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Chapman wonder goal steals the points for Forest.

Forest put in a stuttering performance which somehow resulted in another victory to rekindle hopes of promotion this season.

Forest’s defence was also sloppy failing to clear the ball on a number of occasions and regularly caught flat footed.

After 20 minutes Baddow finally made the breakthrough that their domination deserved. A corner that came from a lack of communication between Elliott and Tom Barley was at first one by the Forest defence. Unfortunately the clearance fell to a Baddow player that drilled the ball from the edge of the area through the defence and into the bottom corner. It was a perfect of example of where Forest were failing in this game.

However, conceding the goal had a good effect on the team. Within minutes Forest created a meaningful chance and had a good shout for a penalty when Asa Dengel was bundled to the ground inside the Baddow goal area. Forest finally began to win some more of the ball. Tom Barley made a number of good runs and released Asa Dengel on the left wing who finally was getting some space from the Baddow full back. Unfortunately the crosses he made fell into empty space

A Forest corner created the best chance of the first half when Tom Pearson headed inches wide from inside the 6 yard box.

The second half saw a significant improvement in the Forest performance. Their physical strength began to tell and the midfield began to win more of the possession.

However the pressure eventually paid off when a Baddow goal kick was met by Tom Barley with a strong header. Asa reacted quickly to the ball as it travelled over the Baddow defence. One touch took him away from the defence and to the edge of the goal area. His second touch was a powerful shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. It was a superb finish.

The goal lifted the Forest team and for the next few minutes they dominated the play although they failed to create another clear cut chance. The game was played in the middle of the park and it looked like a draw was the likely result. Then Forest broke again down the right. Jack Hawthorn on the right wing held the ball up as Alex Chapman overlapped. Jack then slipped the ball into Alex’s path. On the edge of the goal area Alex cut inside the Baddow left back leaving him on his backside. With 2 unmarked Forest players waiting for the pass inside the goal area Alex unleashed a left foot shot that powered into the top right corner of the goal. It was a superb finish and Alex celebrated as if he hadn’t scored for the past five years. In fact no-one can remember the last time he did score or even hit the target with a shot.

The last minutes saw Baddow desperately attempt to get back into the game. One shot from the edge of the area did cause the Forest team some concern but Forest were now able to withstand all that Baddow threw at them. In fact it was Forest who went closest in the final minutes with Jack Hawthorn raiding down the right wing.

Forest held out for a victory that was hard fought and slightly fortunate given the first half performance.

Man of the Match went to Tom Barley who worked tirelessly throughout the game.