Nottingham Forest

 Nottingham Forest v Reading

Sky Bet Championship
City Ground

Wednesday 22nd January 2020

7:45pm

Journey Time to the ground: 5 hours.  This game had been rearranged from the end of October when we had made it all the way up to Leicester Forest Services before finding out the game had been called off due to a waterlogged pitch!  Being rearranged for a Wednesday night I booked the day off work and we left home at 1:15pm and grabbed some lunch at German Doner Kebab before the coach pick-up at 2pm.  After a 45-minute stop at Leicester Forest Services we arrived at the City Ground at 6:15pm.

Ticket Price: £27

Programme Price: £3

Attendance: 26,840 with 808 Reading fans.

This was my first visit to the City Ground, another ground I had been looking forward to visiting for a number of years.  As we had arrived an hour and a half before kick-off we contemplated heading into the city centre but instead had a walk around the ground to the club shop and then stood for a while by the River Trent taking in the view of Meadow Lane and Trent Bridge cricket ground.  We had tickets in the away end which is on one side of the Bridgford Stand lower tier, closest to the Brian Clough Stand, behind one of the goals.  The Bridgford Stand is a two-tiered all-seater stand and the view from midway up the lower tier was good although the leg room was a little bit tight.

To the left of the Bridgford Stand is the Peter Taylor Stand.  This is a single-tiered all-seater stand and although it is probably the smallest stand at the City Ground, it is considered the main stand and houses the team dug-outs at its front.  Opposite the Bridgford Stand is the Trent End.  This is a large two-tiered all-seater stand that wraps around the corner to join with the Brian Clough Stand, another large two-tiered all-seater stand.  The most vociferous Nottingham Forest supporters seemed to gather on the home side of the Bridgford Stand.

The two teams had played out a 1-1 draw only 11 days previously and the first-half was a fairly even affair with both sides creating chances.  Rafael Cabral did well to parry Joe Lolley's effort wide for a corner midway through the first-half and Brice Samba was forced to make an unorthodox looking save from Jordan Obita's long range shot in first-half stoppage time.

Into the second-half and both sides continued to create chances.  It took until ten minutes from time for the deadlock to be broken when former Reading striker Lewis Grabban turned Sammy Ameobi's scuffed shot past Cabral.  It didn't take long for Reading to equalise though as Sam Baldock controlled Obita's drilled right-wing cross before smashing his effort through Samba.  It took a little time for the goal to be given, but the goal stood and the teams had to settle for a share of the points with a second 1-1 draw in less than two weeks.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was really good.  Forest are a well-supported club and having the home fans so close let to some good banter between the home and away fans, who had travelled in pretty good numbers for a midweek game.  Both sets of fans were loud and the fact that both teams scored in the last ten minutes of the game kept the atmosphere going for the whole 90 minutes.

Journey Time home: 3 hours.  The coach left the City Ground just after 9:50pm and after a relatively smooth journey we were dropped in town just after 12:30am.  We made the short walk home and arrived just after 12:50am.

I really enjoyed my trip to the City Ground.  It's a really nice ground and home to a well-supported team which makes for a good atmosphere.  Equalising minutes after the home team takes the lead is always a good feeling!