MATT Derbyshire fired his fourth goal of pre-season as Nottingham Forest finished their preparations for the Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw at Motherwell.
Derbyshire struck in the 12th minute and, for a long time, it looked as though it would be enough to secure a win over the side that finished second in the Scottish top flight last season.
Bob McHugh drove home an equaliser in the 83rd minute, but Forest still maintained their unbeaten record in pre-season – and Billy Davies' side produced another solid performance.
Henri Lansbury carved out the game's first decisive moment, feeding Dexter Blackstock in space on the right and giving the striker the room to fire the ball across the box, where Derbyshire applied a confident finish, lifting a shot high into the net from eight yards.
Jack Hobbs twice had half-chances from corners, firstly sending a looping header over than, from a similar position at the far post, sending a crisp volley closer to the target.
Andy Reid also forced a smart save from Lee Hollis after making the most of half a yard of space on the edge of the box. Jamie Paterson, playing in an advanced role just behind the front two, hit a spectacular effort that did not miss the target by much.
But it was de Vries who had to make an important save on the stroke of half time, getting across goal brilliantly to push away a crisp effort from John Sutton that looked bound for the top corner until the keeper intervened acrobatically.
Lansbury had seemingly been struggling with a knock prior to the interval and he was replaced by Radi Majewski after the break.
The second half was more of a stop-start affair, as a flurry of substitutions from both sides halted the momentum. But de Vries had to make himself big to save an angled shot from Bob McHugh and substitute Dan Harding saw a good effort deflected narrowly over.
Ishmael Miller came the closest to increasing Forest's lead, flashing a powerful, low shot narrowly the wrong side of the upright from 20 yards.
But it proved to be a decisive moment as, within two minutes, the lively figure of McHugh had hammered home an equaliser for Motherwell.
Motherwell: Hollis (Nielsen 75), Hammell, Ramsden, Hutchinson (Murray 78), McManus (Kerr 52), McFadden (Francis-Angol 63) Lawson, Sutton (Moore 80), Vigurs (Carswell 63), Lasley (Erwin 75), McHugh. Subs: None not used.
Forest: de Vries, Lichaj (Harding 66), Hobbs (Halford 59), Collins (Lascelles 77), Cohen, Guedioura (Gillett 72), Paterson, Lansbury (Majewski 45), Reid (McLaughlin 84), Blackstock (Miller 70), Derbyshire (Cox 70). Subs: Darlow, Greening.
