Saturday 12th February 1994
Football League Division One
Notts County 2
Nottingham Forest 1
Ten moments that turned the Nottingham derby
2 Mins - Mark Crossley makes a point blank save to deny Gary Lund from ten yards following phil turners free kick.
12 Mins - Colin Foster produces a perfectly timed tackle to prevent Scott Gemmill opening the scoring.
40 Mins - Lars Bohinen could have put Forest ahead but failed to apply the finishing touch to Steve Stone’s cross from under the crossbar.
48 Mins - Crossley makes a fantastic double save to twice deny Gary McSwegan after Peter Reid’s long ball split open the Forest defence.
51 Mins - McSwegan outpaces Colin Cooper and tricks his way past the Forest defender inside the box only to see his right foot shot cannon back off the post.
55 Mins - GOAL!!!!!!! McSwegan tricks his way past Steve Chettle and cuts inside Cooper and this time his low right foot shot finds the bottom corner to put Notts ahead.
57 Mins - Stuart Pearce crosses low into the box. Forest claim a penalty as Foster, falling with Glover, is said to have handled the ball. The Referee is having none of it.
78 Mins - Steve Cherry makes his first real save keeping out Glover’s shot on the turn following Bohinen’s throw in.
85 Mins - Pearce drives in a low shot which Cherry can only parry, Michael Johnson can’t make the clearance and David Phillips arrives at the far post to tap in the equaliser at the Meadow lane end.
86 Mins - GOAL!!!!!!! Chettle fouls McSwegan on the edge of the Forest box and at the second attempt Mark Draper swings in the free kick for Charlie Palmer to head the winner right in front of the visting specatators seated in the kop stand.
Charlie Palmer speaking to The Pie in 2001 " After the free kick was awarded I made my way into the box. I gave Drapes a quick glance, indicating where I wanted to put the ball. After the referee ordered us to retake the kick I just walked back, without looking at Drapes. Instinctively I just attacked the space and managed to get ahead of Pearce. I knew it was in as soon as it left my head. All I can remember thinking was how I had managed to out jump Pearcy. Before I knew it I was running down the touchline with my arms doing all sorts of things. To be honest it was probably a release of some frustration, as the things had turned a bit sour for me at Notts.
Not being from Nottingham, I did not realise the enormity of the goal until I met up with some of the other players on the following Monday. A lot of the younger players (Drapes, Tommy etc) were full of stories about going out on the Saturday and having drinks bought for them all night. They could not understand why I had gone home straight after the game!"
Match report by the Evening Post's David Stapleton......
Notts County’s sensational, deserved derby win kept up the trend of half time transformations in clashes with Nottingham Forest and increased hopes that they can also figure in the First Division promotion chase. The Magpies, now within seven points of their fancied neighbours, will feel the gap is far from unassailable on Saturday's evidence at Meadow Lane.
County exercised greater control of the second half than did Forest of the first period. They created the better chances, forced Mark Crossley to the more demanding saves, and had the majority of the near misses - Gary McSwegan might have scored a hat-trick. When defender Charlie Palmer headed the 86th minute winner -his first goal for two seasons and his first in the League since 1990 -it sealed an admirable tactical triumph for manager Mick Walker.
At half time he withdrew youngster Paul Sherlock, under orders to do a ball winning job in midfield, and sent on Andy Legg in the belief that his natural attacking instincts might cause Forest's Norwegian artist Lars Bohinen to do more defending.
The result was that easily the Reds , biggest creative influence of the first half seldom looked like posing the same subsequent threat. Now the last four league meetings of Notts and Forest would appear to have been heavily influenced by interval decisions and deliberations which only the fly on the dressing-room wall has been privy to.
Two seasons ago, when both clubs were in the top flight Forest won at Meadow Lane after a goalless first half which County controlled. The City Ground return was dominated by Forest for 45 minutes, but Notts pulled back a half time deficit to draw 1-1. Last October, across the river, County had the better of the opening half, only to surrender control and go down to Stan Collymore's lone goal.
Now, Walker has made the score 2-2 on tactical expertise with the ploy which brought Notts their first League victory over Forest for 12 years. It also succeeded in pumping more entertainment into a game almost bereft of incident in the opening 45 minutes. Crossley made the first of three superb saves to deny Gary Lund early on, but Forest - despite suggesting they would take clear command - failed to draw a single stop from Steve Cherry in their better first half.
Bohinen had the best chance, failing to make contact on the line from Des Lyttle's cross. Significantly, Notts cut open Forest's defence only three minutes into the second half, but Crossley again showed his merit by denying McSwegan. The Scottish striker then hit a post before putting County into their 55th minute lead with his 11th goal of the season.
Michael Johnson, switched to left back, deserved credit for a good ball forward, enabling McSwegan to cut inside both Steve Chettle and Colin Cooper and smash a low shot past Crossley.
Forest, it seemed, might have been awarded a penalty two minutes later when Colin Foster appeared to put a hand on Stuart Pearce's cross. They were also unfortunate in the 64th minute when a Lee Glover header looked destined for the net until it struck team- mate Cooper and went over the top.
But Lund, with two headers, hinted at Forest's inability to defend inside their own box before the Palmer winner. Forest's 84th minute equaliser came when it was least expected. Pearce did well to get into the box, but his shot rebounded conveniently for, David Phillips.
It seemed that the side would stretch its record of 13 League away games without defeat until Mark Draper's precision free-kick was emphatically finished off by Palmer. On the day it was hard to pinpoint a truly convincing Forest outfield performer. Paradoxically, Notts had several successes. Foster and skipper Phil Turner were outstanding at the heart of defence, Palmer and Johnson completed a good back four, veteran Peter Reid was a growing midfield influence on his home debut and McSwegan' s goal was reward for a bright second half. It was further proof that the points went the right way.
Download video files of the goals at the links below
Gary McSwegan's opener
Charlie Palmer's winner
more Notts video files available at SuperNotts