It was a particularly straightforward afternoon for Forest who were posed little threat by a poor Cheltenham side.

The Reds dominated proceedings without ever getting into stride, and Cheltenham’s rare breaks were courtesy of lapses in concentration from the forgivably slumbering Forest defence.

Perhaps the best chance early on came from the unlikely source of Kelvin Wilson, whose 35-yard drive forced the keeper to tip the ball over the bar for a corner.

But it was the visitors who struck first; Cheltenham Town Football Club’s first ever competitive goal against Nottingham Forest.

Anguish 

A quick break and a neat through ball saw split the Forest defence and Cheltenham’s Steven Gillespie beat Paul Smith via the inside of the post.

The usual murmurs of discontent and anguished cries did not follow from the perpetually underwhelmed Forest crowd, and there was a distinct feeling that it would only be a matter of time before an equaliser.

Only five minutes later Sammy Clingan drilled the ball into the area where Junior Agogo chested the ball and finished superbly past the diving keeper.

And just moments before half time Luke Chambers landed the knockout blow as he tucked away the rebound from Garath McCleary’s header.

The second half was played out with all the urgency of a training match as Forest sauntered to victory.

Junior Agogo’s stunning 25-yard curl put the points beyond doubt shortly after the restart, and there was simply no way back for Cheltenham.

Wright

The most notable moment in the remainder of the half was the standing ovation for pint-sized Alan Wright, who Forest fans remembered fondly for an industrious loan spell at the end of last season.

There was also time for a full debut for the similarly miniature Mark Byrne, another promising academy midfielder.

Comment

There is no point hiding from it. Cheltenham Town are among the worst sides in the division and, were it not for the financial meltdown at Bournemouth and Luton, they would probably be in a lot more trouble than they are.

They are a small outfit, desperate and content to keep their heads narrowly above water at League One level.

Forest, the habitual sinking ship, could scarcely be in greater contrast.

What is satisfying is that, for once, the game played out exactly as it should do in light of the context.

Slumber

Cheltenham arrived expecting defeat, and they brought little to the game outside of gifts from a slumbering Forest defence.

It was a comfortable win in every sense and, if Forest were the kind of ruthless outfit that dismantles sides wherever possible, it could easily have finished at five or six, or more.

I thought we attacked well and looked far more like a unit than we have become accustomed to.

You could tally with the fingers of one hand the number of times Forest have genuinely played as a team this season, and any evidence of our capability to do so has to be positive with the play-offs looming.

But all of the day’s positives must be absorbed cautiously, because no side between now and the end of the season will make life quite so easy as Cheltenham did.

We had acres of space and seemingly limitless time on the ball.

The fact is that we will now not truly be tested until, out of nowhere, the pressure-cooker of the play-offs will strike us.

Cagey 

Will we be able to handle the pressure and expectation this time? I’m just not sure.

We have very little to lose at the moment; making the play-offs should frankly be a stroll and this has manifested itself as a slightly more positive approach from Calderwood.

My concern is that when something is at stake he will again clam up and hide away in the cautious, cagey, over-complicated web that has dragged us out of the automatic promotion race.

As well as handling ourselves under pressure, the key to promotion will be attacking teams, using the talent at our disposal, and scaring the living daylights out of them.

Why don’t I have any confidence that Colin sees it the same way?

Ratings:

Smith – 6.5 – one or two reasonable saves, but he was comfortable all afternoon.

Chambers – 6 – a slack second half which involved a number of disappointing crosses and a defensive error. Most likely a symptom of just how easy the game was.

Morgan – 7 – solid, dependable, and increasingly useful (as opposed to plainly hilarious) when breaking with the ball.

Wilson – 6 – lacking in confidence after a dip in form. We desperately need him to recover his form in time for the play-offs.

Bennett – 6 – like it or not, we need him back fit asap.

Clingan – 7 – an exceedingly peaceful afternoon for the boys in the middle.

McGugan – 7 – as with Clingan.

Cohen – 7 – not suited to the wing at all but industrious enough to make a fist of playing in any position.

McCleary – 8 – I’m reserving judgement until I have seen him without the ‘debutants adrenalin’ that always lasts a few weeks, but all the attributes are there. He’s comfortable with the ball on either foot, he wants to beat players, he’s happy to have possession, he finds himself in some cracking positions in the box. Already I would pick him over Arron Davies every day of every week.

Agogo – 7.5 – packed up after his second goal, but job done.

Ormerod – 7.5 – vastly underrated at times. He’s a clever footballer and a ridiculously hard-worker. If he’s not making himself useful in the box he’s usually on the half way line making something out of nothing.

Subs:

Commons - 7

Byrne- 6.5

Sinclair 5

Atmosphere – embarrassingly flat, with the loudest moment being the ovation for Alan Wright. Please let us escape this division, for goodness sake.

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