Colback ducked, as if versed on what was about to unfold, and Colwill, under pressure from Yates, put the ball past his own goalkeeper, Lee Nicholls. The decisive moment arrived two minutes before the break when James Garner, on loan from Manchester United, fizzed a cross into the box. This game was only 15 minutes old when Forest supporters, sifting their way through the back catalogue of chants, landed on “If Yatesy scores, we’re in the Thames” and while Ryan Yates did not put the ball in the Huddersfield net, he played a significant role in Forest doing so. Equally this season referees have worked on the basis of establishing whether any contact inside the box had sufficient consequences in order to win a spot-kick. It is understood that neither incident met the threshold for the VAR to overturn the on-field decision and at the start of the season all clubs were advised that the tolerance level would be higher than previously. If Forest were lucky then, they were even more fortunate that the VAR did not take a closer look at the substitute Max Lowe bundling Lewis O’Brien over inside the box without making any contact with the ball. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters Nottingham Forest’s Cafú celebrates after the final whistle. Colback appeared to trip Toffolo as he jinked inside the box but Jon Moss, refereeing his final game before moving to an upstairs role at the Professional Game Match Officials Board, booked the Huddersfield wingback for simulation before the flashpoint was reviewed. Things could have been very different had the VAR, Paul Tierney, decided that Jack Colback fouled Harry Toffolo with 73 minutes gone. Perhaps it was inevitable that VAR, introduced for the playoffs this season, would play its part in a game of such magnitude after going unrequired in the League One and League Two equivalent. The defender Steve Cook, a savvy January recruit from Bournemouth, guzzled champagne from the trophy beside Brennan Johnson. ![]() Soon after, confetti rained down and the Forest players were left to drink it all in as Just Can’t Get Enough, Forest’s unofficial anthem, blared around Wembley. Up in the directors’ box, Evangelos Marinakis, superstitious at the best of times, stood hands on hips.Īs the final whistle went, Huddersfield’s players collapsed to the turf, some covering their face with their blue-and-white striped shirts. By the end Forest fans, many with hands on heads taking it all in, swayed through six minutes of second-half stoppage time, nerves frayed. The biggest cheer was reserved for Cooper when he held the winners’ trophy aloft and, as his voice cracked and his eyes watered, he described the emotion of the afternoon.Īn own goal by Levi Colwill ultimately proved the difference but those of a Huddersfield persuasion will point towards two peculiar refereeing decisions late in the second half as key moments that went against them.
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