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2000/01 Reports

Reading goal: Casper
Reading penalty shootout: Harper (scored), Hodges (scored), N Smith (scored), Shorey (saved)
Attendance: 1,509

Reading line-up: Howie, C Smith, Shorey, N Smith, Hunter, Casper, Alcott (Birnie), Caskey (S Williams), Hodges, Harper, Haddow (Campion)
Subs not used: Ashdown, O'Hara

Well, let's start off by thanking Colin Bishop of the Supporters' Club who gave me a free ticket before the game (and looked to have a couple of hundred left after doing so!). And a side dish of thanks to the Reading coach driver who tried to give me one of his hundred free tickets as well, but was too late.

For this game, Norwich had opened half of their one-tier main stand, plus the lower tier of one end stand. There was no segregation and the 30 or so Reading fans were dotted around the main stand. I suppose the fact that we chose not to sit in one group says something, but I'm not sure that I want to think about that too much. I guess that back in the days of no segregation a lot of games were like this, but for me it was a really odd feeling. It meant that during the game I got to hear all the inanities uttered by the Norwich fans, who really were some of the most stupid it has ever been my misfortune to encounter.

The Reading team included only one forward, Joey Alcott, and none of the substitutes were strikers so it seemed clear that we were not coming to the game to attack. The reserves have played a 4-5-1 formation in the recent past, and I think that that was the plan for this game. Not too surprisingly, when the game started, we came under heavy pressure from the home side. In fact they almost scored after 15 seconds! Alcott tried hard up-front but often found his way blocked by the Norwich defence, and usually had no outlet to pass to when he received the ball.

However, none of the Norwich attacks looked particularly dangerous, until they got the ball in the net after 25 minutes. It was a nice move, including a back-heel and then a cross, but fortunately there was an offside. Soon after that, Alcott was injured in a heavy tackle and replaced by midfielder Matt Birnie. Lee Hodges pushed a little further forward, but you couldn't really say that he was playing up-front.

At half-time it was 0-0 and Reading had not put a single really good attacking move together in the entire half. The only time we came remotely close to a goal was when a Nicky Shorey corner was headed out by a defender from near the far post. On the other hand, we had defended well, and presumably hoped to keep that going through the rest of the game.

In the second half, the match continued in the same vein, with regular Norwich attacks. The home crowd also continually baited the referee, with the result that he started to give them more of the 50-50 decisions. We had a real let-off two minutes into the half when Norwich got into a one-on-one situation with Scott Howie. The ball was knocked past Howie but hit the post and came away. Then in the next attack Barry Hunter was forced to clear off the line.

In a rare foray forward, Alex Haddow took the ball down the left wing and crossed to Hodges but his shot was blocked. After 55 minutes, the Norwich pressure finally told. From a free-kick on the right, they put over a deep cross that Howie missed, leaving a Norwich player the easy task of heading the ball home to make the score 1-0.

Adam Campion came on for Haddow, and obviously Reading started to push forward more. With quarter of an hour left, a Darren Caskey free-kick from a dangerous position was saved easily by the Norwich keeper. Soon after Caskey was booked - I thought that it was a bit harsh and the referee was merely trying to pacify the home crowd a bit. Then, moments later, Caskey put a bad tackle in from behind which really was worth a yellow card. This time, the ref just spoke to him and Reading immediately brought on Scott Williams for Caskey.

Williams was an immediate threat and with three minutes left, he made a dangerous run down the left wing. He passed to James Harper who forced a corner. The corner was on the right, and went over the heads of all the players in the box, allowing Chris Casper to ghost in at the far post and score with a header from two yards out. Norwich tried to come straight back with a shot that went just over, but the game finished at 1-1 and so went into extra time.

No-one had any real idea whether the golden goal rule applied, or whether there would be penalties should the score be level at the end of 120 minutes. Reading had already used all three substitutes, which meant that players such as Harper and Hunter would be playing two hours of football less than 72 hours before our next important League game.

In the first period, both teams looked as if they had settled for no further goals, although Howie had to save a long shot following a Norwich corner. In the second period, Reading seemed to have the upper hand for the first time in the entire game. We nearly scored with a goalmouth scramble involving Harper and Williams, but no-one could get the decisive touch. Then Scott Williams produced the best moment of the entire game. He received the ball in the penalty area with his back to goal, and hooked a shot over his shoulder. It dipped over the keeper but unfortunately hit the bar and was cleared to safety. It would have been a goal worthy to win any cup final.

Instead, the game ended at 1-1. The League officials brought out the trophy and medals, and for a moment I thought that was a signal that the trophy was to be shared. In fact, it was just preparation whilst the teams selected penalty takers. Norwich went first, and Howie guessed right for the first kick but was unable to save. The first three penalties for both sides were scored, with neither keeper coming close after that very first kick.

Caskey was standing on the sidelines signalling to Howie, but whatever the message was Howie dived the wrong way for all the kicks after the first one, so Norwich scored their fourth as well. Nicky Shorey took our fourth, put it to the keeper's left but their goalkeeper guessed correctly and was able to save. Norwich scored their fifth with Howie wrong-footed and diving in the correct direction but too late. So the home side had won the cup 5-3 on penalties. It looked as if Barry Hunter was shaping up to take our fifth, which might have been interesting.

Both sides received their medals, and Norwich received the cup. Hunter walked off, obviously very disappointed but the other Reading players wandered around for a while. It had been a reasonable performance given the unbalanced nature of the team, with good work from all three of our subs and in the later stages from James Harper.

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