Nottingham Forest 1 Gillingham 1

A NOTTINGHAM Forest equaliser in first half stoppage time has sent the sides in level at the break at the City Ground this afternoon.

Gillingham dominated the opening 45 minutes but were hit with a sucker punch when Nathan Tyson pounced to stab home the rebound after Jason Brown had parried an initial effort by Sammy Clingan.

There was some surprise when Ronnie Jepson didn't name a single striker in his starting line-up, but it took the Gills just seven minutes to take the lead.

Makeshift forward Danny Spiller got a decent cross into the box and, under pressure from Andrew Crofts, Julian Bennett could only succeed in sending the ball high into his own net.

Mike Flynn went close with a header midway through the half, although Tommy Black looked to be in a better position to score and made his feelings known to his team-mate.

Gillingham: Brown, Clohessy, Cox, Hope, Jackman, Black, Cochrane, Pouton, Crofts, Pouton, Spiller.
Subs: Crichton, Johnson, Sancho, Jarvis, Grant.