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2001/02 Reports

Match facts:

Reading goals: Jamie Cureton (penalty, 81 minutes), Jamie Cureton (89 minutes)
Assists: Jamie Cureton (shot that was handled for the penalty), Nicky Forster
Opposition goals: None
Half-time: Reading 0 Port Vale 0
Gamebreaker: Jamie Cureton's penalty for our first goal
Attendance: 10,743
Weather: Exceptionally cold, but dry and sunny in the first half
Referee: Phil Prosser (Gloucester) - a late substitute for Peter Walton

Reading line-up: 31 Marcus Hahnemann; 2 Graeme Murty (19 Joe Gamble, 26 minutes), 8 Adie Williams, 23 John Mackie, 28 Nicky Shorey; 14 Sammy Igoe (12 Jamie Cureton, 69 minutes), 11 Andy Hughes, 4 Keith Jones, 29 John Salako; 10 Nicky Forster, 7 Anthony Rougier (24 Darius Henderson, 59 minutes)
Subs not used: 21 Jamie Ashdown, 26 Alex Smith
Reading yellow cards: Keith Jones (innocuous foul, 40 minutes), Darius Henderson (slipping over, 75 minutes), Joe Gamble (series of fouls, 88 minutes)
Reading red cards: None

Match report:

I was expecting a scrappy 1-0 win in this game, and I was almost right. Reading battled hard to break down the very defensive Port Vale side, and managed to do so only with two late goals from substitute Jamie Cureton.

As usual, the visitors came to Madejski Stadium with no higher ambition than a 0-0 draw and also as usual we made heavy weather of breaking them down. Our cause in the first half was not helped by a series of injuries and other stoppages that continually broke up play. There was lengthy treatment for Graeme Murty on two occasions, the second of which was after a collision with Marcus Hahnemann which led to Murty being stretchered off and substituted by Joe Gamble, Andy Hughes taking over at right-back.

Also in the half, Adie Williams, Anthony Rougier and two Port Vale players received treatment. Add to that the standard time-wasting by Port Vale and there was really very little football on offer at all in the first 45 minutes. I've complained about referees in each of our last two games, but the one today was even worse and one of his bigger errors was in only playing five minutes of time added on in a half when it should have been more like ten (the board showed four minutes to be added but he did play a bit more because Rougier's injury occurred during injury time).

As far as first-half action went in the limited time available, Adie Williams came closest to scoring for Reading with an early header from a free-kick but put his header over the bar. When we did get a shot on target it was clearly deflected over the bar by a defender (referee's decision - goal-kick). Nicky Forster tried to recreate his goal at Wrexham from a corner, but the Port Vale defence were alert and locked his shot. (Undeterred he tried again in the second half, presumably hoping that they thought he must be trying a different routine, but it ended with the same result.)

In the last seconds of the half, Forster went on a mazy run towards the penalty area, surrounded by four defenders. Eventually he was dispossessed but on this occasion he had no real chance to play a pass as he was so tightly marked.

After five minutes or so of the second half we nearly got lucky when from a corner, a header by Adie Williams (probably) trickled towards the goal-line. It had no right to get as far as it did but almost made it into the net before being cleared away at the expense of another corner.

Alan Pardew tried to change things around by replacing Rougier with Darius Henderson, and a little later Sammy Igoe with Jamie Cureton.

John Salako had a free-kick that would have sneaked in by the angle of post and cross-bar but was saved fairly comfortably by the Port Vale keeper. Then we nearly got caught out midway through the half when a quickly taken Port Vale corner landed on the head of an unchallenged Vale player on the six-yard line, but Hahnemann made a good save to keep the ball out. I think it's the first serious save that Hahnemann has made for Reading. A decent header would surely have scored, though.

With less than ten minutes left, it looked as though we had made a breakthrough. A Forster shot was saved but the rebound fell for Cureton who was shooting at a net with no keeper. His shot was goalbound but hit a defender and the referee gave us a penalty for handball. Given the quality of his other decisions throughout the game, I have no idea whether this was right. What I do know is that if it was handball the culprit had to receive a red card for the offence and did not. Cureton is the designated penalty taker for this season and so he stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and score his first penalty for Reading.

Obviously the game changed now, as the away side had to attack and that left space for us to counter-attack. Forster had another attempt to shoot but a defender got to the ball at a key moment. Then Port Vale made a substitution, presumably to bring a forward on because none of their players already on the pitch seemed to fit that description.

They even managed something approaching an attack, which ended with a quick Reading break upfield and a header wide of the goal. However, with Port Vale continuing to push forward, Reading got it right in the next break as Nicky Forster muscled a defender off the ball on the half-way line, raced to goal and shot past the keeper. We all thought it was going in, but the ball rebounded off the post. Cureton had kept up with play (even though he must have known he wasn't going to get a pass!) and was able to shoot the rebound home despite a valiant effort by the keeper.

That really did clinch the result and little more happened before the referee ended the game. All a bit tense but three points are all we really wanted.

Match notes:

The incompetent referee, Phil Prosser, was a substitute for Phil Walton, who injured himself in the Chesterfield v Notts County game the previous Saturday. Walton is possibly even more incompetent.

Compared to the Wrexham game, there were two changes to the starting line-up, both in central midfield. Andy Hughes replaced the injured James Harper whilst Keith Jones came in for Phil Parkinson, whose wife was successfully giving birth.

Jamie Cureton's two goals give him eight League goals for the season and therefore make him our top scorer in the League. (Darius Henderson remains top for goals in all competitions with ten.)

Cureton's penalty record for Reading is now: 3 Taken, 1 Saved, 1 Missed, 1 Scored. Variety is the spice of life.

Andy Hughes played most of the game at right back, which means that he has now played up front, in central midfield and at right back at different stages in the last three games despite having played most of the season at right-half.

Match preview:

None.

Ticket information:

Prices and details are the same as for standard home games, and are available here.

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