Reds run riot against Terriers
Nottingham Forest fans were treated to a memorable evening as the second Billy Davies era sparked into life with Radoslaw Majewski scoring a first-half hat-trick in a 6-1 win against Huddersfield.
Davies' last triumph at the City Ground saw Scunthorpe dismissed 5-1 in April 2011 and nearly two years later the Scot mopped up the applause as a largely different group of players went one better.
Majewski was a key figure in Davies' previous reign and the Pole rolled back the years to cancel out James Vaughan's early opener with his first goal of the season.
Elliot Ward completed the swift turn-around with a confident header before Majewski thumped in two more goals before the half-time whistle.
New Huddersfield manager Mark Robins was left under no illusions of the task facing him as Henri Lansbury strolled through his defence to complete the rout shortly after the break, with substitute Darius Henderson adding insult to injury deep into stoppage time.
As a result, Forest closed to within six points of an npower Championship play-off place while the Terriers' quest for a second win in 17 games continues against Ipswich on Saturday.
Vaughan set the tone for what was to come when his audacious overhead kick clattered off a post with three minutes on the clock.
The first of five first-half goals arrived seven minutes later as Vaughan stretched out a boot to hook Neil Danns' cross over Karl Darlow, but it would prove to be the cruellest of false dawns for Huddersfield.
For a brief period it looked as if Forest would be second best in front of a bumper crowd, as Simon Cox and Andy Reid consistently failed to make their quality count in the final third.
The hosts needed something to break and their equaliser was sloppy, Majewski turning home the spilled ball when Lansbury had badly fluffed a one-on-one with Alex Smithies.
It might not have been pretty but the confidence boost Forest needed to turn the game around in dramatic fashion.
Three minutes after Majewski's modest opener, the City Ground erupted as Ward rose highest to glance home a Reid cross from deep on the left wing.
Forest might have let the giddiness go to their heads earlier in the season but Davies' men rallied to survive a brief Huddersfield response, Darlow standing tall to punch a Sean Scannell drive to safety.
Lansbury and Majewski then took turns to spurn good chances before the latter doubled his scoring account for the season in the 37th minute.
A fine team move saw Dexter Blackstock lay the ball into the D and Majewski drove it hard and low into the back of the net.
It was a consummate finish and all it had needed was a little elevation to really inspire the home crowd.
And so the Forest fans leapt to their feet one minute before the break as Majewski capped a remarkable hat-trick with the sweetest of strikes that was always rising, until the underside of the crossbar guided it home.
The fifth goal came nine minutes after the interval and it was too simple for Lansbury to slot the ball past Smithies at the end of an unopposed forward run.
That provoked a flurry of chances for Town, who went close through Vaughan before Peter Clarke and Scott Arfield tried their luck from good positions.
Forest were not satisfied, though, and substitute Danny Collins' first involvement was to shave paint off a post with a bullet header.
There was time to give Henderson a late run out and the former Millwall man rewarded his new manager with one last goal to add gloss to a memorable evening.
Source: PA
