What The Papers Say

[Fubar]

The Sporting life



Reading 3 Darlington 3 (aet, 4-2 pens)
By Jon West, PA Sport




Reading needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate 10-man Darlington from the Carling Cup.

It had ended 3-3 after 90 minutes and when no further goals could be found in extra time the Premiership outfit eventually squeezed out their lower league opponents 4-2 on penalties.

Royals boss Steve Coppell made 10 changes to the side which won 2-1 at Sheffield United on Saturday, with Leroy Lita the only survivor.

Three of the newcomers - Peter Mate, Ulises de la Cruz and Andre Bikey - were making their Royals debuts and Darlington soon realised they could more than hold their own.

Referee Lee Probert decided home skipper Brynjar Gunnarsson had held back Darren Holloway as he tried to get on the end of a corner in the 19th minute, with striker Simon Johnson netting the resulting penalty.

Craig James might have doubled the lead soon afterwards with a shot across goal and when goalkeeper Graham Stack failed to gather the left-back's cross he was relieved to see Johnson head wide.

Darlington gifted their hosts an undeserved equaliser on the half-hour mark however courtesy of a mix-up between skipper Holloway and rookie goalkeeper David Stockdale.

A back header was squirted across goal instead of into Stockdale's hands and Lita put on a spurt to find the empty net.

Darlington's response was to regain the lead within four minutes however with Joachim finishing a move he had begun himself with a pacy run from midfield.

The former Aston Villa, Leicester and Coventry man fed Carlos Logan, whose shot was deflected off John Halls into Joachim's path and he made no mistake from just inside the box.

Reading were smarting but conjured up a reply within a minute, John Oster threading a ball through the defence to allow Lita to fire home from the right of the box.

Reading should have been ahead before the break when De la Cruz, who had been outpaced by Joachim for Darlington's second, hurtled past challengers to reach to the box only to blaze over.

Darlington went ahead for the third time eight minutes into the second half when David Rowson's cleverly laid-back corner was blasted into Stack's near-post top corner by Joachim.

Bikey was booked for barging Johnson over as Darlington pressed for a fourth goal and Kalusivikako Ngoma was only just wide with a header from the free-kick.

Lita won a free-kick just outside the box at the other end and Stockdale atoned for his earlier error by tipping Stephen Hunt's goal-bound effort against a post.

Lita then went down in the box claiming shirt-pulling by Ngoma, but play continued.

Reading sent on Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle in place of Lita for the final 20 minutes but the striker had yet to touch the ball when Rowson headed inches wide from a corner.

Doyle made an impact by sprinting past David Duke and the defender was shown a straight red in the 73rd minute for hauling him down before he reached the box.

Hunt fired the free-kick over before Oster forced a save from Stockdale.

Reading piled on the pressure and were rewarded with an equaliser with fewer than five minutes of normal time remaining. Stockdale missed a corner and it bounced off Mate at the back post and over the line.

The Hungarian had appeared to use an arm but there were no protests and the goal was allowed to stand.

Darlington substitute Neil Wainwright failed to hit the target in the first half of extra-time when put through.

Another replacement, Brian Close, blocked a goal-bound effort from Long from six yards at the other end and, just seconds into the final period, the young Irishman poked another good chance wide.

Oster could not hit the target from a good position and the game went to penalties.

Hunt netted the first after a retake and Reading stayed ahead when Holloway blasted over. Glen Little made it 2-0 to the home side before James pulled one back.

Doyle saw his saved but Wainwright put his over. Long and Johnson both scored to make it 3-2 to Reading and Bikey made sure with a cool final spot-kick.

Teams:

Reading Stack, Halls (Harper 102), Bikey, Mate, De la Cruz,Little, Gunnarsson, Oster, Hunt, Lita (Doyle 69), Long.


Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Hayes, Osano.


Booked: Bikey.


Goals: Lita 31, 35, Mate 86.


Darlington Stockdale, Duke, James, Holloway,Hutchinson (Close 89), Johnson, Ngoma, Rowson,McLeod (Cummins 60), Joachim, Carlos Logan (Wainwright 64).


Subs Not Used: Russell, Armstrong.


