Match report Reading v Cardiff City 10 Nov 2010

It was a bit of a rush for me to get to last nights game. I aimed for the first car park I could find as it was getting close to KO. £8 was taken from me as I finally got out of my car seat after my 2 1/2 hour drive straight from work. As I had not eaten I brought a sausage and chips from the mobile van just outsdie the away entrance of the ground. £4 was taken from me for that. I thought welcome to the expensive South, these southerners dont half take the piss.

Afrter the rush to park, eat and get to the ground I started to relax knowing I was going to see the KO. I ate my meal in the concourse of the ground and started to real at home amongst the Cardiff supporters. Now it was time to go and take my place in the away section. Thing we finding a place was alot more difficult than I expected because there was no room. The place or should I say our designated area was packed. Its a Wednesday night away game and there is no space for me, whats going on?

I eventually forced my way into a row and was informed by the guy I pushed over a little to get my space that over 3,000 of us had made the trip. I felt really proud of us for such a tremendous turnout. Football is awakening in the capital city.

I listened to the team lineups from the Reading tannoy system and noticed the Gabor Gyppes was not in it. He had come under heavy criticism from DJ after the Jacks game and my immediate thought was will we see the Hungarian again. Only the other day Gyppes was saying how he was not going to lose his place again like he did last season. Well Gabor you have and knowing what DJ is like this time it could be for good.

Blake replaced Gyppes and Adam Matthews was back due to an injury to Kev Macnaughton. McPhail started instead of Drinkwater which was understandable. Bothroyd was back from suspension and as expected Bellamy was not even in the squad. After all this the team was very much what everyone would have expected. Heaton was in goal with Hudson and Naylor making up the defence. Oli was in midfield with Whitts and Burke. Chopra made up the attack. A decent set up but could they overcome the disappointed of the last game?

It was not long after KO before the ball was in the net. A promising move split the Reading defence open but the lineman saw offside and his flag went up well before the ball ended in the net. For a moment it looked like our attack was going to run all over this Reading defence. The next attack put an end to that.

Reading first attack revealed the weaknesses we all fear of our defence. A cross from the right touchline bobbled across the 6 yard area and eluded our defence. The ball was met by Noel Hunt who smeaked in behind Adam Mathews and basically poked the ball towards the goal. It looked like the ball was going to go back across the six yard area and away but somehow it got a touch from somewhere and ended up in the back of the net. So that was it, the 3,000 plus travelling support were subdued after only five minutes.

From the restart Cardiff attacked via the Burke wing. This looked promising as Burke sent a crisp cross in to be met by McPhail who headed over the Reading bar. Not long after that another attack saw the ball in the Reading goal again and again the linesman saw offside. After that the first half turned out to be a bit of an embarrasment for the Cardiff. The Cardiff midfield tried to move the ball around in their patch of the pitch but kept giving it away too much. Basic schoolboy errors but putting pur defence under alot of unneccessary pressure. The Reading midfield were quick to pick up on these error and were unlucky not to increase their lead.

Another poor pass in midfield and Reading were making good headway into the Cardiff area. Quick passing my their attackers saw an opening for them with only Heaton to beat. Tom did well to get down and palm the ball away. Once again it was very clear who was going to be the man of the match for us.

As the first half progressed our midfield was all over the place. The passing was dreadful and the Reading defence come midfield put us under alot of pressure. Time and again they won possession and set up attack after attack. Most of the time the Cardiff defence were up for it but it was only a questuon of time before Reading increased their lead.

However football being football it was Cardiff who had the best chance in that period. From nowhere Chopra found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat. As the approaching Reading keeper rushed out of his goal Chopra did the right thing and lob the ball over the advancing keeper. Unfortunately he over hit it and the ball went well over the bar.

Just before the half came ot an eand Oli missed an excellent chance ot equalise. From a Burke cross it looked like all Oli had ot do was get a foot to the cross. However he was hustled by Andy Griffen who was a Cardiff target in the summer. The cross went harmlessly away from the goal and another chance begging.

