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2001/02 Reports

Match facts:

Reading goals: Andy Hughes (4 minutes), Jamie Cureton (12 minutes), Jamie Cureton (43 minutes), Alex Smith (49 minutes, in first-half injury time)
Assists: Jamie Cureton, Alex Smith, Phil Parkinson (none for second goal as the ball came off a defender)
Opposition goals: After 7, 67 and 84 minutes
Half-time: Notts County 1 Reading 4
Gamebreaker: Final whistle (although it should have been Reading's fourth goal)
Attendance: 5,604
Referee: Roy Pearson (Peterlee)

Reading line-up: Phil Whitehead; Graeme Murty, Adrian Whitbread, Adi Viveash, Matt Robinson; Andy Hughes (Nicky Forster, 80 minutes), Phil Parkinson, James Harper (Neil Smith, 69 minutes), Alex Smith; Martin Butler, Jamie Cureton (Darius Henderson, 85 minutes)
Subs not used: Jamie Ashdown, Nicky Shorey
Reading yellow cards: James Harper (foul, 9 minutes), Phil Parkinson (absolutely nothing, 41 minutes), Adi Viveash (foul, 67 minutes), Alex Smith (supposed time-wasting, 74 minutes)
Reading red cards: None

Match report:

There's nothing a player likes better than to score against his old club, and it took Andy Hughes just three minutes to do so in this game! Jamie Cureton tricked his way past the Notts County left-back and crossed for Hughes to smash the ball home.

Notts County had their own player looking to make a similar point in this game, but the slow overweight midfielder concerned had a nightmare of a game. In fact, to the Reading fans' great amusement, he was substituted at half-time having failed to make a single worthwhile contribution to the match.

It has to be said that Reading had a few players who managed to match that performance - I would say that five of our starting line-up played badly, whilst the others played relatively well. This almost makes me start to wonder if the various rumours about players not being happy are true. After all, you would expect that it was just some of them that felt that way, rather than the whole squad. Anyway, back to the game.

I'm a fan of Adi Viveash and am pleased to see him in the starting line-up but he will want to forget this game. Very soon after our early lead, Viveash played a poor backpass in the general direction of Phil Whitehead, allowing a County forward to nip in and score from a tight angle. Reading failed to collapse as expected and instead regained the lead when Jamie Cureton was given the time and space to turn and shoot in the penalty area after our first shot had been blocked. Cureton's shot was fired into the top right hand corner of the net.

After that the remainder of the half was fairly even (except that we scored two more goals!). Before the goals Andy Hughes also had a shot deflected onto the underside of the bar by the County keeper. The turning point of the game may well have been a dreadful decision against Reading by the referee. Phil Parkinson challenged for a ball near the touchline and won it cleanly to concede a throw-in. The linesman, who had a perfect few from only a few yards away, signalled for the throw and the Notts County player trotted off to take it. The referee, meanwhile, with a poor view from behind the action, blew for a free-kick and proceeded to book Parkinson. I mean, come on! Parkinson concedes enough stupid fouls a season to get yellow cards without being picked on like this as well. Several Reading players protested long and hard about the decision, imploring the ref to at least talk to his linesman, but he failed to do so or to change his mind. Comically, the ref signalled that Parkinson had pushed the County player to try to justify his decision whilst it was clear that it was either a trip or nothing.

The good thing from our point of view is that the Reading players were so annoyed by all this that they quickly won the ball back and put together a few quick passes, which ended with Cureton shooting home. I am convinced that it was only the injustice that made them attack in such a way. Cureton's shot was from a long way out, and it looked as if the goalkeeper should have done better with it.

A few minutes later we got our fourth just as the added time at the end of the half was running out. Alex Smith got the ball on the left and attacked the defenders. Having watched how we defend such play, the Notts County players just backed off and backed off, until Smith was close enough to fire the ball into the top corner.

At half-time the home side, as previously mentioned, made a substitution and also changed their formation. We seemed to back right off, although with a three-goal advantage I suppose it is almost defensible to sit on a lead. Needless to say, what this actually meant was that we put ourselves under pressure when we should have been looking to capitalise on our clinical finishing of the first half.

County pulled one goal back when Viveash fouled an attacker in the box, and the penalty kick was well placed out of Whitehead's reach. Viveash was booked for the foul. We suffered again at the hands of the incompetent officials a few minutes later when Alex Smith was booked. We gained a throw-in in an attacking position. Neil Smith came forward to take it with one of his long specials but one of the Notts County subs threw the ball to Alex Smith. Alex passed it on to Neil, at which point the referee decided to book Alex for time-wasting. The only reason he even had the ball was that someone else had thrown it to him! In truth, we had been trying to slow the game down for some while (incompetently, of course) and I asume that the ref had just decided to make an example of someone.

As the clock began to run down, the home side managed to pull another goal back. After an initial save by Whitehead, the ball fell to where an attacker and Viveash were challenging for the ball. Despite all the official statements that the forward poked the ball home, I am certain that it was actually Viveash who did so whilst trying to clear. That means that the three goals we conceded came from a bad backpass, a penalty and an own goal with Adi Viveash responsible for all three. You can see why I said he would want to forget this game. [Note added 23rd October - having seen the television coverage, I still think it was an own goal but it definitely wasn't by Viveash.]

Notts County tried their hardest to get an equaliser but the fact is that they are not a good side and failed to do so. The most worrying moment was when the referee pointed for a goal-kick, but from the away end it looked as though he might have given another penalty - although it clearly wasn't a foul, it may well have been a corner, and anyway you don't want to trust a cretin like him with precious points.

My overall view of this game was that although we won, the performance was nowhere near good enough. We were slightly better than the home side in the first half and were ahead comfortably only because of good finishing. To describe it, as Alan Pardew has done, as the "best 45 minutes the club has played" is simply wrong, and merely shows how much pressure he is feeling at the moment. The second half was a disgrace - to come so close to not gaining three points against an average side was unacceptable. Unless there are big changes soon, this result has only delayed a decision about who selects the team.

However, there were some good performances on view, and the next game is against Oldham Athletic - the good news is that they're Andy Hughes' other old club!

Match notes:

Compared to the Swindon Town game, Matt Robinson came in for Nicky Shorey and Alex Smith replaced Sammy Igoe. Also Andy Hughes replaced Nicky Forster, leading to a switch in formation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, and Graeme Murty replaced Adie Williams, with Adrian Whitbread moving to centre-back.

Andy Hughes scored his first goal for Reading.

Phil Parkinson's booking means that he will face a one-game suspension starting on Saturday, 3rd November. This means that he will miss the away game at Northampton Town (assuming that Reading don't win an appeal against the appalling decision). [Note added 22nd October - there will be no appeal as this is not allowed for a yellow card, except in the case of mistaken identity.]

Match preview:

None.

Ticket information:

The away end at Meadow Lane is one of the best in the Division, and holds 5,438 spectators. I believe that they have relaid the pitch over the summer, after the terrible state it got into during last season's rainy months.

This game is pay on the day for Reading fans and prices are as follows:
Adults - £14
Seniors - £8
Students - £7 (by purchasing a ticket from the Meadow Lane Box Office and showing an NUS card)
Under-15s - £3

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