An away win?! Er, what's that again?

At flamin' last! Forest have not only won their first game of the season, but they've finally ended their long search for a victory away from home thanks to hero of the hour Lewis McGugan who scored two excellent goals in the second half as the Reds came from behind to win at Preston.

Before the match the odds that Forest would leave Deepdale with three points seemed stacked against them. They had not tasted victory on their travels since January 8th, and their last win at Preston had been some sixty years ago. People could have been forgiven for being apprehensive about the Reds' chances. But an interesting team selection, which saw Billy Davies hand McGugan a rare start as part of a five-man midfield, playing just behind lone-striker Dexter Blackstock, paid off as Forest dominated virtually the whole of the first half.

But surprisingly, although perhaps not untypically, Forest found themselves behind at half time when Preston scored out of nothing a couple of minutes before the break. Blackstock was the culprit when he squandered possession in midfield and Paul Perry fed the ball to Jon Parkin who slotted the ball past Lee Camp to give his side a very undeserved lead. Forest, though, only had themselves to blame for not making the most of their dominance.

Thankfully Forest did get their reward in the second half, and it was thanks to two individual moments of brilliance from McGugan in a 15-minute spell. The equaliser came in the 69th minute when McGugan ran past several defenders before despatching a ferocious shot from 20 yards out past the helpless Preston goalkeeper. And little over 12 minutes later McGugan capped a fine performance with an equally exquisite strike when he connected with Chris Cohen's cross to fire another long-range effort into the net to give Forest a deserved lead and set them on their way to their first win of the campaign.

Although McGugan was undoubtedly the hero of the evening, Camp's contribution should not be forgotten either. In the dying moments of the game he made a flying save to deny Preston a last-gasp equaliser. That would have been very cruel and very harmful to our morale. This victory, although very early in the season, could turn out to be hugely significant as it should boost our confidence no end and now that the search for that elusive away win has finished, it will hopefully make the players feel much more relaxed and we will continue to grow in confidence from hereon in.