Forest moved out of the drop zone as Dexter Blackstock scored a dramatic late winner against Bristol City.
On-loan striker completes dramatic turnaround for strugglers
Nottingham Forest moved out of the relegation zone as Dexter Blackstock scored a dramatic late winner in a 3-2 victory over 10-man Bristol City.
On-loan striker Blackstock, whose move to the City Ground was the catalyst for Paulo Sousa's sacking by parent club Queens Park Rangers, completed a thrilling fightback by Forest.
Robert Earnshaw had cancelled out Ivan Sproule's early opener before the visitors regained the lead on 78 minutes through Dele Adebola.
However, the Robins' Jamie McAllister was sent off on 82 minutes and, after Joe Garner had equalised a minute later, Blackstock struck in stoppage time.
Forest should have taken the lead early on when, from a Chris Cohen free-kick, Blackstock glanced a header wide after finding himself unmarked inside the six-yard box.
At the other end the visitors looked like exploiting the space down the flanks and it was from a cross from the left which found Michael McIndoe in the area that the former Wolves man attempted an audacious overhead kick which fell the wrong side of the post.
The hosts' reprieve did not last long however as City took the lead in the 14th minute thanks to a howler from Iain Turner.
The Forest goalkeeper failed to hold onto a low deep cross from the left and allowed the ball to squirm from his grasp, gifting Sproule the easiest of chances to knock the ball into the empty net.
Turner went some way to atoning for that mistake in the 27th minute when he brilliantly palmed away Jamie McCombe's header after the City captain was left unmarked in the area.
Caution to the wind
And the save was made that much more important 10 minutes before the break as Earnshaw took advantage of a ball over the top before composing himself and sliding the ball past the onrushing Basso.
With the game seeming as if it could go either way in the second half, both sides began throwing caution to the wind with Paul Anderson much more attack-minded down the right for Forest and Lee Johnson driving forward at every opportunity at the other end.
But more often than not, especially in the case of Forest, the final ball was poor and attack after attack came to nothing.
The Robins went close to regaining the lead when Sproule rounded Turner but Kelvin Wilson had the presence of mind to fall back and clear off the line.
Sproule was proving a menace down the right and once again he broke free only for his cross to bypass McIndoe, who was free at the far post.
The visitors' constant pressure finally told in the 78th minute when a long ball from McAllister brought Turner off his line, but the on-loan goalkeeper failed to collect and Adebola rose highest to head home.
Forest were given a lifeline when McAllister was shown a second yellow card for shirt-pulling and from the resulting free-kick Garner headed home.
And the turnaround was complete just before the end as Blackstock netted from six yards.
