Forest defeat Royals to close the gap

16 January 2010 17:18
Paul Anderson and Robert Earnshaw, recalled in two of eight changes made by Reds boss Billy Davies following the FA Cup defeat at Birmingham, scored first-half goals but Lee Camp stole the show with another superb goalkeeping display.[LNB]The former England Under-21 international produced two superb second-half stops to deny Simon Church before saving Brian Howard's 68th-minute penalty in an incident that saw former Reading full-back Nicky Shorey sent off.[LNB]Substitute Jimmy Kebe scored deep into injury time but it was mere consolation for the relegation-threatened Royals, who have now gone six league games without a win.[LNB]With Newcastle not hosting third-placed West Brom until Monday night, it consolidated Forest's position in the automatic promotion places.[LNB]Reading succeeded where Forest failed in midweek by humbling Premier League opposition in a third-round cup replay but their momentous victory at Liverpool was soon to feel a long time ago.[LNB]Earnshaw was narrowly caught offside and went through again only to get the ball stuck under his feet before the hosts' early pressure paid dividends after 11 minutes.[LNB]Chris Cohen, one of only three players - along with Camp and centre-half Wes Morgan - to play at St Andrew's on Tuesday night, linked up with Earnshaw down the right side of the area.[LNB]It looked like Cohen would go for goal himself but he calmly slipped the ball to Anderson, who fired home from 12 yards.[LNB]Adam Federici pushed away a volley from Earnshaw on the half-hour mark but the Wales international scored for the sixth time in his last five home appearances four minutes before the break.[LNB]Reading could only clear the ball as far as Radoslaw Majewski on the left wing. The on-loan Pole picked out Earnshaw on the penalty spot and he steered the ball into the bottom corner.[LNB]Reading showed signs of a revival in the second half but Camp excelled twice in quick succession to deny Church.[LNB]Church met Ryan Bertrand's cross but Camp stuck out a foot to keep out his header. Then the same combination saw Camp somehow flick another Church header over the crossbar with his foot as he dived the wrong way.[LNB]It was to be Church's last contribution before he was replaced by Kebe after 66 minutes and the substitute made an immediate impact by winning a penalty.[LNB]Shorey's late lunge on the Malian resulted in a red card for the full-back in the final appearance of his loan spell from Aston Villa.[LNB]However, Camp enhanced his growing reputation once more by saving half-time substitute Howard's spot-kick.[LNB]Kebe headed home Jem Karacan's cross in the fourth minute of added time at the end of the game.[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk