Far have they travelled and much have they dreamed, but Forest needed goalkeeper Matz Sels’ agility to keep them on the road to Wembley.
As the strains of Forest’s Mull of Kintyre anthem reverberated around the City Ground, Sels sprawled to keep out Jack Taylor's penalty and book a quarter-final date at Brighton.
A contest tighter than a sailor’s knot always looked destined for the confected drama of a shoot-out after a phoney war of a first half and a lack of quality in both boxes. But after the luckless Taylor became the fall-guy again, for Ipswich - five points adrift of safety in the Premier League quicksands - survival now becomes the sole focal point of their season.
Taylor was the poor sap who came unstuck from the spot at AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup earlier this season. And a game more forgettable than amnesia itself will deservedly never be mentioned in the same breath as the six-goal classic quarter-final, with Brian Clough and Bobby Robson the ringmasters, on this ground 44 years ago.
Forest hero Sels, who gambled on all the penalties and finally struck lucky with Taylor, said: “I’m happy I could help the team into the next round but it was the only penalty I was in the right corner.
“Before the game you study penalties and (each time) I chose the wrong corner, but that one was right.
“The game was not so good and in the end extra time is a gamble - but you don’t want to gamble too much. In penalties, one of the goalkeepers is going to be the hero.”
Forest have won all four of their FA Cup visits to the penalty coconut shy - and Sels was also the hero in the fourth round shot-out at Exeter.
For watching England coach Thomas Tuchel, too many of the fringe candidates who could feature in his first squad next week - Morgan Gibbs-White, Liam Delap, Elliot Anderson - started on the bench.
With Forest’s pursuit of Champions League football and the Tractor Boys’ Premier League survival taking priority in both managers’ selection, the dish set before Tuchel was unsurprisingly half-baked.
Shadow boxing is a noble pursuit, but if you are going to clear the ITV schedules and condemn the Suffolk light infantry to a Monday night trek cross-country, at least have the decency to play at a higher tempo than testimonial intensity.
Apart from Ibrahim Sangare’s glancing header just wide from Anthony Elana’s corner, the first 45 minutes was inexcusable pacifism. When the ceasefire finally broke, George Hirst headed Ipswich in front, only his third goal of the season.
After an hour on autopilot, it gave Forest the jump-start they needed, and unmarked skipper Ryan Yates headed them level from Elanga’s cross.
With time running out, Callum Hudson-Odoi went desperately close when his whipped, curling effort kissed the bar
Forest messiah Nuno Espirito Santo, normally such a reserved character, was so excited by his side’s triumph he even gave full-back Ola Aina a piggy-back into the melee of celebration.
He said: “We have so many hopes invested in the FA Cup and the emotions were so high. It was huge for us. It’s important for the club to try and give the FA Cup a go, but let’s take it game by game.”
Ipswich boss McKenna said: “The players left everything out on the pitch and the way they competed was really good.”