Devon is a lovely spot for a holiday but utterly horrible for big boys in the FA Cup. The relief for Nuno Espirito Santo is Nottingham Forest escaped from Exeter with an almighty scare and not the full Liverpool experience.
The thin line of distinction there was found in a penalty shootout, where Gary Caldwell’s brave souls finally ran out of steam.
After a sterling effort stretching well beyond two hours, Reece Cole had his kick saved, Angus MacDonald hit the bar, and Forest went four for four, Neco Williams drilling the winner. Nuno puffed out those cheeks and well he might.
But this was ropey. And by ropey, we might also say it was brilliant, because Exeter, a full 59 rungs south on the ladder, put up an exceptional fight.
More than that, they led through Josh Magennis after five minutes, and levelled via the same man after Ramon Sosa and Taiwo Awoniyi had funnelled this fourth-round tie towards a more conventional outcome.
At 2-2, the League One side even had chances to win both before and after they lost Ed Turns to a red card on his debut.
Nottingham Forest needed a penalty shootout to edge past 10-men Exeter City on Tuesday
Ed Turns received a red card on his debut, meaning Exeter were one man short in extra time
Taiwo Awoniyi appeared to break his nose and was treated for 10 minutes before being stretchered off
But gravity has a way of kicking in and the prize for Forest will be a clash with Ipswich in the fifth round.
The cost, aside from the exertion, was the troubling injury to Awoniyi in stoppage time after a clash of heads with Exeter goalkeeper Joe Whitworth. He required 10 minutes of treatment before leaving the pitch on a stretcher.
For Exeter, contentment will come from their best run since 1981. They couldn’t match Plymouth in felling Liverpool, but they rattled Nuno hard.
As with Arne Slot’s misadventures at Plymouth, the Forest manager made 10 changes to his side, but with a key difference – his bench was loaded in case life got tricky.
It did and more. Within five minutes, Forest were behind. They were correct in their belief that Magennis was offside when he poached the finish, but in the absence of VAR, there was no safety net.
In any case, Nuno’s gripes would have been better directed at goalkeeper Carlos Miguel for spilling Demetri Mitchell’s initial shot at the striker’s feet.
Forest levelled through Sosa, before Awoniyi let loose low and hard from the edge of the area for 2-1.
That sapped much of the noise from St James Park, but some context would be fair – Awoniyi cost £17million in 2022, which is approximately triple Exeter’s annual turnover.
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By that stage a procession seemed most likely to follow, but five minutes into the second half Magennis scrambled forced in a deflection off Willy Boly at a corner.
Nuno responded by bringing on his first-choice keeper Matz Sels for Miguel, who had injured his hamstring, and the pair of Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White joined him.
Sels’ first contribution was a save from Ilmari Niskanen, before Elliot Anderson and Gibbs-White went close at the other end. Turns red for a knee-high challenge on Gibbs-White gave Forest the edge, but after the lengthy treatment for Awoniyi, Pat Jones almost stole the upset before Jota Silva rattled the post.
With Chris Wood joining the charge from the bench, Forest had countless chances in extra time, but Exeter would not budge until the shootout.
