STEVE CHETTLE'S firsts goal for two years offered Nottingham Forest the life-line of a precious away strike and the chance of extending their European adventure against Bayern Munich at the City Ground in two weeks' time.
Juergen Klinsmann and Mehmet Scholl scored the goals that enabled the German giants to win this UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg in the vast Olympic Stadium. But Forest centre-back Chettle, who somehow squeezed home a 17th minute header from a David Phillips free kick just 60 seconds after Klinsmann gave Bayern the lead, came up with a potentially crucial strike which means his side need only a 1-0 win in the home leg in a fortnight to go through.
That won't be easy because Bayern lacked only the cutting edge to decorate their fluent, patient football last night.
They ended up frustrated by the same kind of gritty performance at the back that has enabled Forest to reach the last eight in the competition with successive siege situations in France against Auxerre and Lyon in previous rounds.
In fact, the goal former Tottenham ace Klinsmann scored with a thumping header after 16 minutes of a sterile opening was the first Forest had conceded since the opening game of the UEFA Cup in Malmo last September.
Midfielder Scholl added to it just seconds before half-time when he cruised through a defence still reeling from a previous narrow escape to clip home Swiss international Ciriaco Slorza's searching through ball.
But Forest, sustained by Chettle's surprise strike - a header from way beyond the far post which keeper Oliver Khan allowed to slip in - held firm in the second half, aided significantly by goalkeeper Mark Crossley's familiar brand of European athleticism.
Crossley, who has probably been Forest's finest performer in the UEFA Cup, kept out a glancing header by Thomas Helmer who seemed to have crucially deflected a power drive by Scholl in the 73rd minute.
Then, after Klinsmann blazed over from a Christian Ziege pass when he appeared certain to virtually settle the issue with his 3th European goal of the season, Crossle again defied Helmer's close-range header and also stopped a rocket by Scholl.
Forest manager Frank Clark, an animated figure on the touchline as the final seconds ticked away and Spanish referee Antonio Lopez Nieto gave a series of debatable decisions in Bayern's favour will have been well pleased with the result that gives his team a chance of overturning one of Europe's leading lights.
A blot on the performance was a booking for midfielder Scot Gemmill, whose second yellow-card of the competition means he will miss the second leg. And the alarming fact for the English side was that, apart from Chettle's goal, they rarely extended Bayern keeper Oliver Khan.
No matter. There was enough. attrition and spirit in this Forest display to suggest that their successful run is not yet over.
Once more they had the tactics. right to continually stem the flow of the patient Bayern probing but they were lucky the Germans could not add finishing power to their fluid build-up.
Kevin Campbell and Bryan Roy ran miles up front in search of lost causes but will need greater sharpness themselves to trouble Bayern's accomplished veteran sweeper Lothar Matthaus in the second leg.
He continually carried the ball deep into Forest territory to initiate a series of raids in this first leg and it was only the fact that Klinsmann and his fellow strikers suffered a rare off night that Forest were able to enjoy another successful expedition onto the Continent.
And the big bonus was the return to full fitness of inspiring skipper Stuart Pearce, who once more lifted his team to gigantic efforts as he came back to the action after nearly seven weeks on the sidelines with a calf injury.
Manager Clark said afterwards: "I was very disappointed with their second goal. We got caught wide open and that should never have happened in a game like this.
"I told the players at half-time that we had almost got control and I could see Bayern getting frustrated. But the second goal set us back a bit and it was then a case of getting the discipline back and keeping going. We could have had a more positive result but it's not too bad."
Clark explained that a well-rehearsed free-kick move had given Forest their vital away-goal with Chettle's header going in at the far post. "We had, talked about that sort of free-kick and thought we might be able to exploit them at the back stick. It was a great time to get straight back into it.
