As Everton's fans applauded their players on the final whistle a sense of what might have been will have filled the stands and the dugout.
The performance at the City Ground was so different to so much of what has gone before when the Blues have left Goodison Park. For the first hour a display of bite and ferocity laid the foundation for what would have been a vital three points at the bottom end of the table.
Yet familiar enemies - a lack of ruthlessness, strength in depth, a controversial decision and composure - once again conspired to undermine the Blues' survival bid. And after Brennan Johnson's late equaliser it was Nottingham Forest that looked more likely to land the knockout blow.
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Whether this 2-2 draw was a point gained or two points lost will only become clear in the weeks to come. But for a team that has produced so many toothless displays away from home over the past two seasons, there was genuine encouragement to take for a travelling support that has seen just two wins in 30 attempts in the Premier League.
Sean Dyche's side was aggressive, assertive and, to a far greater extent than has been clear for so long, more potent. The starting eleven, featuring Demarai Gray and Ben Godfrey for the first time under Dyche as they replaced Neal Maupay and Vitalii Mykolenko, who was ill, began this game well and fought as equals with a Forest side that has been so strong at home this campaign.
The ingredients needed for a successful relegation fight were present in a first hour that saw Everton score twice for the first time since October. There was fight and bite in both boxes, a degree of composure in the middle and a sense that chances could be created when they burst forwards. Dyche appeared vindicated by selecting Idrissa Gueye, whose mistakes had been so costly in the last two matches, while Gray took his chance to show he can perform in a game plan drawn up by the new manager.
But as the game entered the final 30 minutes an opponent of Everton was once again able to draw upon a better-resourced bench and revitalise their team when it mattered. Andrew Ayew, Emmanuel Dennis and Ryan Yates entered the fray and offered Forest fresh impetus. It was enough to swing the final moments in the home side's favour.
Neither Ayew nor Dennis showed enough quality to suggest Everton were wrong to turn away from them in the transfer window but they did create a fresh nuisance. And Yates provided the ball for Johnson, who had stolen the ball as Abdoulaye Doucoure sought to launch a counter attack, to pick out the top corner 13 minutes from time and save his team from a defeat that could have changed the face of the relegation battle. All of a sudden Everton's hard work and determination was undone and it was the Blues left clinging on for a point with tired legs and tired minds only supported by changes with minutes to go.
It could have been so much better. Those away fans should have had a journey home fuelled by three points for the second time this season. When working out how a crucial victory was lost, attention will turn to the missed chances at the end of the first half, the tired minds at the end of the second and a penalty claim that was dismissed to Dyche's astonishment.
Everton had held the lead at the break after an entertaining first 45 minutes in which they got the better of the home side. Gray gave the Blues the lead with a composed penalty after Dwight McNeil was brought down by Jonjo Shelvey. McNeil had started the crucial move, a delicate first touch bringing down a long pass from Jordan Pickford on the halfway line helping Everton move up the pitch. Under pressure, he turned inside from the left touchline and started a move that ended up with Alex Iwobi crossing from the right. A chaotic scramble followed as Forest attempted to clear and, in the melee, Shelvey stepped into a clumsy challenge.
Everton's strength under Dyche has been making the few goals they have scored count - both strikes so far leading to 1-0 wins. Any confidence Everton could shut out the home side evaporated after 19 minutes, however. Morgan Gibbs-White - one of four Forest players linked with Everton over the past two transfer windows - played a neat one-two with Chris Wood, who was afforded too much space on the edge of the box. Gibbs-White's effort was well-saved by Pickford but Johnson reacted quickest and pounced on the rebound.
The equaliser gave Forest a momentum that threatened to overwhelm Everton but the visiting side's midfield weathered the initial storm and the Blues maintained a menace of their own. Seamus Coleman could have won a second penalty when he beat Jack Colback and went down under pressure. His appeals were waved away and VAR did check the decision but the ECHO understands officials concluded Coleman kicked Colback rather than the other way round. Coleman was incensed not to be awarded the penalty and, later, Dyche remained confused over a decision that could have a big say in his side's season.
Everton's surges broke up the game and the home side was stifled as they conceded a series of free-kicks in the middle of the pitch. It was from one of those that Everton snatched their second. Pickford sent a ball to the edge of the Forest box. James Tarkowski won the first header, Michael Keane the next and then Doucoure nodded past Keylor Navas to send the away end wild.
As the first half continued Everton maintained a threat and came close to adding a third. McNeil forced Navas into a flying save as he cut in from the Everton right and let fly from 20 yards before a counter attack built on the composure of Gueye led to Doucoure shimmying beyond Remo Freuler and picking out Gray at the back post, only for his tame effort to be blocked.
It was a golden opportunity and one that, for all the positives underpinning much of this display, a missed chance that prevented Everton from rising out of the bottom three and landing a momentum-swinging blow in the battle for survival.
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