BILLY’S IMPACT SUBS GRAB COMEBACK WIN

NOTTM FOR 4 WATFORD 2

BILLY DAVIES worked his magic with three scoring substitutes to produce a comeback victory that was as spellbinding as it was important. Simon Cox, Darius Henderson and Jamie Mackie were sent from the bench to claim goals and keep Nottingham Forest’s promotion chase on course. Gabriele Angella’s brace had looked set to give Watford the win but, for the second time in as many matches after defeat by Manchester City in the FA Cup, they were unable to hold on to a two-goal lead. Davies admitted he could not remember having such a productive touch from the dug-out in all his years of management and praised his team’s ‘bottle’ in extending their unbeaten run to 12 games. Watford boss Giuseppe Sannino’s night was made worse by a fall that muddied his suit after he collided with a Forest player. ‘I wasn’t able to win the challenge,’ he joked. Davies said: ‘Obviously impact has been good from one or two changes I’ve made before but I don’t ever recall doing that. ‘I am pleased for these three guys. They have taken a lot of stick. I’m delighted they’ve done what they have.’ In the 33rd minute Watford were ahead. Angella met Ikechi Anya’s corner with an unorthodox shot off his heel that Gonzalo Jara could only head on to the underside of the bar and across the line. Two minutes after the restart Angella doubled his tally, nodding in Daniel Pudil’s free-kick. Forest hit back through a neat move. Jara picked out Guy Moussi and his header was swept home by Cox from close range. Then Reid conjured two moments of brilliance. He hit a cross with the outside of a boot that found Henderson’s head with laser accuracy in the 73rd minute and, with eight minutes left, he stood up a loose ball with one touch to gift Mackie a decisive third. Cox (left) added the fourth in stoppage time.