Blackburn 7 Notts Forest 0

[Timmy]

I remember this game very well, not just for the 7 goals, shearer'ss hattrick. But it was also the "offical" opening of the then recently developed Ewood.

And also it was the day of my 20th birthday.

[benhben]

This was the first ever game i saw at ewood, and was the day before my 7th birthday i think. A shearer hat trick, Le saux from 30 yards, Mike Newell got one and cant remember who else. We sat in the Jack Walker stand, think it was the first day it was open. Those were the days. On a side not, Blackburn are yet to loose when i have travelled to watch them, which includes a trip to old trafford!

[philipl]

It was on the day of the club's 120th birthday as well.

Surely you remember the two superb strikes from Lars Bohinen?- Forest fans not very happy about that.

They had their skipper sent off and Shearer smacked in the fourth from the resulting free kick.

Forest had just gone 25 Premiership games unbeaten before that game as well!

The return at Forest ended up 5-1 to Rovers making the 12-1 aggregate double the joint largest aggregate double in the 118 years since the football league was founded (Newcastle clocked 11-0 over two games against Barnsley in 1911).

Edited February 12, 2006 by philipl

[thenodrog]

It was on the day of the club's 120th birthday as well.

Surely you remember the two superb strikes from Lars Bohinen?- Forest fans not very happy about that.

They had their skipper sent off and Shearer smacked in the fourth from the resulting free kick.

Forest had just gone 25 Premiership games unbeaten before that game as well!

The return at Forest ended up 5-1 to Rovers making the 12-1 aggregate double  the joint largest aggregate double in the 118 years since the football league was founded (Newcastle clocked 11-0 over two games against Barnsley in 1911).

383678[/snapback]

In that case it must also be down in the records as the best ever reason for singing 'Can we play you every week'.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I took my son to that game, afterwards we were waiting for autographs outside on a miserable, cold ,dark and rainy evening. The Forest players pushed their way through the small throng to their coach , every one refused to sign my sons book, all except Stuart Pearce. He kept all the so called stars on the Forest coach waiting for about 10 minutes whilst he insisted on signing for everybody and had a brief chat with my son, the mark of a true sportsmen and a gent.

[jim mk2]

No such club as Notts Forest.

It's Notts County and Nottingham Forest.

[SAS]

i remember this game well

bohinen with a few goals, classic

[Timmy]

i remember this game well

bohinen with a few goals, classic

383866[/snapback]

It was his debut as well, was it not. Who else made theri debut that day, can't remember?

[Seggie]

No he made his debut against Sheff Weds.

Another classic from this game was singing to Jason Lee 'Hes Got a pineapple on his head' the days of when Frank Skinner and David Baddiel were funny

[Presty On Tour]

there were some classic strikes in that game, bohinen's was top drawer!!

didn't the riot all start with a howler from the forest keeper crossley?

[Seggie]

there were some classic strikes in that game, bohinen's was top drawer!!

didn't the riot all start with a howler from the forest keeper crossley?

384039[/snapback]

The riot with the error was the year before in the championship season when he cocked up big

[roversWASmylife]

Shearer scored a cracking free kick.

Long time ago.

[Billy Castell]

I was at that game as well. I would have been 14 at the time, and I remember Jason Lee going off injured by challenging Hendry for a high ball, only to be replaced by..............Anrdea Silenzi . At least that's how I remembered that sequence of events. After the seventh goal I was shouting 'we want 10'.

[ihtd]

It was a great day!!!

We looked at our very best that day and could have scored even more than the seven without. I remember the Forest manager saying after the match, he thought his side were "Unlucky". I was about 7/8 and i was p*****g myself laughing then as well.

[Hannah]

SOmeone kept yelling at Crossley - Does your Dad pick the team, Is that why you are playing? Even Crossley raised a smile at that!

[percy]

.......Surely you remember the two superb strikes from Lars Bohinen?- Forest fans not very happy about that.

I watched from the Darwen End that day and remember the whole ground singing 'Thank You Very Much For Lars Bohinen' to the tune of the old Cadbury Roses TV adverts....superb.

[colin]

...and four days later we were at Sparta Moscow and the infamous Batty/Le Saux spat, and on the wrong side of a 3-0 hammering.

It's a funny old game.....

[colin]

Here's how The Observer reported on the game 19th November 1995:

Shearer Leads The Slaughter

Alan Combes

at Ewood Park

Blackburn Rovers 7

Shearer 20 57 68, Bohinen 28 76, Newell 82, Le Saux 89

NottIngham Forest 0

Ate: 27.660

THIS TIME last season, an unbeaten Forest entertained fourth-placed Rovers at the City Ground. Rovers came away 2-0 winners and remained unbeaten until late January, thus establishing the substance of their championship bid. Forest, on the other hand, picked up only two points from the next 18 and fell away from the leaders.

Whether this result will hold quite the same significance is pure speculation, but with seven defeats already under their belt, Rovers must have dimmer prospects this time round.

The first 15 nondescript minutes could be likened to a pair of heavyweight boxers shuffling testily around the ring. Then Sherwood went narrowly close with a stunning shot from midfield and we knew we were onto something special.

No one in Forest’s defence was takingresponsibility when Shearer’s diagonally struck shot hit home In the 20th minute. Bohinen was clearly troubling his former team-mates and within seconds of the first goal only a brilliant defensive header by Pearce momentarily saved Forest.

Ripley absorbed Bohinen’s confidence and, combined with Le Saux’s raking balls from the halfway line, the visitors were given a torrid time. Cooper was off when Sherwood took the ball where Gemmill should have been. He found a corridor to Shearer and from his clip-on, Bohinen scored.

