Nottingham Forest held to goalless draw by 10-man Derby

Nottingham Forest and Derby cancelled each other out as the City Ground witnessed the first 0-0 draw between the two rivals in more than a century in the league.

A fiery east midlands derby had plenty of moments of drama, not least a late red card shown to Rams midfielder Tom Huddlestone.

However, the Championship fixture ended in a goalless stalemate for the first time in Nottingham since 1906 -- and 31 meetings between the two sides.

Derby arrived wanting to end a run of six games without a win, while Forest were unbeaten in five, and both were to be maintained by the time the final whistle blew.

Curtis Davies set the tone with a thumping challenge on Matty Cash, as he looked to dart into the Derby box.

Andreas Weimann conjured up the first shot of the game in the 12th minute, but that was simply blocked by the Forest defence.

A quick break from Joe Lolley saw Forest threaten at the other end, as he beat two men before feeding Cash on the edge of the box. Richard Keogh did well to stick out a boot and deny him a clear run on goal.

When a Lee Tomlin shot was deflected for a corner, Lolley picked out Cash at the near post, but his determination to win the header and flick the ball on went unrewarded, with it flying right across goal and wide of the far post.

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

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Huddlestone carved out a chance for Weimann with a fine pass, but Danny Fox made an important block.

Tomlin came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock with a shot which bent inches wide of the post from 25 yards.

But Forest also owed a massive debt of thanks to Costel Pantilimon, who made a superb double-save to hold the Rams at bay, firstly denying David Nugent, before pushing away a driven low effort from Tom Lawrence.

Forest should have taken the lead early in the second half when Cash fed Ben Brereton's angled run into the box but, rather than shooting from a good position, he attempted the return pass and Scott Carson pounced on the ball.

When Ben Osborn delivered a cross into the centre for Forest, Brereton connected with a header, but could not keep it down. Lolley had another fierce effort charged down.

Derby had a spell of pressure, but could not turn that into a meaningful opening, although substitute Kasey Palmer did win a free kick that Bradley Johnson hammered ferociously into the defensive wall.

In the 78th minute, Huddlestone was shown a yellow card for a foul on Tomlin -- and that proved to be decisive.

He hauled down the Forest man again, three minutes later, with referee Jeremy Simpson showing him a second yellow, followed by a red.

But, despite being reduced to 10 men, Derby held out for a point without suffering many nervous moments.