Forest achieve pass mark in 10-man test

Nottingham Forest 2 Reading

They paraded members of Forest's 1966-67 side which finished as runners-up in the old First Division at the City Ground on Saturday – and there were aspects of this performance that would have struck a chord with Joe Baker and company.

Those who have pushed Paul Hart's credentials as a possible successor to Terry Venables at Leeds have pointed to the quality of Forest's passing game this season, and there was much to admire in that department.

Even without the England Under-21 regular, David Prutton, the Forest midfield was dominant throughout. They play to an enterprising pattern, with Jack Lester – harshly sent off six minutes from time – tucked in behind the front two, thus putting heavy responsibility on the three men in the middle. On this showing, it is a workload they can carry.

Gareth Williams and Andy Reid are two of Hart's bright young lads, fizzing with ideas and enthusiasm all afternoon. Alongside them, the more experienced Riccardo Scimeca's ability to see and deliver the long pass was equally valuable.

As a combination, they were simply too much for a Reading side that could already have reached its high-water mark for the season. The Royals have set up court in the play-off places by becoming horrendously difficult to score against, the run that took them there consisting of six clean sheets in a row.

At Forest, they were breached early and it would not have exaggerated the difference between the two sides if they had let in five or six. That they did not do so owed something to Forest's profligacy.

David Johnson's well-taken goal took his tally to 21 for the season, but he should have had a hat-trick, while his partner, Marlon Harewood, could easily have had a couple more. It had the makings of a massacre; instead, it ended as a high-class display marred by the dismissal of Lester and the events it triggered.

The player was unlucky to go, the victim of a pernickety referee who made himself the target of Forest's fury after the game. Hart will be reported for foul and abusive language, although he hinted at a counter-charge of his own. His team might play some cerebral football, but there is little cool and detached about his demeanour on the touchline – and that could be a problem as promotion tensions build up.

There is also something touchingly naïve about a manager who, in front of 50 journalists, with microphones thrust forward and tapes whirring, precedes his thoughts with: "Off the record..."

Hart said he would fight any disrepute charge. "If I am reported I will take this right to the end wherever it has to go," he said. "I didn't think Lester's first booking was justified, let alone the second and the majority of people inside the ground would agree."

Goals: Johnson (4) 1-0; Harewood (67) 2-0.

Nottingham Forest (4-3-1-2): Ward; Louis-Jean, Dawson, Hjelde, Brennan; G. Williams, Scimeca, Reid (Jess, 89); Lester; Johnson, Harewood. Substitutes not used: Roche (gk), Bopp, Thompson, Doig.

Reading (4-2-3-1): Hahnemann; Murty, Mackie, A Williams, Shorey; Watson, Harper; Rougier (Igoe, 70), Hughes, Salako (Cureton, 70); Forster (Tyson, 31). Substitutes not used: Newman, Ashdown (gk).

Referee: M Cowburn (Blackpool).

Bookings: Nottingham Forest: Johnson, Lester; Reading: Rougier. Sent off: Lester.

Man of the match: G Williams.

Attendance: 25,831.

* The First Division leaders Portsmouth were held at Fratton Park after Svetoslav Todorov's goal was cancelled out by Hermann Hreidarsson's second-half header for Ipswich Town in Saturday's 1-1 draw. The Pompey manager Harry Redknapp said: "I've always said that we will not beat everyone every week but there's a long way to go."