Nottingham Forest v Fulham

MARPLES’ MUSINGS
REGULAR COLUMNIST AND AWAY TRAVELLER
DAVE MARPLES REFLECTS ON THE UNCANNY
SIMILARITIES WITH THE WEATHER IN MATCHES IN
BRISTOL SEPARATED BY 32 YEARS
Biblical and incessant rain in Bristol? Ah,
that will be another memorable Forest away
game then.
For the younger generation amongst you, it
must be tiresome hearing about the League
Cup semi-final second leg game at Ashton Gate
in February 1989. With the score locked at 1-1
from the first leg, this game has its place firmly
lodged into the Forest away games hall of
fame. It isn’t just Garry Parker’s late winner that
secures its place, it’s that it meant a return to
Wembley for a final after nine long years away.
It’s the inflatables in the away end. It’s the rain.
The never-ending and unremitting rain. It’s all
of these things.
But from now on, when discussing an away
trip to Ashton Gate, it might not be so legally
binding for those of a certain age to bring up
the ‘Garry Parker in the rain’ game. A match –
or at least, a minute – of equally astonishing
drama occurred on an equally wet evening in
Bristol on Tuesday.
As full time loomed, we were consoling
ourselves with the internal observation
that we knew the unbeaten run would come
to an end sometime and that the performance
wasn’t bad – not bad at all. We hadn’t been
at our best but we had still fashioned some
decent chances and looked dangerous when
breaking forward. Besides, we’d recently
strolled away with maximum points and stacks
of goals from Huddersfield, Barnsley and
Birmingham: to do the same again at Bristol
seemed, well, a bit greedy.
Yet in the space of 47 seconds, everything
changed. After nonchalantly dispatching his
penalty, Lyle Taylor sprinted to retrieve the
ball, eager to get the game going again. Such
a gesture was not just a statement of intent
but more like a plane flying a banner across
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