Nottingham Forest 1
Hutchinson 54
Mancheater City 2
Reindeers 48, Jerky 83

You know what to expect when you play ManCity.

• For a start, they'll turn up, which is mildly surprising considering they have breached financial rules 115 times yet still continue to prosper. Have you noticed how nobody talks about this any more? It's almost as if corrupt behaviour has become the norm. No need to panic, however, as their punishment will be revealed "within weeks".
• Not content with financial misdemeanours, this club drags behind it a whole raft of obnoxious behaviours. The manager Pip Gargligob, for example, the man lauded above all others for his tactical acumen (as well as his ability to buy a lot of very ugly and expensive players), should be called out for talking complete bollocks. He does it all the time, and none of his interviewers has the guts to say, "Sorry Pep, but I didn't understand a word of what you just said." On Friday, when talking about his players watching their weight over Christmas, he said this: "I earn four or five kilograms more for the amount of food and drinks that I have drunk, so it is really good." We doubt this is to do with language problems. We just think he talks bollocks. We try to imagine him trying to communicate his ideas to a bunch of lower league cloggers. They would just laugh him out of the dressing room.
• Where shall we go next? Ah yes, the on-the-pitch cheating. You see, this team doesn't boast a very good defence, quite simply because Pip doesn't see the need for one, what with them retaining possession for most of the game. Such an approach risks leaving oneself open to counter- attacking breaks, but Pip's solution to this is fairly straightforward and fairly obvious. Stop the counter-attack at source with a foul - a push, a shirt pull, a sneaky trip. Give away a free kick, risk a card, anything to keep the opposition away from your defensive third. ManCity are experts at this particular form of cheating, as was abundantly evident in this game.
• Other forms of corruption reared their heads on this day. By the end of the match, it had become clear that ManCity had brought their own referee, and had probably persuaded the corruptible idiots at Stockley Park to turn a blind eye to their cheating. There is no other explanation for failing to notice that Jesus was being kicked to buggery, failing to notice that somebody ripped Murillo's shirt and somebody shoved MGW to the ground in the run up to their goal, failing to notice that Diaz should have been sent off, failing to adequately punish those break-blocking fouls which Pip considers to be legitimate tactics. Sadly, you won't find anybody outside of the Forest family talking about this. It's almost as if corrupt behaviour has become the norm. No need to panic, however, as Howard Webb will sort it all out within weeks.
• Forest played really well, and I was proud of them. The defence was sound, the midfield and attack always threatening, the goal superb, the effort and discipline first class. Those who criticise bits of Forest's performance should park their misery in somebody else's back yard. I was proud of the whole day, the tribute to John Robertson, the earlier news that the Bridgford Stand would be renamed the John Robertson Stand, the response of the crowd, the response of the players, everything.
  Everything except the sickening feeling that, once again, we had been denied points and justice. The feeling that however well we played, there was no way we would be allowed to deny ManCity. And that was heartbreaking.