Phillips came on for the injured Cooper and Haaland moved to the centre of defence where his spurs were to be earned against the resurgent Shearer.

Forest clearly needed an early second- half goal and Lee’s slyly-placed tap under Flowers’ advancing body seemed to fit the bill, but Hendry dropped in from nowhere and miraculously cleared. Lee’s legs were mangled beneath the weight of Flowers and on in his place came that occasional winter visitor, the lesser-spotted Silenzi.

Referee Winter tried to restore the friendship between Woan and Bohinen; Forest - went into dream mode and Shearer headed a simple goal from Ripley’s corner.

The match became increasingly fragmented as Bohinen teased and tortured in equal portions. Stone looked a shadow of his international self and only Gemmills stumbling runs looked likely to produce anything.

Chettle’s dismissal as a result of a mistimed rather than an ill-intentioned tackle on Shearer produced a free-kick from which the England striker completed his hat-trick.

Forest fell apart; Bohinen snapped up the rebound from -a free-kick before Newall ran the ball past a bemused Crossley after tireless work by Shearer.

Pearce went psycho. What Forest needed, their captain plainly felt was a consolation goal and in its pursuit the Forest defence was reckless. But Shearer knew his tricks and organised the wall against a Pearce free-kick brilliantly. It was Forest’s only real chance in the half.

Le Saux capped the day with a long- range effort and the only remaining question was whether Bohinen’s joy or Forest’s misery was the greater.

[colin]

and The Guardian the day after

Well this put a smile back on few faces in East Lancashire, not least that of Jack Walker onthe day — the club’s 120th an- niversary — that he opened the rebuilt £25 million Ewood Park.

Forest’s only possible con-solation for such a drubbing was that this was not their worst defeat. Rovers inflicted that nearly 60 years ago when they won 9—1.

Forest had not lost in their 25 Premiership games since February. And, not used to

being beaten, let alone stuffed, they had no notion how to stop it, said their man-

ager Fraia Clark.

Ray Harford, his Rovers counterpart, ‘We were very good on the ball. But when we lost it we hunted in packs to get it back. It was impressive.”

Cooper, who had Forest’s only two chances cleared off the line before Blackburn

scored, was not the only one feeling dizzy at the end. Even before he went off concussed, after 30 minutes, and before Chettle was sent off and Lee was injured, Forest had been outplayed. Shearer opened the floodgates with the first goal of his hat trick after 19 minutes.

Forest face Lyon in the third round of the Uefa Cup at the City Ground tomorrow,

with Lee now doubtful but Roy likely to be back. Meanwhile Rovers, down and out

in the Champions’ League, are heaing for Moscow; unfortunately for them Bohinen,

who has changed their fortunes in recent weeks, adding the spice to their characteristic determination, is ineligible.

Shearer’s quick turn and strike, after Newell knocked down Ripley’s cross, gave him his first goal. He laid on the second for Bohinen after 28 minutes, and just after the restart produced a header from Ripley’s corner to make it 3—a. Just after the hour, Chettle was shown a second yellow card and, from the free-kick, Shearer completed his hat-trick.

With a quarter of an hour left, another Shearer free-kick was cleared but Bohinen,

striding in, beat the devastated Crossley. On 81 minutes Newell bundled in Shearer’s cross for the sixth. And in in- jury time Le Saux hit a stun- ner from 35 yards; it rattled the underside of the bar and, this being Blackburn’s day,

dropped in.

It was Clark’s worst defeat as a manager. ‘Everything that could go wrong did go

wrong,” he said. “I just hope we get home safely. It’s been that sort of day.”

SCORERS: Blackburn Rovers: shearer

(l9 mln. 55, 67). Bohlnen (20, 75), Newell

(51), Le Saux (90),

Blackburn Rover: Flowers; kenna,

Berg, Hendry, Le sawl, Ripley, Sherwood,

Bohillan, Belly, Newell, Shearer.

Nottingham Forest: Crossley; Lyltle,

cooper (Phillips, So), chellle. Pearce,

Stone. Bart,Wimams Haeland, Gemmill

Re1e5O: 3 WinIer (Slocklon.on’Fees)m

(scanning technology's not quite there yet)

[philipl]

Never mind the scanner, I'd forgotten that was a really useful Forest outfit we marmelised that season- pretty well all internationals or u-21s.

[Jan]

I was in Australia on holiday for this game. As I remember we hadn't been doing very well up to that point in the season. The friend I was staying with went into work in the morning, and called me to ask what I thought the score was.

Well, as Forest had been doing so well, and us so badly, I said 7-0 in a fairly disgusted voice. "how did you know?" he said. My reply "you mean we REALLY lost 7-0. How bad are we?" Cue a lot of giggling and finally a "no, you WON 7-0".

Cue bonkers celebration and a sore ear for him!!!

Edited March 9, 2006 by Jan

[T4E]

I remember just prior to the first goal, the Forest fans chanting "You'll never score for England" at Shearer. It seemed to wind him up no end, and the rest is history. Sums the man up, really.

[dj54nna]

I was 10. I remember missing the last goal as my dad wanted to leave early to beat the traffic. Daft sod.

[b12_simon]

I lived in Nottingham at the time and walked around with a massive grin on my face for days. Couldn't wait to get to work and start winding up the locals!

I sat with the home fans for that season's game at the City Ground. Great seat, but sitting on my hands while the away end went ballistic wasn't much fun. Never again!

Happy days indeed!

Simon

[LeftWinger]

No he made his debut against Sheff Weds.

I thought his debut was against Southampton - and he scored a header to open the scoring at Ewood in a 2-1 win?

EDIT - Bohinen - Debut to Remember

Edited May 14, 2007 by LeftWinger