The ref brought the first half to an end and the frustration levels could be felt amongst us. The guy next to me told me how it was and reckoned DJ will be sacked by Chirstmas. That sort of made me feel a bit better but we will not go into that.

The second half started as if the first half had not ended. Our midfield tried to move the ball but kept losing it only for a Reading attack to happen. One such attack seeing a Darcy Blake header gift an opportunity for a Reading striker who only had Heaton to beat. He tried to do the same as Chopra but fortunately made a bigger mess of it with the ball going well wide.

Eventually our midfield decided to stop passing to themselves and give the ball to our attackers. Cardiff were now attacking the end where the away support was and the first chance of the half fell to Chopra. After some tidy passing from the Burke wing a space opened for Chopra who shot beat the Reading goalkeeper but went side. Moments later Burke found himself on the edge of the penalty area and tried to curl a shot around the keeper. Unfortunately there was not enough curl on the shot and the ball went wide again. If we could only get a shot on goal.

Reading created their own chances and looked very tidy in their midfield. They were quick to break and another of their moves saw a great save from Heaton again keeping us in the game. One of two things were going to happen, either Reading were going to increase their lead or somehow we were going to get an equalisier. As we could not get a shot on goal the later looked highly unlikely.

As the game went into the last quarter we could not even get a shot in besides getting one on goal. Our moves where being read too easily by the Reading who kept on picking up all the lose play and sending their attack force on the way to the Cardiff goal. Then the ball ended up in the Reading net well actually just over the line according to the linesman or was it the ref?

Chopra had the ball just outside the area but was going nowhere with it. He checked back and saw Jay on the edge of the box. From the pass Jay floated the ball towards the goal as he saw the Reading keeper out of position. The keeper was beaten but the ball hit the underside of the ball, bounced on the ground and then ended up in play. The away support started celebrating but the questioned if the goal had been given. There was a slight pause before it became obvious that the ref had allowed the goal. The Reading players were furious as the Cardiff players celebrated in front of us travelling fans.

Right this is it now we can go for the win. We had just under 15 minutes to get it and expectatons were high. Unfortunately if was the Reading that went for it. However this did leave them open to counter attack, it was now a different game. Although Reading did most of the attacking his period it was the Cardiff who created the better chances. Efforts from Burke and Bothroyd forced saves, although comfortable ones, from the Reading keeper. In the meantime crosses seemed to be launch into the Cardiff penalty area and free headers were being made by the Reading attack. Fortunately most of their chances can to nothing.

The best effort though came from Burke whos driving shot near the end of the game forced a fingertip save over the bar from the home keeper. The ref brought the game to an end and the spoils were shared.

Summing up. A fantastic away following were let down. The first half was like watching a schoolboy side. The second half not much better. We all left in agreement that we did not deserve the point but would obviously take it. I just felt after we got the goal the team settled for a draw which was disappointing. It was Reading that went for it and although we did have our chances this was more down to the Reading leaving themselves open. A point is more than we deserved so I suppose we should be happy with that. However if over 3,000 can make their way to an away ground mid week I'm sure our team can make a better effort.

poor performance summed up well

For a change I thought DJ's subs actually had a positive effect on the game

Cheers Ian, Another excellent Read

For a change I thought DJ's subs actually had a positive effect on the game

I think Danny needs time to get back into the swing of things. He is young enough so it wont be long before he is in the starting line up. I felt Jason did nothing when he came on but others around correct me on this and said he looked like he was getting back to what he use to be. I'm not sure about those cxomments.

For a change I thought DJ's subs actually had a positive effect on the game

I think Danny needs time to get back into the swing of things. He is young enough so it wont be long before he is in the starting line up. I felt Jason did nothing when he came on but others around correct me on this and said he looked like he was getting back to what he use to be. I'm not sure about those cxomments.

Yeah I think Danny had just enough time to be honest, won a few challenges and im sure that work out will help.

I thought Koumas had a few good moments but nothing special but I think the fact the sub moved Witts into a very central role really helped us.

Cheers Ian, Look forward to Your Scunthorpe Match Report