Former Town midfielder Liam Trotter denied his old club their first win at the City Ground since 1999 with a debut goal deep into injury time as the Blues and Forest drew 1-1. Earlier, sub Jonny Parr’s 74th minute goal had given the Blues the lead.

Mick McCarthy made four changes from the team which lost 3-0 at Hull City in midweek with David McGoldrick, Cole Skuse, Freddie Sears and Ainsley Maitland-Niles all starting. Giles Coke, Jonathan Douglas, Larsen Touré and Parr dropped to the bench.

McGoldrick - like skipper Luke Chambers a former Forest player - was in the centre with Daryl Murphy to his left and Sears to his right. The trio of strikers were all starting a game for the first time since Sears signed from Colchester in January. Giles Coke, Jonathan Douglas, Larsen Touré and Jonny Parr all dropped to the bench.

Former Town midfielder Liam Trotter was handed his debut for Forest having joined on loan from Bolton earlier in the day, while ex-Blues loanee Jonny Williams was also in the Tricky Trees’ midfield.

Town controlled the opening minutes but without creating any openings. On nine, after a long spell of Blues passing largely dictated by Bru, Jonas Knudsen sent over a cross from the left which was too long for his team-mates. Moments later, a Murphy shot on the edge of the box struck Sears.

The Blues were caught on the break in the 10th minute but Skuse and then Tommy Smith got back to challenge and eventually dispossess Ryan Mendes, unfairly according to the home fans. Referee Paul Tierney wasn’t interested, however.

A minute later Williams played in Mendes on the Forest right and the Cape Verde international shot low across the face of Dean Gerken’s goal. Mendes may have been helped find space by Blues left-back Knudsen having suffered an injury and on 12 the Danish international made way for Jonny Parr.

Chances continued to be rare events at either end but in the 29th minute only a superb Gerken save prevented the home side from going in front.

The Blues were caught short of numbers as Mendes broke and then fed Trotter to his left. The former Northgate High School pupil hit a powerful low shot across the Town keeper who got down to his left and blocked with a strong hand.

The loose ball eventually found Jamie Ward, who cut in from the right and hit another low effort which the Blues keeper palmed wide.

The double save was the highlight what had had been a less then enthralling game up to then and a minute later Town had a chance at the other end.

McGoldrick’s header from Bru’s corner struck a defender and ran loose in the area but wouldn’t fall for Murphy and the danger was cleared.

Forest immediately broke and Skuse picked up the game’s first booking for fouling Williams on halfway.

Gerken was forced into another save on 36 batting away Nelson Oliveira’s shot from the right of the area.

Oliveira claimed he had been fouled in the area by Parr in the 41st minute as a Ward cross came over from the left but the Forest man appeared to be the one with his arms around the Town defender. The ball eventually reached Mendes at the far post and he shot into the side-netting.

A minute before the break Smith was booked for tripping Mendes as Forest again counter-attacked quickly, a Town move having broken down on the edge of the home side’s box after Murphy’s pass had failed to find McGoldrick.

Just before the break both physios were called into action when Maitland-Niles and Trotter clashed heads as they went for a header.

Both players were fine to continue and the on-loan Arsenal man made a strong run down the left moments after returning to the field and won a corner.

Forest broke quickly following the Town flag-kick and Mendes hit the half’s final shot wide of Gerken’s right post.

The home side will believe they should have been in front at the break having had much the better of the chances.

Gerken had been the busier of the two keepers with his stop from Trotter’s strike as good if not better than his recent save from another former Town man, Jordan Rhodes, at Blackburn.

The Blues had had spells on top but had failed to carve out a significant opening or manage a shot on target.

Town created their first chance of the second half in the 50th minute when McGoldrick’s clever pass found Sears, who fed Murphy to his left. The Irishman played the ball inside to the onrushing Parr, whose shot was blocked by Forest skipper Kelvin Wilson, who was winded by the strike.

Parr was booked for another foul on the breaking Williams, then moments later the Wales international’s cross deflected out to Ward, whose shot was deflected over.

The home side were starting the second half on top but on 53 Bru seized on Dorus De Vries’s poor kick and sent Sears away on the right but the former Colchester striker’s cross failed to find a Town man.

Ward again shot over, before the Blues forced De Vries into his first save of the afternoon, the former Swansea man pawing away Sears’s powerful strike from just inside the area on the left. The loose ball fell to Murphy and his shot was blocked.

