SUPER Eagles and Nottingham Forest latest signing, Emmanuel Dennis, debuted for the Premier League side last Tuesday and is glad that he started on a winning note.
Speaking from his base, he said the victory will boost his self confidence in other matches for Forest, which also has countrymate Taiwo Awoniyi.
“It is a good feeling to win your first. I’m happy and look forward to other matches like this. It feels great to play for a big club like Nottingham Forest and to be accepted too in a short time.”
The Reds travelled to Blundell Park to face Grimsby Town for the first time since 2002 in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Forest coach Steve Cooper made 11 changes from Saturday’s draw at Everton, with Wayne Hennessey, Giulian Biancone, Aaron Donnelly, Remo Freuler and Dennis all making their competitive debuts, with Cheikhou Kouyaté also making his first start.
Alex Mighten provided the first chance of the evening, crossing into the penalty area from the right side to find Dennis but the forward couldn’t quite direct his strike on target from close range.
Brendan Kiernan had the hosts’ first glimpse of goal on 7 minutes, finding himself in the penalty area before hitting a snap-shot comfortably over Hennessey’s goal.
Dennis and Donnelly combined on the left on 15 minutes as the latter saw a cross blocked behind for a corner. Cafú’s resulting ball in was well met by Mbe Soh but his header was blocked on the edge of the six-yard box.
Dennis also provided the assist for the first goal in the 3-0 demolition of Grimsby Town to book their place in round three of the Carabao Cup.
Pressure from Surridge to win possession on the edge of the Grimsby penalty area, Dennis then had the vision to pick out the unmarked Yates who fired home brilliantly on his left foot into Crocombe’s top right-hand corner.
The Reds added a second on 35 minutes as Cafú’s pass found Surridge through on goal, the forward remaining calm to finish one-on-one against Crocombe to net his first of the campaign and give Forest a cushion heading into the break.
Grimsby came out of the traps quickly in the second half as they looked for a response, introducing Stephen Wearne and Ryan Taylor as The Mariners pushed for a route back into the game.
A dangerous weapon throughout the evening, Jordan Cropper’s long throw-in was met by substitute Taylor on 49 minutes but the former Oxford and Plymouth man saw his header hit Hennessey’s post and cleared to safety.
Hennessey was called into action to make his first save of note on 51 minutes, Grimsby centre back Luke Waterfall heading strongly towards goal but the Wales international was there to make the save.
The Reds looked to capitalise with a counter-attack on 63 minutes, Freuler doing well in midfield to win possession before finding Dennis, he drove towards goal and picked out Cafú but the midfielder couldn’t quite work enough space for a strike before being crowded out in the penalty area. Moments later Dennis went close to opening his Forest account but after cutting inside from the left, he struck just wide.
Cooper made his first change on 69 minutes, after a sold night’s work in the centre of defence, Kouyaté was replaced by Oli Hammond in a move which saw captain for the night Yates drop into the back three.
Pushed on by a vocal home crowd, Grimsby continued to look threatening in and around the penalty area as a cross towards Kieran Green was superbly diverted away from danger by Biancone, sliding the ball behind on the stretch.
Awoniyi was introduced with 15 minutes remaining as Cooper shuffled his attacking pack, replacing the lively Dennis who was happy with his first contribution in a Forest shirt.
Awoniyi was straight into the action as he played a part in The Reds’ third, cutting in from the left before finding Cafú who in turn played through Surridge again to emphatically finish past Crocombe to double his tally for the evening.
Forest was comfortable in the closing stages as the clock ticked towards full time, and with five minutes remaining Cooper made two more changes as 16-year-old Zach Abbott and Dale Taylor replaced Cafú and Mighten.
Cooper says there are plenty of positives to take from the performance against Grimsby Town. He lauded Dennis and others.
“I really liked us in the first half and I thought we really controlled the game,” said Cooper.
“We scored two particularly good goals, one from the turnover with a high press which was a nice finish from Sam and obviously a brilliant finish from Yates’ for the first.