minute McGoldrick smashed a low freekick from distance wide after Brown had been fouled, then two minutes later George Fowler took over from Blanchfield, who looked to have pulled a muscle as he ran down the right in front of the dugouts.
With a minute of scheduled time remaining McGoldrick was sent away on the right of the area and saw his shot blocked by the keeper when he probably should have squared to the unmarked Brown at the far post.
That was the final chance of a second half in which the Blues had created enough opportunities to claim the three points.
Unsurprisingly, given he’d not played a game since mid-December, McGoldrick drifted in and out of the game but had a strong spell early in the second half in which he went close with his lob and created McDonnell’s well-taken equaliser and also finished the match strongly.
The striker’s trademark silky skills were on show throughout, however, with the Forest youngsters bamboozled by his tricks and feints at times.
At the back the vocal Digby and trialist Morphew, who has been training with the Blues since the end of last week, both put in promising performances with Forest having few clear-cut opportunities, although the Blues’ backline will feel they should have done better with the visitors' goal.
U21s: Marsden, Emmanuel, Morphew, Digby (c), Tabb, McDonnell, Benyu (Downes 64), Blanchfield (Fowler 86), McKendry, McLoughlin (Brown 61), McGoldrick. Unused: Wright, C Smith.