The diminutive 29 year-old admitted it was a weight off his shoulders to finally get off the mark after switching to the County Ground from fierce rivals Derby County in the summer.
“It’s definitely a relief, especially considering where I’ve come from,” declared Ward on the Official Forest website. “There was always a bit more pressure on me to impress the fans because of things in the past but it was just great to get off the mark and hopefully I can now go on a roll.
“It wasn’t the prettiest but they all count,” he added, “I should have had many more – that shouldn’t have been the first one of the season but now I’ll hopefully go and build on that.”
Elsewhere in the FA Cup, defender Jonny Evans set up James Morrison for an injury time leveller as West Brom drew at home to Bristol City. Meanwhile, striker Kyle Lafferty came on as a late substitute for Norwich City who went out of the Cup following a 3-0 home defeat in all Premier League clash with Manchester City.
Away from the Cup in League One central defender Adam Thompson popped up to score his second goal of the season in Southend United’s 4-2 defeat at Swindon.
In the National League on-loan Tranmere Rovers midfielder Jeff Hughes found the net in the 92nd minute to make it 3-3 against Barrow after his side had being 3-1 down and it got better as Rovers rounded off a remarkable comeback by grabbing the winner three minutes later.
Finally 19 year-old Robbie McDaid made his senior debut for Lincoln City as a 71st minute substitute in the Imps 3-2 defeat at home to Dover Athletic. The Northern Ireland under-21 striker is currently on a month’s loan with the National League outfit whom he joined from Leeds United last week.
