NOTTINGHAM Forest suffered their first home defeat of the campaign, as Blackburn Rovers fired three goals in 11 second half minutes to leave the City Ground shell shocked.
The Reds had looked to be in control after Matty Fryatt had given them the lead in the first half. But they found themselves knocked out of the top six as Alex Baptiste, sub Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes found the net between the 66th and 77th minute, to ensure the visitors went home with three points.
It was a little harsh on the home side, who had seen sub Henri Lansbury denied by keeper Jason Steele and by the post.
But the result leaves them without a win in seven Championship outings and, more significantly, out of the play-off places.
Forest had an early chance after Matty Fryatt – who had been restored to the starting line-up with Jack Hunt, with Pearce making two changes to the starting line-up at Watford – forced a corner.
It led to a short spell of pressure, with David Vaughan lifting a lovely, curling ball into the box, which narrowly eluded the stretching Fryatt and tested the alertness of keeper Jason Steele, as it bounced awkwardly towards the far post.
Hunt also had an early impact as he pushed right up the pitch down the flank, leaving Ben Marshall emphatically in his wake with some clever footwork, only to see his attempted cut back for Fryatt pounced on by Steele.
Fryatt had another effort, from just outside the box, blocked, as Forest built a promising attack but this was an encounter that had been short of opportunities. The closest Blackburn had come to a goal was when Marshall's deflected shot flew narrowly wide of goal, as he looked to bounce back from his earlier poor piece of defending.
The game was lacking urgency or momentum from both sides, although Forest finally carved out an opening when Antnoio did run at the Rovers defence with pace, before squaring the ball across the face of goal for Britt Assombalonga who, uncharacteristically, completely failed to connect with the ball.
Dan Harding had seen a shot charged down after David Vaughan's free kick had also been blocked by the Blackburn defensive wall. But Forest's sudden upping of the tempo was to reap rewards, as they carved out a nice opening goal.
Tesche's vision was impressive, as he picked out Assombalonga lurking on the edge of the box and the former Peterborough man this time did show his quality, bending an exquisite shot against the foot of the post with the outside of his right boot. As everyone else stood and watched, Fryatt reacted the quickest to prod home the loose ball, as it fell to him perfectly, a few yards out.
Assombalonga's confidence was growing, with the striker coming close again, this time with a shot that rose just over the bar, from the edge of the box.
Tesche had also found his passing range, as he delivered another truly brilliant ball for Assombalonga, this time to send the striker angling clear of the Rovers defence, before he flashed a low shot across the face of goal and just wide.
Burke darted into space down the right as Forest started the second half positively, but his driven cross was cleared at the near post, when he might have been better cutting the ball back for Fryatt, who had fed him into space in the first place.
Blackburn had their best chance of the game so far as a long throw into the box caused chaos, with Jordan Rhodes left holding his head in his hands after seeing a close range effort deflected over, amid a melee of players in the goal mouth.
Both sides made a change with 62 minutes gone, with Henri Lansbury replacing Fryatt and Blackburn bringing on striker Rudy Gestede for Corry Evans.
Blackburn did draw level in the 66th minute, when Darlow failed to properly connect with an attempted punch, after Marshall had delivered into the box, the ball fell kindly for Baptiste, who kept his head to find a space between the Forest players on the line, in which to place his powerful drive.
Darlow was under heavy pressure when he attempted to clear, but might be frustrated not to make a proper connection with his punch, regardless.
Forest were hugely unlucky not to take the lead again, as Lansbury twice came close. The former Arsenal midfielder saw a driven effort brilliantly saved by Steele, who appeared to block with his legs. And, within 30 seconds, when Lansbury did beat the keeper with a second shot from the edge of the box, the ball bounced away off the post.
And it proved to be a decisive moment as two goals in two minutes put the visitors in command. The first came as Williamson delivered a crisp cross from the right, with sub Gestede powering home a header to make it 2-1. The second came after good work from Rhodes, who twisted and turned in the box before slotting inside Darlow's far post in the 77th minute.
Antonio and Assombalonga seemed to get in the way of each other as they looked to convert a chance at the far post, while Burke came close with a near post effort. But it was Blackburn who looked more likely to add to their tally on the break, as Forest, understandably, left themselves exposed at the back, by pushing men forward.
Forest: Darlow, Hunt, WIlson, Mancienne, Harding, Tesche (Paterson 80), Burke, Vaughan, Antonio, Fryatt (Lansbury 62), Assombalonga. Subs: de Vries, Fox, Lichaj, Lascelles, Blackstock.
Blackburn: Steele, Hanley, Cairney, Rhodes (Varney 87), Marshall (Conway 78), Olsson, Baptiste, Williamson, Duffy, Tunnicliffe, Evans (Gestede 62). Subs: Henley, Kilgallon, Dunn, Eastwood.
Referee: Oliver Langford.
Attendance: 27,345
