ROCK SOLID

Strength for Blackpool as Forest given rollercoaster ride

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2 Morgan 27

DAN GRIMSHAW already had fond memories of the City Ground – and now he’s created some more.

The Blackpool No.1 pulled off a brilliant reflex stop to douse Nottingham Forest’s fire and give his side a second shot at FA Cup glory.

Neil Critchley’s League One battlers had stunned the dozy hosts with two goals inside three first-half minutes. But a Nicolas Dominguez header was followed by a stunner from Morgan Gibbs-white (left) to leave the teams level with more than 30 minutes to play.

Forest piled forward in search of the winner and thought they’d found it when Ryan Yates met Danilo’s cross from six yards out.

But Grimshaw produced a stunning stop, leaving Critchley scratching his head.

“It was some save,” the Seasiders’ chief said. “It was a brilliant cross right into the danger area. I was expecting it to hit the net. It was brilliant.

“A top reflex save. Grimmy is a very good keeper, someone I’ve known since his days as a kid at Manchester City.

“I gave him his debut here at Forest during my first spell at the club. He does produce big saves at big moments. In terms of games, he may be inexperienced, but I think he’ll go on to have a fantastic career.”

Grimshaw’s heroics deservedly saw Critchley’s men earn a replay after the tie exploded into life midway through the half with a quickfire double from the visitors.

The lively Karamoko Dembele collected the ball on the right and crossed.

Inexplicably, right-back

Gonzalo Montiel headed the ball into the centre of the area.

Jordan Lawrence-gabriel (celebrating, above) –released by Forest three years ago – nodded it back with interest, finding the corner from 12 yards.

Things got worse for Forest. Veteran striker Jordan Rhodes flicked on for CJ Hamilton to collect on the right.

Albie Morgan made a run that was undetected, popping up on Montiel’s blindside and slipping his team-mate’s low centre into the net.

Forest suddenly sparked into life and they pulled a goal back before the interval.

Dominguez timed his run to perfection to meet Montiel’s cross as the Argentine partly made up for his errors.

But Gibbs-white, who has turned into the City Ground’s go-to guy, was determined to stamp his mark and duly delivered 10 minutes after the restart, firing home a beauty from the edge of the area.

New Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has now had to cancel a three-day training camp at St George’s Park due to next week’s replay.

He said: “We started very badly. We conceded too easily.

“The first half wasn’t good at all. It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game. I have to give credit to the way we reacted. It was a disappointing moment. Frustrating. We had clear chances to finish.

“But we do have a second chance to do it – the FA Cup is very important to us and our fans.”

FOREST: Vlachodimos 6, Montiel 5, Worrall 6, Murillo 6, Toffolo 5, (Tavares 46, 6) Danilo 6, Yates 6, (Williams 81) Dominguez 6, Gibbswhite 8, Hudson-odoi 7, Wood 5 BLACKPOOL: Grimshaw 8, Lawrence-gabriel 7, Connolly 6, Casey 7, Husband 6, Lyons 6, Norburn 6, (Virtue 85) Morgan7, Hamilton 6, (Dale 89) Dembele 6, (Carey 67, 5) Rhodes 6

(Joseph 67, 5)

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