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2000/01 Reports

Reading goals: None
Gamebreaker: The appointment of Clive Wilkes as referee for the match
Attendance: 5,767

Reading line-up: Whitehead, Newman, Gurney, Parkinson, Viveash, Hunter, Igoe (Smith), Caskey, Butler (McIntyre), Cureton, Hodges
Subs not used: Ashdown, Haddow, Mackie

Somebody call the cops - we just got robbed!

Reading named the same team that beat Oldham so convincingly, meaning that Martin Butler must have passed a fitness test. Watched by a good number of Royals fans, we expected to get another three points out of this game.

The first half did not live up to expectations, with neither side getting anything going at all. Reading were frequently caught offside on the few occasions that we did get the ball forward properly. Peterborough had a few shots but most went wide and the others allowed Phil Whitehead to save comfortably.

One incident of note was when Jamie Cureton was flagged offside but decided to chip the keeper anyway. He missed and got booked for his effort. That's only one more before a suspension kicks in. Martin Butler also managed to get booked, presumably for trying to tackle the defenders.

Meanwhile the referee managed to miss completely an assault on Sammy Igoe, leaving Igoe to be stretchered off and Cureton demanding to know how he could get booked for such a petty crime and the Peterborough left-back get off scot-free. Igoe's injury occurred just before half-time, and came about during our best move of the half. He received the ball on the right, beat his man comfortably and got to the by-line before crossing. Nothing came from the cross but in any event I had half an eye on the defender who had decided to get his revenge for being made to look stupid. He lunged at Igoe just after the cross went over. Red card in my book. We replaced Igoe with Neil Smith, and given that half-time was imminent that means that Igoe was clearly badly injured.

Reading started the second half in much better form, and won a clear penalty when a defender handled the ball on the edge of the box. The defender was trying to shield the ball from Butler and decided that the only way he could manage to do so was by flicking it away with his hand. To be fair to Mr Wilkes (and I don't really know why I should be fair to him), it would have been difficult for him to see it and his linesman let him down badly. The same linesman flagged Reading offside consistently during the second half, and although from the end I can't easily judge offsides, it was noticeable that Peterborough fans in line with play were laughing after a couple of his decisions.

Another Reading attack led to a free-kick on the edge of the area but on the wrong side of the goal for Darren Caskey. This foul was awarded for deliberate handball that stopped a good Reading move between Butler and Cureton, and prevented one of them from being clean through on goal. Red card for stopping a goal-scoring opportunity? Yellow card for deliberate handball? Of course not - we were lucky to get as much as a free-kick. Despite the position, Caskey hit it towards goal, and only a superb save from the keeper kept it out of the top-right hand corner.

Later we had another free-kick, this time in prime Caskey position. He didn't get hold of this one as well, but the ball deflected and the keeper had to make another good save, diving to turn it round the post.

Perhaps Reading's best chance in this spell of pressure came when Cureton latched onto a loose ball near the penalty spot and volleyed it goalwards. The ball deflected just over the bar after hitting a defender. Some people thought that the defender handled it but I'm not sure about that. In any event, what was Clive Wilkes' decision? Goal kick!

Peterborough meanwhile were getting some chances on the break. They had fired more shots wide and Whitehead had had to get down quickly to make a couple of saves, but even after bringing on two new forwards, the home side never really looked convincing in front of goal.

At the other end, the Peterborough keeper made another good save, tipping the ball over from Neil Smith, but this time the flag was already up for offside earlier in the move. Really the keeper made only two saves all game (from the two free-kicks), so it was a little surprising when he got the home side's man-of-the-match award. Particularly when there was another, rather more obvious candidate.

The Peterborough goalkeeper certainly should have had the opportunity to try to make one more save when Jamie Cureton finally managed to beat the offside flag and found himself through on goal. He had gone wide and had a narrow angle, but the shot was still disappointingly very wide.

And that mattered, because in the last minute of the game the referee had got the opportunity he was looking for to award the points to Peterborough. The home side had fired in a couple of shots that we had failed to clear properly, and a third shot came in from the left. It hit Barry Hunter - the referee awarded a penalty and sent Hunter off. I don't know if he handled it or not, because it was to far away to judge. In any event my impression was that the red card was harsh as the ball was hit so hard. And of course the main factors were memories of the penalty we didn't get and the deliberate Peterborough handball that did not lead to even a yellow card.

A Peterborough player sent Whitehead the wrong way, and we were losing 1-0. There were only two minutes of time added on, but even in that short period we managed to fail to get another clear penalty.

This one was pretty similar to the first - a Peterborough defender handled under pressure with his back to the referee but clearly in view of the away fans and the linesman. It wasn't as blatant as the one earlier in the half, but it was still a penalty. We didn't get the decision, and Peterborough held on to win the game.

The fact is we did more than enough to take three points from this game, even up against 12 or 13 men. If we had made better chances from our possession, or if Cureton had taken one of his good chances, Peterborough would have just crumbled. And if we had cleared our lines properly near the end instead of allowing Peterborough to keep sending the ball back into the danger area, then the referee would not have been able to award them a penalty.

Even so, the main emotion from the game is hoping that we never have to see Mr Wilkes ever again.

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