| Competition | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| Friendly | Saturday, 22nd July (3pm) | Torquay United | Away | Won 3-0 |
Reading goals: Forster, McIntyre,
Hodges
Gamebreaker: McIntyre's goal
Attendance: 895 (approximately 300 Reading)
Reading line-up: Whitehead, Polston, Hodges, Jones, A. Williams, Hunter (Mackie), Parkinson, Caskey, Henderson (Evers), Forster, McIntyre (Robinson)
This was a pretty good performance against limited opposition. Reading looked solid at the back, and created chances throughout the game. With Robinson not starting, Lee Hodges took over at left-back / left wing-back.
In the first ten minutes Forster had missed two reasonable chances, but it looked like just a matter of time before Reading put one away. Forster was more-or-less shooting on sight, and pulled two more shots just wide before he was able to get on the end of a cross for a tap-in. The other noteworthy incidents of the half were the numerous fouls committed by both teams that the referee just let go.
The second half contained more unpunished bad fouls and a series of running feuds between Hunter and various Torquay players. Eventually Hunter was subbed, which I think was probably a safety measure. Torquay had more play than in the first half and forced a number of saves from Whitehead, although probably the only one of their shots that caused him any real concern was when he had to tip a fierce drive wide for a corner.
At the other end, we had more off-target shots before McIntyre missed an easy chance to score. He played the ball too near the keeper who was able to save but the rebound fell nicely and McIntyre was able to take the far more difficult chance to score by lifting a 15-yard shot over the defence and just under the bar. Torquay threatened briefly just afterwards, but really the result was secure.
Towards the end of the game Robinson replaced McIntyre, allowing Hodges to move up front. This meant that he was in the right place to put a nice shot into the net just before the end.
The main difference between this game and Cheltenham was the presence of Caskey and Forster. With those two class players on the pitch you know that goals will come. A different defensive line-up still looked secure, and it looks as though we have good competition for places in that area.
News . Opposition . Reserves . Academy . Where Are They Now? . Columns . Kingsley . MadStad . Interactive . Links . Site Map