But mainly thanks to keeper Paul Smith, making his debut since signing from Southampton for £500,000, Forest managed to hang on for three points. Smith made several outstanding saves, most notably in the first half from David Graham and deep into injury time when Dean Windass saw the keeper block well with his legs.
Forest themselves saw Grant Holt fire wide when clean through after the interval, before Donovan Ricketts saved substitute Harris's penalty, but we still able to hold on. Forest suffered an early blow as talismanic striker Nathan Tyson had to go off injured after only six minutes. The pacy front-man had burst through the middle of the Bradford defence, speeding through two challenges before slipping as he tried to change direction in the box and appearing to twist his ankle.
But Forest did not have much time to feel sorry for themselves as, almost immediately after arriving on the pitch, his replacement, Grant Holt, played a key role in the opening goal. The striker battled his way past both Ben Parker and Lee Holmes down the Forest right, before crossing to the near post, where Jack Lester narrowly failed to get a touch, but still did enough to distract the Bradford defence, who allowed the ball to run to the far post, where Bennett was on hand to fire into an exposed net from close range.
Forest then had a half-hearted claim for a penalty, after Lester had exchanged passes with Grant Holt, feeding him into the area where he went down rather easily with little contact from David Wetherall.
Bradford hit back with a ten minute spell of domination, which really should have seen them force an equaliser, after carving out several fine opportunities. Bridge-Wilkinson came close with a curling free-kick, which cleared the bar by a matter of a few inches. Holmes missed an even better chance, after being sent clear by a fine incisive pass from Steven Schumacher. The on-loan Derby man appeared to panic with only keeper Smith to beat and fired a mis-hit shot well wide.
Bradford new boy David Graham almost marked his debut with a goal as he hammered a volley from 20 yards, which seemed destined for the back of the net until Smith intervened with a fine save, reacting swiftly to dive low to his right to parry.
Forest hit back as Nicky Southall, who was their most potent attacking threat in the first half, fired in another teasing ball to the near post, which keeper Ricketts claimed bravely under rugged challenges from Holt and Lester. Windass almost carved out a spectacular equaliser immediately after the break as, after finding himself with half a yard of space, he almost made the most of it with a delightful chip which dropped agonisingly wide of the post in front of the 1,100 travelling fans.
Jermaine Johnson also came close, with a more direct effort. He struck a crisp low shot after Bradford broke quickly from a Forest corner, only for a combination of Southall and keeper Smith to direct it around the post. Forest should have made the scoreline more comfortable, as the lively figure of Holt again broke clear, dancing through the Bradford defence, only to roll a gentle shot just wide of the post as Ricketts raced off his line.
Forest were to miss an even more glorious opportunity, after a challenge from Mark Bower on Grant Holt earned them a penalty. Neil Harris was the first to the ball and looked confident as he ran up to strike the ball, but Ricketts pulled off an outstanding save, plunging to
his right and palming the ball high into the air with his outstretched left hand.
Windass came close to snatching a share of the points for Bradford, with a stoppage time strike that seemed bound for the bottom corner, but Smith was again the hero as he stuck out his left foot to clear.