STEVE COOPER has reached out to distraught young bugler Caiden Storry and invited him to meet his Nottingham Forest heroes.
The 16-year-old Forest season-ticket holder was invited by the club to play The Last Post before kick-off as the club marked Remembrance Day.
However despite making a flawless start, Caiden lost his way and never made it to the end, to his obvious distress.
TV viewers saw Forest and Villa players led by Ollie Watkins and Lucas Digne to console the devastated kid and Cooper paid tribute to the youngster afterwards.
He said: “For a 16-year-old boy who’s a fan to stand in the middle of the pitch and do that and do it brilliantly as well, he should be really proud and we are proud of him.
“It was nice to see how both sets of players responded, because they have to perform and they know what it’s like.
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“I managed to have a word with Caiden and we will reach out to him and bring him to the training ground because I want him to meet the players so he knows how good he was.
“He said ‘I’m sorry about that,’ and I said, ‘What for, everyone is really proud of you’.
“The Villa boys were excellent and the fans and players did a brilliant job, Caiden did a brilliant job today and I am really proud he delivered that for us.”
The youngster executed the military bugle call superbly but just struggled to hit the correct notes at the end.
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That prompted a brief second of confusion inside the stadium but then the entire ground – including both sets of players, coaches and fans – burst out into spontaneous applause.
The lad appeared visibly upset following his unfortunate mishap.
But before walking off the pitch holding his trumpet, he was consoled by a few of the players from both teams.
Villa trio Ollie Watkins, Nicolo Zaniolo and Lucas Digne as well as Forest’s Orel Mangala were among those who gathered around the fan with classy gestures of support, including hugs and handshakes.
And viewers at home praised both the bugler and the footballers for the wholesome moment.
One said: “Absolute class from fans and players alike. Great to see.”
Another wrote: “Can we just say a massive well done to that 16yr who did their best with the Last Post pre-match. So brave. Lovely of the NFFC and AVFC players going over afterwards.”
A third added: “All the Forest and Villa players coming up to the bugler after the Last Post was so wholesome.”
A fourth commented: “Fair play to the lad… I know I couldn’t do that in front of 30,000 people.”
And a final user typed: “Absolutely top effort and brave of that young man playing The Last Post. Also great that both sets of players acknowledged him after.”
Once the match got underway, Ola Aina fired Forest into the lead after just five minutes, drilling low into the bottom corner.
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And Forest made it 2-0 to wrap up the three points just 68 seconds into the second half.
Mangala let fly from range and Emi Martinez made a meal of the save, pushing the ball up into the air before it spun back over the line.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
