FOREST ARE COL FIRED

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Dec 29, 1996 | by NEVILLE FOULGER

Colin Cooper kept Forest's fading survival hopes alive with a dramatic late equaliser in this Filbert Street thriller.

Cooper powered home an 88th-minute header just when Leicester looked set for a first home win in the Premiership since October.

But Leicester boss Martin O'Neill refused to be downcast by the failure to hang on to a lead for the second time in 48 hours. At Anfield on Boxing Day Leicester led Liverpool only to be pegged back by a late goal from Stan Collymore.

O'Neill said: "You can never think you have won until the final whistle and obviously it's disappointing. But I thought we were terrific in the second-half. The effort was magnificent and I could ask for no more.

"Ian Marshall was tremendous for us and when Emile Heskey gets going he's something very special."

Cooper's late header, from a left-wing corner, prevented Forest from crashing to a second successive defeat after their Boxing Day mauling by Manchester United.

Caretaker boss Stuart Pearce said: "Whether this will be two points lost or one point gained I'm not sure. We will just have to wait and see. The bottom line is we need some wins soon."

But for the sell-out crowd of nearly 21,000 it was an East Midlands derby that crackled along.

Heskey was on form and gave Leicester the lead with a flicked header from a tenth-minute free-kick curled in by Forest's "old boy" Garry Parker.

Parker had replaced the injured Neil Lennon after the midfielder was ruled out with a broken toe.

Leicester clearly missed Lennon in the first-half that Forest began to dominate after the Heskey goal. The home side was surprisingly prepared to sit back and soak up the pressure.

They invited Forest to come at them and the Reds did.

On 29 minutes Kevin Campbell beat the offside trap to storm through and should have scored but Kasey Keller did well to force him wide.

The Forest pressure continued with Alfie Haaland missing a chance after cutting in from the right before Nigel Clough equalised in the 37th minute.

A long through-ball was flicked on by Campbell and Clough darted through to bury a shot low into the net for his first goal since returning to Forest on loan from Manchester City.

Forest almost took the lead in the 43rd minute with a typical 35- yard free-kick from Pearce being touched onto the post by the diving Keller.

But it was a different story in the second-half as Leicester came forward.

Marshall was twice denied by Mark Crossley in the opening minutes and then Muzzy Izzet fired wide.

Scott Taylor missed from a Parker cross before Izzet struck with a clinically taken goal in the 63rd minute. Heskey surged through from the halfway line, laid a pass into the path of the young midfielder and he coolly beat the advancing Crossley.

Heskey should have notched Leicester's third six minutes from time but blasted his shot straight at Crossley. It proved an expensive miss.

From a corner Cooper climbed high above the home defence to send a thumping header wide of Keller giving a dramatic finale to a pulsating match.

LEICESTER.- Keller 7; Grayson 6, Lewis 6, Hill 7, Prior 7, Marshall 7, IZZET 8, Taylor 6, Parker 7, Claridge 7, Heskey 7.

FOREST.- Crossley 6; Blatherwick 6, Chettle 7, Pearce 7, Cooper 7, Gemmill 6 (Lyttle 6), Woan 6 (Allen 6), Haaland 7, Clough 7, Saunders 6, Campbell 6.