Gerken saved low to his left from Ward in the 56th minute, then two minutes later Forest old boy McGoldrick forced De Vries into another save with a curling effort from the edge of the area. The loose ball fell to Murphy at a tight angle on the left but the Blues’ number nine shot into the sidenetting.

But the home side were still largely on top and a minute later Berra was booked for a foul on Mendes.

Oliveira’s freekick struck the wall and flew well wide, then and on 61 Trotter turned a low cross from the left against Berra from eight yards.

Skuse made a vital last ditch challenge on Oliveira in the 66th minute after the Portuguese frontman had got past Chambers inside the area.

Williams was replaced in the Forest midfield by Jorge Grant, then Douglas took over from Skuse in the Blues midfield, the former Bristol City man appearing to have suffered a knock when making his challenge on Oliveira.

Mendes shot over from distance for Forest on 71 with Forest continuing to look the more likely scorers.

But in the 74th minute the Blues went in front. Chambers fed Bru to his right and the Mauritius international sent over a hanging cross. Eric Lichaj beat Murphy to the ball but his header fell to Parr, who hooked a half-volley on the half-turn into the top corner of De Vries’s net from midway inside the Forest area.

The Town players celebrated their first goal in more than three games and almost a month - and Parr’s first of the season - long and hard in front of their supporters.

Going in front gave the Blues renewed confidence and Sears won a corner soon after the goal.

Town might have added to their lead on 79 when McGoldrick was found in space just outside the box but his shot flew well over.

Murphy went somewhat closer from more than 30 yards two minutes later, his powerful strike flaying not too far past De Vries’s right post.

Forest threw everything forward in the final minutes as they looked to put the Blues under pressure. Strikers Dexter Blackstock and Chris O’Grady were both brought on before the Blues switched Sears for Piotr Malarczyk for the final four minutes of scheduled time.

As the game moved into a surprising six minutes of additional time Malarczyk rose highest to make two important headed clearances.

Just as it looked as if Town would hold on, with the game in the fifth minute of injury time, they conceded a last-gasp equaliser at Forest for the second successive year.

Gerken’s punch from David Vaughan’s left-wing cross from the left only made it as far as Grant with the keeper and Berra both grounded. Malarczyk cleared the sub's shot off the line but Trotter was on hand to slam in the rebound from close range.

Neither side seriously threatened again before referee Tierney blew his final whistle to end another frustrating afternoon at the City Ground for Town.

On balance, a defeat would have been harsh on Forest, who had most of the game’s better chances and had been on top until Town went in front.

But having gone in front and having kept the lead relatively comfortably until so late in the game, the draw must have felt more like a defeat to Mick McCarthy and his men, who have now gone six league matches without a win and are down to 13th in the Championship table.

The Blues are next in action against Cardiff at home next Saturday with another game at Portman Road with Bolton the following Tuesday.

Nottingham Forest: De Vries, Lichaj, Wilson (c), Hobbs (O’Grady 82), Pinillos, Trotter, Williams (Grant 67), Mendes, Ward (Blackstock 79), Oliveira. Unused: Evtimov, Burke, Walker, Iacovitti.

Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen (Parr 12), Skuse (Douglas 68), Bru, Maitland-Niles, Sears (Malarczyk 86), Murphy, McGoldrick. Unused: Bialkowski, Douglas, Coke, Touré, Pitman. Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire). Att: 19,616.

Photo: Action Images

Lightningboy added 00:54 - Oct 25 Saw the goal earlier..wasn't at all surprised to see Gerken "punching" the ball 8 yards into his own area and straight to a Forest player..the guy is a total liability,how he's carved out a career in this game is beyond me..I personally want him gone from this club asap,one of if not the worst keeper I can ever remember to wear our shirt..may aswell give the opposition a goal start every time he plays.

4

runningout added 00:59 - Oct 25 too many content with a very low standard... I cant except it myself, as a fan for a long long time
8

Minneapolis_ITFC added 01:03 - Oct 25 On paper alone it is a decent scoreline but as before, the defense shuts off at a critical time and we are denied what would have been three very much welcome points. Forest are no pushovers and at an awkward venue, so take heart that the team came within moments of taking back maximum return. It's not as if we're discussing a loss. Would have been interesting for sure if say the opposition had registered a runaway victory and the immediate consequences for McCarthy, but we move on from the frustrations of today, take whatever positives there are to be had, and focus on the next opposition.

