Bitter rivals Forest, Derby square up in pitch battle

Nottingham Forest’s 3-2 win over bitter local rivals Derby County on Saturday was marred by a pitch battle between the teams at full-time.

At the end of a week when crowd violence has dominated the football headlines following events at Upton Park involving West Ham and Millwall supporters, there was another flashpoint at the City Ground.

The controversy started when Forest striker Nathan Tyson picked up a corner flag bearing the club’s emblem after the final whistle and waved it to taunt the 4,376 travelling Derby fans in the Bridgford End.

Rams players Dean Leacock and Gary Teale confronted Tyson for inciting the Derby fans behind the goal, sparking the majority of the rest of both squads to rush over and get involved as stewards fought to keep supporters off the pitch.

Tempers were running high as Forest defeated Derby for the first time since March 2003 courtesy of goals from Radoslaw Majewski, Dexter Blackstock and Tyson.