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1999/2000 Reports

Match facts:

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Referee: Mike Pike (Barrow-in-Furness)

Reading line-up:
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Match report:

Saturday morning. Before leaving home, I stuff a pair of pants into my coat pocket. Just a minute, wrong match. Well, actually I did take a spare pair along to this game in case it became appropriate to swing them again.

But in fact this was a much better show. It is obviously not good enough, as we can't afford to waste chances to get three points, but there were definite signs of improvement. Unfortunately, these were solely due to the fact that the players decided to put some effort in, rather than due to superior selection or tactics.

This just proves what we've known along. The reason we're at the foot of the division is due to the lack of spirit shown by the players. I wonder if this just a delayed reaction to the protest at the last home game.

In the first few minutes, we'd had two shots on target, a massive improvement over some recent entire games. First was a blocked Scott shot, and the second a Primus header that was straight at the keeper (and he still managed to drop it!). The rest of the first half was a pretty nondescript affair - Reading had several more goal attempts but none of them really looked like finding the back of the net. Notts County created very little, but there were a couple of occasions when our poor defending left them with a man over. Fortunately they were also unable to make it count.

At half-time there were some boos as the players left the pitch, but that wasn't really justified. During the interval, Marty Hopkirk (deceased) came on to do the half-time draw. The announcer asked for a big hand for him, and there was almost silence. We have finally had enough of his continual absence through injury.

We also saw the most shambolic relay race in the history of man. The young Royal on the first leg got a huge false start, and then waited for his opponent to catch up. The 3-foot-high girl on the second Notts County leg refused to move when handed the baton, so the first runner had to continue. The female Darren Caskey-lookalike on our second leg had waddled into a big lead, but then waited to give the opposition time to catch up. Then the third Reading runner didn't seem to know what to do once he received the baton. He just stood there until a steward (!) shouted at him to run. After that, the race settled down into a huge Reading victory.

And that is what we should have seen on the pitch, for the second-half performance was completely unrecognisable from the Reading of the last few years. Wave after wave of attacks rained down on the Notts County goal. On one of the few occasions that the ball was in our half, Howie got injured but it didn't really matter as he wasn't tested again for 30 minutes!

During that 30-minute spell, we hit the woodwork twice, saw several shots go just wide with the keeper beaten, had a number of blocked attempts, and the keeper made a couple of useful saves.

The best chance probably fell to Neil Smith who lifted the ball over the keeper but onto the bar. Keith Scott was following up but had got too close and the ball bounced over his head to safety. You'd have to say that a real goal-poacher would have hung back slightly to pick up the rebound. A few minutes later Smith directed a header onto the post - it was not his day.

Darren Caskey had a free-kick just outside the area - he managed to get the ball over the wall, which the referee had taken back about six yards, but it just went the wrong side of the angle between post and bar. Then Martin Williams got the ball on the right, slipped past two defenders and fired in a low cross. A Reading player just missed it before a Notts County defender turned it towards his goal. The keeper just managed to scramble back and make the save.

Our strong spell seemed to fade away towards the end of the match, perhaps because the opposition had made some substitutions to try to change the game. We brought on Paul Brayson, who did set up a shot but never looked like having one himself. What's that now, Paul? 47 games and one goal?

Finally, we brought on Sarr. You can see why Pardew doesn't like playing him, because Mass is incredibly selfish. He will take on a player even if he then loses the ball and puts our defence in trouble. He is also looking for glory moments, rather than good approach play. Having said that, there is always a chance that he will make something happen, and in this game he nearly got the winner. Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, he spun and shot, but the keeper made a good save diving to his left.

At the end of the match, most fans gave the players a standing ovation. I can't agree with that - they can have one of those when we scramble a scrappy 1-0 win. But most of the team did perform - finishing is obviously a problem, and the only other player to let himself down (again) was Evers. During our long spell of pressure I don't really remember him being involved more than once. Although our midfield looked strong, it was Smith and Parkinson who were providing the ball for Caskey or Potter to create things.

Gillingham next with the prospect of Nicky Forster being available once again. Can we continue like this or will it be back to the bad times?

Match notes:

Match preview:

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