England cricketer and Nottingham Forest supporter Stuart Broad has revealed that his teammate Joe Root punched him in the leg during the play-off semi-final at the City Ground last week.
Root, a Sheffield United fan, watched the game alongside Broad and could not hide his delight when the visitors scored early in the second half. It was Broad who had the last laugh at the end of the night when Brice Samba booked Forest a place in the final at Wembley.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Broad recalled: "Just after half-time, 46th minute, conceding, and (Joe Root) punched me in the leg because I told him 'you're not celebrating sat next to me'. He punched me in the leg with celebration when it went in.
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"It created amazing drama but I was nervous in that second half and going into extra time. To be honest, I felt like we'd lost the momentum and that it was going to be hard to drag that back.
"But Brice Samba... certainly the best performance I've seen him have in a Forest shirt. I think Forest fans will love him forever for giving us that experience of going to Wembley. That save in the 115th minute was just outrageous."
Root was not so excitable during the penalty shootout, it is safe to say. Broad said: "Rooty actually went and stood in the stairwell because he didn't want to be near me. He needed to have a bit of quiet time, I think.
"There's a lot of familiar faces I've seen at the City Ground and at away games, all sat around us, who have been quiet calm all season. But you just look at the facial expressions when that penalty shootout was going on and there was nerves, stress, excitement and feelings that only sport gives you."