2

sidtheswan added 07:19 - Oct 25 I think Patrick Viera's looking for a job in England and I believe Brendan Rogers is free. Foxtrot Oscar MM you're dragging us into a relegation battle !
-1

geminimustang added 08:09 - Oct 25 The truth of the matter is you can't get out of the championship with free transfers and loanies.At some point,you need to gamble big money on a couple of game changers,match winners,players who can turn a game around.I don't subscribe to the "let's blame MM brigade".He saved us from relegation,gave everybody a good day at wembley but the season can only be saved in the January transfer window.A goalscorer,a goalkeeper and maybe a dominant leader in defence.

-3

yorksblue added 08:37 - Oct 25 Don't you mean he gave everyone in Norwich a good day at Wembley?
2

yorksblue added 08:39 - Oct 25 Saw a Sky report last night saying another Championship manager has gone. Had fingers and toes crossed until I found out it was at Charlton. Oh well, there's always next week.
0

Ipswich58 added 09:10 - Oct 25 Sad thing now is fans apathy. MM has lost the fans and no doubt players apart from his chosen few. It's gone beyond anger at MM's stupidity. You know he won't change. History repeating itself. He is clueless.
1

hello66 added 09:21 - Oct 25 I have not posted on here for many, many months, I gave up my season ticket after Mick had been with us for a year, ( two years of Roy had taken its toll) just couldn't put up with the long ball game every week! Over the last few seasons I get to about 6 - 8 games year (1 or 2 away), I know this is a tough league and people say a win is a win, well I have to disagree, it's a sport after all, it's about entertaining the public too, as just to win...... well I can get that result on my phone and save a small fortune ! Well right now we are not getting either winning or being entertained from the reports and what I've seen from 2 home games. The long ball is fine while you're winning but take that away and what are you left with? As Mick is a stubborn man like my dear mother, always right and you can't see their point of view, my mother did a wonderful job bringing the family up and kept us from falling into dark places, but in a modern world she knew she knew her skills would only take us so far. Well I've not taken to Mick style of play and I voted with my feet but I respect him for saving our club from a dark place and I now ask him kindly to look in the mirror and honestly ask himself has he got the skills to do more than just tread water for 2 years? I look forward to jumping out of my seat more frequently in 90mins someday .............

5

prebsa added 09:25 - Oct 25 Just watched the highlights, it's Gerkens fault! If he does his normal crap and stays on his line Berra heads it away no problem. Instead for the first time ever he decideds to come and get a ball and punches it straight to their player. Totally useless he is totally to blame! Bring back Bart!
2

DebenBlue added 09:39 - Oct 25 I travelled up to Nottingham for the game yesterday and have refrained from making a knee jerk reaction after yesterday's disappointing result and performance. I was pleased with the starting line up and thought MM had shown some attacking intentions, how wrong. Whilst we had a lot of possession, Forest comfortably soaked it up and looked to hit us on the counter attack and looked dangerous when running directly at our back four, with Gerken making 2 very good saves. Parr looked solid at left back but this was enforced change for MM. 2nd a Half was of a similar Ilk, we looked lethargic, lacking ideas, almost afraid to run at the Forest defence. 1 shot on target all game tells its own story against poor side we were missing Matt Mills, Henri Lansbury, Chris Cohen, Andy Reid, Brit Asamlabonga who would of probably all started. Why Gerken came for the box I have no idea, when both Tommy Smith and Christope are closer than him and would of dealt with it comfortably, but my biggest criticism is to MM and his negative tactics to play 5 at the back with 5 mins to go ( plus 6 mins added on time, God knows where that came from ) and invite pressure onto out back line when until that point after we had scored Forest hadn't looked like scoring !!! It was Brentford all over, he obviously hadn't learned from that lesson. I'm afraid MM is too stubborn for his own good, it was his Downfall at Wolves and unless he takes a step back and re assess' the whole team it will be his downfall here.

1

cressi added 09:48 - Oct 25 Like hello 66 i to gave up my season ticket being going since 1969 could't take it i now do 3 or 4away games as much for the social and got a season ticket at AFC Sudbury no stress and 3 quid a pint.
1

Westy added 10:19 - Oct 25 I wasn't at the match but it seems to me that as long as Mick plays Gerken in goal we'll continue to slip down the table.
3

neillrumsey added 10:43 - Oct 25 A positive point but we should be winning games from this position. DebenBlue spot on we saw these negative substitutions last season and they cost us several points. On the Gerken saga he will always make excellent saves but that is not the issue. He does not command his box and will make at least one mistake a game. Murph for me doesn't appear interested anymore so time to rest him after last years epic season.

