07/04/2008 - Doncaster 1 Forest 0
A slow, meandering circle of dark shapes flew high above the Keepmoat Stadium prior to kick-off.
In the bleak surroundings of Doncaster they were almost certainly a flock of ravens or crows, rather than vultures, making lazy loops under the grey clouds.
But by the end of the night there was still a sense of doom lingering around the newly built arena, as Nottingham Forest's hopes of automatic promotion from League One realistically finally died.
And it actually came as no shock, following a Doncaster victory that seemed almost inevitable from the start.
From the kick-off, it was Doncaster who could smell blood, with Forest as their prey.
Paul Smith's place in the side had been brought into question briefly, following the ill-fated signing of Demi Konstantopoulos, who ruptured his Achilles in his first training session. But the goalkeeper's abilities shone through as he made a strong save to keep Forest in the match as Doncaster made a lively start.
And, come the final whistle, the keeper was the one man who had kept the scoreline down, with a 74th minute free-kick strike from Gareth Roberts enough to earn Doncaster three valuable, but thoroughly deserved points.
The home side, like Forest, were desperate to gain a result that would put pressure on second-placed Carlisle in League One.
But there seemed to be few nerves on the pitch, as they produced a flowing, progressive brand of football that had the visitors on the back foot.
Doncaster must have strung together 20 passes in a slow advance up the pitch, before Luke Chambers was forced into conceding a corner.
Initially, Smith rose well to snatch Lockwood's cross from under his crossbar, but the pressure was not relieved for long and, when Gareth Roberts swung the ball back in, Jason Price rose high to plant a firm header goalwards that Smith did well to parry over.
Ritchie Wellens flashed a shot wide as Doncaster continued to push, with an off-target strike from Brett Ormerod the closest Forest came to a response.
And, while Doncaster continued to play with verve, Forest looked laboured in possession, repeatedly giving the ball away cheaply.
A clever flick from Price sent former Notts County man Paul Heffernan racing clear of the Reds back-line but, with the ball bouncing awkwardly, the striker's shot was wayward.
The pace of Nathan Tyson, as he latched on to a clever through ball from Matt Thornhill, caused panic for Matt Mills in the Doncaster defence but, after the striker had robbed him of the ball, he sent a low shot wide.
A free-kick gave Sammy Clingan the chance to deliver the ball into the opposition area, but Doncaster broke quickly down the pitch and it required another smart save from Smith to deny Paul Green.
Forest, utilising their normal 5-3-2 formation that Calderwood favours away from home, always seemed to be a man short in midfield during the first half.
This was something they attempted to address by pushing Ian Breckin into a more advanced role, playing just in front of Wilson and Wes Morgan, almost as a holding midfielder and leaving Forest with something close to an orthodox back four.
And, for the first time, the visitors mustered a threat on goal as a corner from Clingan picked out Luke Chambers who forced a save from Neil Sullivan, although the linesman signalled that Chambers had been guilty of a push.
Doncaster's threat had not totally abated however, with Price spurning another good opportunity after more good work from Heffernan, who lifted the ball over the Forest defence for his strike partner to fire over.
It seemed only a matter of time before Rovers made the breakthrough, with Forest surviving by the smallest of margins at the back - as was the case when Roberts rifled a free-kick around the defensive wall and just high of the target.
But it was Forest who could have snatched the lead with a rampaging counter-attack of their own kick-started by the pace of Tyson.
He surged into space before picking out Thornhill, who delivered a ball across the face of the box into the path of substitute Lewis McGugan, who miss-fired wide with the whole goal to aim at.
Forest's frustration began to run over as Bennett lunged in with a clumsy challenge on Stock that earned him a booking and handed Doncaster another shooting chance which Roberts took full advantage of. This time the full-back took a different tack, sending a rasping low 20-yard shot under the leaping line of Forest players and into the off the inside of a post.
The goal came just moments after Forest had made an attacking change, replacing Thornhill with striker Junior Agogo off the bench.
They were soon forced into another change as a nasty collision on the edge of the box left Ormerod with a head injury, forcing him to be replaced by Emile Sinclair. The Forest fightback never materialised, with Hefferan only denied a second for Doncaster by a fine stop from Smith, plunging low to his right to block his instant drive.
Forest will wait patiently today to see if Carlisle can extend the 11-point advantage they hold over them when they play at Gillingham today.
But there remains a more worrying statistic for Forest to ponder over and that is that this was the fifth game against their immediate promotion rivals in which they have failed to score, having previously also drawn blanks against Swansea and Carlisle, as well as Rovers themselves.
Forest will have the chance to address that record at Carlisle on Tuesday.
But, with the play-offs now almost certain to be their fate come the end of the season, Forest must find a way to net against their fellow high-fliers, otherwise they may not even make it to Wembley, never mind the Championship.