Royals down ten-man Forest
By Paul Higham. Last Updated: January 1, 1970 1:00am
Reading strengthened their play-off place with a 1-0 win over ten-man Nottingham Forest.
Gary Megson's strugglers battled hard at The Madejski Stadium, but their hopes of grabbing a vital victory vanished as goalkeeper Paul Gerrard disappeared down the tunnel after being sent off.
Gerrard was booked in the first half for dissent and collected his second yellow card 20 minutes from the end when he handled Andy Melville's back pass outside the box.
Substitute keeper Colin Doyle was beaten just two minutes after coming onto the pitch as James Harper fired home from seven yards.
Forest were devastated by the double blow and, although they never gave up, the ten men could not muster enough to get beyond The Royals' defence.
Steve Coppell's men stay in sixth place, but now join Derby on 70 points and increase the gap on seventh-placed West Ham to four points.
Forest are now running out of games to try and secure an unlikely survival in The Championship, and look doomed to life in League One next term.
Matches
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npower Championship
Table
npower Championship
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff City | 46 | 87 |
| 2 | Hull City | 46 | 79 |
| 3 | Watford | 46 | 77 |
| 4 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 46 | 75 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 72 |
| 6 | Leicester City | 46 | 68 |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 68 |
| 8 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 67 |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 65 |
| 10 | Derby County | 46 | 61 |
| 11 | Burnley | 46 | 61 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 46 | 61 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 46 | 61 |
| 14 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 60 |
| 15 | Blackpool | 46 | 59 |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 59 |
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 46 | 58 |
| 18 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 58 |
| 19 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 58 |
| 20 | Millwall | 46 | 56 |
| 21 | Barnsley | 46 | 55 |
| 22 | Peterborough United | 46 | 54 |
| 23 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 51 |
| 24 | Bristol City | 46 | 41 |
Paul Gerrard
James Harper
