Nottingham Forest made the shortest journey in English professional football across Trent Bridge to face National League side Notts County. It was the first time the two sides have met since 2017 and the second time we have competed for The Derek Pavis Trophy.
Head Coach Steve Cooper made 10 changes to the side that faced Union Berlin on Saturday as he named a youthful matchday squad that included a return to the fold for Ryan Yates and Sam Surridge following injury, giving them valuable minutes in the tank ahead of next weekends Premier League opener versus Newcastle United.
As the evening sun shone down on Meadow Lane the travelling Reds came out to play as they knocked the ball around delightfully in the opening stages patiently awaiting an opening in the Magpies defence.
The first clear chance of the night came on in the tenth minute when Canadian international Richie Laryea bolted down the left flank, leaving Aaron Nemane in his shadow. He crossed the ball into Surridge, who took the ball down and fired a shot towards the target, however, it was smartly blocked by Richard Brindley as he steered the ball out for a corner.
The host’s squandered a golden chance to take the lead moments later when Ruben Rodrigues twisted through the Forest defence and hit a low effort at Jordan Smith who produced a superb save from close range to keep the game goalless.
Whilst the Reds saw more of the ball throughout the first half, our non-league opposition posed a constant threat on the counter and forced Smith into action once again when he was able to deny Sam Austin’s curling effort at full stretch to turn the ball around the post.
The deadlock was broken moments before the break when Cafú’s through ball found the feet of Surridge, who managed to get the ball on to his stronger right foot and coolly slot the ball past Slocombe and into the bottom corner as he wheeled away in delight on his return to the playing field.
That was not to be the final action of the half however as the hosts looked to peg back immediately, the chance once again fell to Rodrigues who saw his effort deflected onto the post following a scramble in the Forest box.
Half Time: Notts County 0-1 Nottingham Forest
Forest made three changes at the interval as youngsters Zach Abbott, Billy Fewster and Oliver Hammond joined the action in place of Ryan Yates, Braian Ojeda and Sam Surridge.
The equaliser did arrive in the 49th minute when Rodrigues once again found himself amongst the action, he was able to find the feet of Macaulay Langstaff who smashed the ball home on his left foot from 12-yards out.
The lead however turned out to be short-lived when Cafú produced a moment of sheer brilliance as he rifled an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner from 30-yards out leaving Slocombe flailing in the County net.
The second half continued in its explosive nature as the game was levelled again just short of the hour mark after Jordan Smith failed to collect a cross that left him in no-man’s land and Austin was able to take his time and tuck the ball home in front of the Kop much to the delight of the home supporters.
The Reds almost fell behind for the first time in the evening after a linkup from Rodrigues and substitute Cedywn Scott that saw the latter run through on goal, but Smith was on hand to excellently smother the ball and relieve the danger.
As the half progressed Cooper was happy to introduce more Academy products to the line-up as Ateef Konaté, Dale Taylor and Julian Larsson entered the fold as the Reds searched for a winner.
Smith showed his worth once more as he produced yet another top save to keep out Rodrigues’ well struck effort, the danger wasn’t over there, however, Austin could only manage to fire his shot well over the cross bar in the aftermath.
Full Time: Notts County 2-2 Nottingham Forest
Forest: Jordan Smith; Loic Mbe Soh, Giulian Biancone, Richie Laryea, Aaron Donnelly; Cafú, Braian Ojeda, Ryan Yates ©; Alex Mighten, Sam Surridge, Lyle Taylor
Substitutes On: Zach Abbott, Billy Fewster, Oliver Hammond, Ateef Konaté, Dale Taylor, Julian Larsson, Justin Hanks
Goal: Surridge (43’), Cafú (53’)
Notts County: Slocombe, Brindley, O’Brien, Cameron, Langstaff, Francis, Baldwin, Austin, Rodrigues, Nemane, Chicksen