Sent Off: Duke (72).


Goals: Johnson 19 pen, Joachim 34, 52.

Reading win 4-2 on penalties


Att: 10,353


Ref: L Probert (Gloucestershire).

[Fubar]

BBC Sport


Reading 3-3 Darlington (aet)
Reading win 4-2 on penalties
Reading reached the Carling Cup third round after beating Darlington 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling draw.

Simon Johnson's 19th-minute spot-kick gave Darlington the lead before Leroy Lita levelled 12 minutes later.

Julian Joachim's 34th-minute goal put Darlington ahead, only for Lita to level - but Joachim blasted in on 52 minutes to put the Quakers 3-2 up.

Darlington's David Duke was sent off on 73 minutes for a foul and Peter Mate bundled an equaliser on 86 minutes.

It was a much-changed Reading side from the team which won 2-1 at Sheffield United on Saturday, with Leroy Lita the only survivor in the starting line-up.

Indeed, three Reading players - goalscorer Mate, Ulises de la Cruz and Andre Bikey - were making their Royals debuts.

The new-look Royals did not gel quickly, and the Quakers began brightly. Johnson's penalty was no more than they deserved, and Craig James might have doubled the lead soon afterwards with a shot across goal.

Reading had chances though, and with the scores level at 2-2 before half-time, De La Cruz wasted a good chance in the box.

Darlington's rookie goalkeeper David Stockdale did well to tip Stephen Hunt's goal-bound effort against a post as Reading increased the pressure late on.

But there was nothing he could do about Reading's late equaliser as he missed a corner and the ball bounced off Mate and over the line.

Darlington substitute Neil Wainwright missed a chance in extra-time, while Reading John Oster as proved wasteful.

The game went to penalties and it was left to Bikey to cap his debut with victory.





Reading: Stack, Halls (Harper 102), Bikey, Mate, De la Cruz, Little, Gunnarsson, Oster, Hunt, Lita (Doyle 69), Long.
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Hayes, Osano.

Booked: Bikey.

Goals: Lita 31, 35, Mate 86.

Darlington: Stockdale, Duke, James, Holloway, Hutchinson (Close 89), Johnson, Ngoma, Rowson, McLeod (Cummins 60), Joachim, Carlos Logan (Wainwright 64).
Subs Not Used: Russell, Armstrong.

Sent Off: Duke (72).

Goals: Johnson 19 pen, Joachim 34, 52.

Att: 10,353

Ref: L Probert (Gloucestershire

[Far Canal]

The Times September 20, 2006

Reading find a spot of relief during long night
By Russell Kempson

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 82,00.html

Reading 3 Darlington 3 (aet; 3-3 after 90min; Reading win 4-2 on pens)

READING may have bigger fish to fry — namely Manchester United, the visitors to the Madejski Stadium in the Barclays
Premiership on Saturday — but they will not have enjoyed the struggle of their second XI to overcome Darlington, from
Coca-Cola League Two, last night.

It was only a controversial equaliser from Peter Mate, their Hungary Under-21 central defender, that kept Reading
in a helter-skelter Carling Cup second-round tie.

Mate, making his Reading debut, struck in the 85th minute, with what looked suspiciously like his right arm, to bundle
the ball over the line from Glen Little’s corner and send the match into extra time. Ten-man Darlington stubbornly held
on during the additional period but were undone when Darren Holloway, their captain, and Neil Wainwright missed in the
penalty shoot-out.

Kevin Doyle also squandered a spot-kick for Reading and it was left to Andre Bikey, the Cameroon centre back, who was
also making his debut for the Berkshire club, to propel his team into the third round. Although he is unlikely to make the
line-up against United, he guided in his penalty with the minumim of fuss and took the applause from a sparse crowd.

“I’m glad that the lads who don’t normally play, got some football,â€

[Spirit of Elm Park]

When United visit, Reading may need all the luck they can muster.

Because we'll put the same team of strangers out.

[MartinRdg]

I've read quite a few reports so far and haven't seen any mention of the blatant pens that we didn't get, only the fact that the linesman shouldn't have allowed our third goal - perhaps that linesman was, in fact, blind!