2

essex57 added 10:50 - Oct 25 It baffles me how people on here are privy to the info he's lost the players they ran there socks off yesterday and as for losing the fans he might of lost the twtd contributors but the support from the away supporters for MM AND TC was fantastic when will people accept we are what we are as for lumping all the blame on Gerks every game he kept us in it at stages yesterday if we could find a better keeper that wants to come to Ipswich so be it until then get behind him and look at the whole game not just 1 second there were plenty of other players that contributed to the goal being scored.

-2

essex57 added 10:57 - Oct 25 It baffles me how people on here are privy to the info he's lost the players they ran there socks off yesterday and as for losing the fans he might of lost the twtd contributors but the support from the away supporters for MM AND TC was fantastic when will people accept we are what we are as for lumping all the blame on Gerks every game he kept us in it at stages yesterday if we could find a better keeper that wants to come to Ipswich so be it until then get behind him and look at the whole game not just 1 second there were plenty of other players that contributed to the goal being scored.

-3

essex57 added 10:57 - Oct 25 It baffles me how people on here are privy to the info he's lost the players they ran there socks off yesterday and as for losing the fans he might of lost the twtd contributors but the support from the away supporters for MM AND TC was fantastic when will people accept we are what we are as for lumping all the blame on Gerks every game he kept us in it at stages yesterday if we could find a better keeper that wants to come to Ipswich so be it until then get behind him and look at the whole game not just 1 second there were plenty of other players that contributed to the goal being scored.

-3

essex57 added 10:57 - Oct 25 It baffles me how people on here are privy to the info he's lost the players they ran there socks off yesterday and as for losing the fans he might of lost the twtd contributors but the support from the away supporters for MM AND TC was fantastic when will people accept we are what we are as for lumping all the blame on Gerks every game he kept us in it at stages yesterday if we could find a better keeper that wants to come to Ipswich so be it until then get behind him and look at the whole game not just 1 second there were plenty of other players that contributed to the goal being scored.

-2

essex57 added 10:57 - Oct 25 It baffles me how people on here are privy to the info he's lost the players they ran there socks off yesterday and as for losing the fans he might of lost the twtd contributors but the support from the away supporters for MM AND TC was fantastic when will people accept we are what we are as for lumping all the blame on Gerks every game he kept us in it at stages yesterday if we could find a better keeper that wants to come to Ipswich so be it until then get behind him and look at the whole game not just 1 second there were plenty of other players that contributed to the goal being scored.

-3

carsey added 11:30 - Oct 25 Essex57 I'm guessing the "enter" key on your keyboard is stuck or you are trying to re-enforce your point. Sadly for me nothing detracts from the facts that on the pitch we are poor and prone to errors which cost goals and points. IMO this is because the players are lacking ability and/or played out of position coupled with trying to adhere to the managers instructions. The manager is found wanting in his tactical naivety and stubbornness to recognize there is a problem with the current personnel and doing something different. Every team in the league know how Ipswich Town play and how vulnerable we are at the back. Anyone who goes to Portman Road can see the fear in the players when the opposition have a speedy forward running at the defence and yet the manager persists. As I have said many times I will always support the team on the pitch but I can't say I will always like what I see particularly when the style and tactics are so obviously out of date. We should be looking at the top teams both home and abroad and trying to emulate them after all that is why they are where they are.

5

yorksblue added 12:12 - Oct 25 Mm. Surely Bromley to Charlton would suit you better. Please.
-1

essex57 added 12:40 - Oct 25 Sorry about the triplicate post Carsey thought I'd make sure I got my point across lol
-2

Langdon_Blue added 15:02 - Oct 25 Can't believe Gerken is getting blamed on here for yesterday's result...he single handedly kept us in it in the first half with some fantastic saves. Personally I think Barts a better keeper, but it's pretty lame to slate Gerks because it seems to be fashionable on here...oh, by the way Gerken isn't to blame for world poverty, crime or terrorism too, but some probably think he is.

2

warktheline added 15:08 - Oct 25 @essex57, fans back there team through thick and thin, stop attempting to paper over cracks, the only thing that's baffling are your posts, they totally lack any kind of depth and reasoning!
2

essex57 added 15:56 - Oct 25 Don't quite understand you Wark the line I just post comments as I see it also added with a bit of realism were you at the game yesterday or Tues night?
-2

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls