Back from the game - Leicester

[savage 4 england]

Live ten minutes walk away..

I think we perhaps shaded it. We look like we wanted the win more in the latter stages. Kebe was unplayable tonight, even when they doubled up on him. Thought he messed up the first goal, but in the end took it well. Shame he couldn't of finished off his second chance in the first half or put in a better ball in the second half. Sigurdsson was a bit quiet, but when in matters he steps up. The penalty and the control and pass for the first goal was sublime.

Mills and Zurab ate every long ball that came there way, why they playing that much long ball I don't know. Griffin was given a tough time by Dyer and his slip? proved costly for the first goal. Feds save at the end of the first half must be one of the best this season.

MOTM - Kebe, Mills was up there though.

From what I saw the challenge on Tabb was malicious and came after it got very heated. Although, it was quite far away, so can't be 100% on that. I hope he isn't too bad.

You cannot beat last minute winners away from home.

[Badger Finger]

Well well well...

Where do I start?

Highly entertaining game. When we went forward, we looked dangerous, the same when they attacked. Great advert for the league.

Kebe's pace scared the crap out of their albino left back, but generally handled him quite well.

We scored. It was Kebe. Great through ball from either Howard or Sig (Was scratching my balls at the time)... Kebe looked certain to score first time, a mass groan from the 500 or so away fans as he seemed to take it too far, but somehow slotted it away. Que mass celebrations...

They scored. Tabby ended up on his arse, ball ended up with Dyer (The filthy little rascal) Ball to the back post, to the head of the unmarked Waghorn. Great header, but had far too much time and space.

Second half... All action.... Shots left right and centre. Then... The ref, (Who was generally inconsistent and petty) added confusion to the mix. Dyer and Super Griff had a share of each others handbags, exchanging them at will. It looked to me like Griff made the 'first move' so to speak, which is why it didn't suprise me that much when Mr Re, brandished, what looked like to 50% of the crowd, a red card. Mass derision from the ranks as Dyer only got a yellow. Thing is, Griff didn't walk. GOd know's what happened, but it appears something went wrong. Anyway, 20 seconds later, Tabby got taken out in an incident so off the ball, no one I spoke to knew what happened. (Hope the little pinball is alright!)

90 Minutes... 4 Minutes injury time. We've all settled for a draw. Ball falls to the impressive Church, races through on goal, gets clipped by a late slider, and Mr Inconsistent points to the spot. Delirium ensues. Heads in hands, eye behind hands. The Sig, steps up and calmly slots it in the corner. The Sig, The Sig, THE SIG IS ON FIIIIRRRREEEEEE

Anyway...

Feds - Did what he needed to. One cracking save in the first. --- 7
Griff - Somehow stayed on. Typical Griff performance --- 7.5
Khismillivanilli - Solid, No frills. Borderline MOTM. Maybe should have got Waghorn for their goal --- 8
Mills - Lead by example, committed. My MOTM ---- 8.5
Bertie - Gave 100%, here, there, everywhere. Poor final ball at times --- 7
Kebe - I love this guy --- 8
McAnuff - Seemed to spend more time marking Gallagher than anything else. Looked better when he'd gone off. Quiet game generally though --- 7
Howard - Bit slow, but with touches of class now and again. Needlessly booked. We seemed to step it up a bit when he went off. ---- 6.5
Tabby - The kid's a pinball. Have no idea how he got clattered. Makes our midfield --- 8
Sig - I also love this guy. He must be worth a billion quid now? Only flirted with the game in the first half though. --- 7.5
Longy - NOt a fan - Worked Tirelessly, not a bad touch for him. Decent effort for a terrible footballer --- 7

Subs -

Boris 7 - Solid
Churchy 8 - Great cameo
Rasiak - Good first touch, zero pace as per usual - 7

High point - Siggy on 91 minutes, making me lose my voice
Low Point - THAT BLOODY BABY BLOODY ROCKING BLOODY CELEBRATION

[NR_Royal]

Referee was shocking. Really poor.
Fedders made some quality saves.
Kebe is a beast.
The Sig is on fire.
Tabb is injured.
Sloppy game, no one controlled it.
Their fans are shit.
AND WE WON!!!!!

[finbarr]

Staying in a local hotel so....here go my thoughts

1) an enjoyable game
2) periods of inactivity on both sides followed by intense spells of manic play.
3) first 15 mins of first half was devoid of any action worth reporting
4) then, from my recollection (alcoholic haze), ball fell to kebe who pushed it wide to the right of their keeper. He ran to the left but it took so long to get to the ball that it enabled the entire Leicester defence to set up camp (pitch tents and light BBQ's) that any chance seemed to have gone. Then he just stroked it in like it was a putt on the 18th at Calcot Golf Course
5) Cue Reading Fans go wild
6) Reading create fantastic chance to go 2-0 up but (from my rose tinted seat) it is cleared off line.
7) Leicester, at this stage, have created very little,
40 mins in.... from their half, ball is played out to their left. The Griff slips in the centre circle and the ball falls to Dyer who sent a super cross over to Waghorn whose header went to Feds's right and in off the post.
9) 5 mins to go till half tine
10) Fed pulls off a magic save as ball comes across from left hand side and hit with the outside of the foot just outside 6 yard box
11) Second half (as always for me) goes by very quickly.
12) Leicester try to play some neat football ...the rub of the green always in their favour
13) Rumpus off the ball - I (Arsene Wenger like) see nothing. The Griff and Dyer are wrestling each other.
14) Surely that is a red for the Griff and yellow for Dyer and fans on both sides act appropriately.......but Andy does not go anywhere.
15) Reading fans left both outraged (at the sending off of Andy Griffin) and bemused (that he hasn't left the field)
16) Jay Tabb is cut in half by a tackle - and stretchered off
17) Last 25, Brian sends on Church and goes for result.
18) becomes end to end game (in which Feds does not need to make a significant save)
19) Into ectra time and ball breaks to Church 30 yards out. He is taken down by Nobby Salano as he runs into area and penalty is given
20) The Sig is sublime and the rest is history
Highlight has got to be the fat boy on the drum -good sport

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Back home via roadworks and pouring rain but as for the game, I really enjoyed it.

The positves
Kebe superb (again)
The defence and Feds excellent. (Except for Griffins slip to allow the nippy little black guy to set up their goal. Fed made a couple of superb saves.
The whole midfield played pretty well. Hope Tabbs OK. Missed what happened to him.
Long held the ball up well with a few lovely flick on's with his head for Kebe
The substitutions worked and kept the pressure on the Leicester defence.

The ref was terrible (again) he was definitely a homer. He let them get away with numerous fouls.
There were two incidents in particular when we could have had a penalty when in the second half, Longs shirt was virtually pulled over his shoulders! Nothing given.
Kebe was fouled and pulled all over the place by their full back and I think he managed to get about one free kick out of it all game.

Totally missed the off the ball incident between Griff and their player. Everyone around us thought Griff was given a red card. Even their fans were singing the old "Cheerio" song. He stayed on as a short time after Tabb was flat out in obvious trouble as the other players beckoned franticlly for the
physio. Again missed what happened, but I think it may have been from the drop ball after the Griffin/black player set to. A very confusing few minutes.

Any how Kebe scored from what looked like an acute angle after initially messing up. They scored after Griff slipped. (Sloppy goal to concede) We scored in injury time goal from Sigs penalty to send the travelling support home happy after they did the cradle baby goal celebration in front of us.

The game was quite evenly matched. They certainly had their own chances, so did we, but we def shaded it.
We are playing with confidence at the moment and incredibly don't look like losing.

Well done Brian and the team for an excellent nights entertainment.

[Mr. Reading]

Back home after seeing us beat another average team that think they'll be able to cut it in the prem. Anyone have any clue what happened with Griffin? Clearly a yellow card was the correct decision, but unless I'm colour blind he was shown a red!

LOL at some of the comments coming from Leicester morons on their forum, saying they dominated - must have been watching a different game from me as I thought we completely bossed the second half (they maybe edged the first though, without creating masses of chances).

2-1 loss... very unfair on us as we were by far and away the better side.

Reading are NOT a VERY good side. They are a run of the mill championship team who happen to have hit a bit of form all of a sudden. Their bubble will burst soon enough.

You aint gonna get nowhere with players like Zurab Kisinishivishinishivishinilli and Gregorsz "im a shite beanpole came over on a tomato truck" Rasiak

Preston are better than Reading man for man in pretty much every area of the pitch and are languishing on the back of a dreadful season that started with so much promise. Darren Ferguson will have that side in the playoffs next season GUARANTEED

Andy Griffin, what a cock. How on earth did Dyer get booked for that!? He did fook all wrong. It was all Griffin grabbing and pushing him, Dyer was originally trying to walk away from him until Griffin pulled him back and then shoved him

(http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/index ... try1592101)

[rhroyal]

Even if they dominated that's justice for the game at the Mad Stad.

[Archie's penalty]

Even if they dominated that's justice for the game at the Mad Stad.

True dat ^^^^

[prostak]

Tomato truck?

[FiNeRaIn]

Back home after seeing us beat another average team that think they'll be able to cut it in the prem. Anyone have any clue what happened with Griffin? Clearly a yellow card was the correct decision, but unless I'm colour blind he was shown a red!

LOL at some of the comments coming from Leicester morons on their forum, saying they dominated - must have been watching a different game from me as I thought we completely bossed the second half (they maybe edged the first though, without creating masses of chances).

2-1 loss... very unfair on us as we were by far and away the better side.

Reading are NOT a VERY good side. They are a run of the mill championship team who happen to have hit a bit of form all of a sudden. Their bubble will burst soon enough.

You aint gonna get nowhere with players like Zurab Kisinishivishinishivishinilli and Gregorsz "im a shite beanpole came over on a tomato truck" Rasiak

Preston are better than Reading man for man in pretty much every area of the pitch and are languishing on the back of a dreadful season that started with so much promise. Darren Ferguson will have that side in the playoffs next season GUARANTEED

Andy Griffin, what a cock. How on earth did Dyer get booked for that!? He did fook all wrong. It was all Griffin grabbing and pushing him, Dyer was originally trying to walk away from him until Griffin pulled him back and then shoved him

(http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/index ... try1592101)

[glass half full]

No Christmas card from Griffin to Dyer.....

Wellens goes into every Reading fan's black book after the incident with Tabb (hope Tabby is OK)

Kebe for President of Mali

Gylfi awesome penalty taker

We must do our best to obtain Khishanishvillii permanently - he exudes calm.

[hellopremiership]

Is that Colin in those grapes?!

[oldelmparky]

Totally missed the off the ball incident between Griff and their player. Everyone around us thought Griff was given a red card. Even their fans were singing the old "Cheerio" song.

To clear up the red card confusion:
The ref held up both cards at the same time, the red behind the yellow. He showed the yellow to Griff but from the stands it looked like a red. Then he separated the cards and showed the yellow to Dyer now holding the red card in his other hand.

[susieroyal]

My Leicester season ticket holder boyfriend ( ) who was sat at other end said to them it looked like Griffen got the yellow and Dyer the red, so they were equally confused!

Cracking game - fantastic to see McDermott make 3 changes away from home that made a difference (unlike Leicester who didnt really look to change things).

They were shit scared by Kebe and rightly so.

Good atmosphere in the away fans.

Anyone know how Tabb is?

[Rex]

Tabb from this morning reports has a bad head wound and might not play on sat.

Just a quick one - what triggered the yellow card and handbags incident. Some said that Griffin nutted Dyer - others say both were grabbing each others throats. A little off the ball retribution so i missed it last night. Confusion reined when we all saw the red, with the home crowd baying for the red card. A cheer (nuts - Griffin off!!) but play continued with all still on the pitch. Then Tabb got flattened.

The Reading support were slightly better at the back last night which made for better involvement and i think we almost sold out out section / allocation.

The goal from Kebe came from such a seemingly acute angle from where we were tucked in the corner that it was hard to see if he rounded the keeper or simply suckered a keeper out of position. Such a shame for his second attempt in the first half where the pause meant he was closed down and limited.
My impression was that Leicester were certainly a sharp team as their position denotes in the league and when they turned it on it exposed us at least 4 times in the first half where we were fortunate. Saying that though they also made some very simple wayward crosses which broke their attacking nous down.
We also caught them on the break a number of times and actually had success down both wings in the second half which is an improvement on the boro game.
We nicked the game in the end with again another penalty awarded and thankfully slotted away to Gylfi's right. Manic celebrations and a very well earned three points.
The first time Leicester have lost at home since December (i think) so a very,very good result for us. Blimey we're 11th in the league now. Heady heights.
Onto WBA with confidence flying now. Lets hope the injury to Tabb doesn't rule the little ferret out too long.

[Sun Tzu]

So can we consider the Boro game to be just a blip then ?

How the ref got his cards mixed up is a mystery.

You should have your yellow card in your top pocket and your red in the shorts pocket. Avoids the possibility of showing the wrong one.

[BenReadingFC]

Some footage and Sig's Penalty

[Rex]

The result at boro was possibly the best we could have hope for. A win beyond out expectation. Last night game was more open and end to end at certain phases in the game. Both teams pushing for a win. This opened up both wings for us and allowed more success down the left than previously at boro.

[Allyh84]

Last night was so good! First time I've seen us win away in the league as well! Only the 5th time of asking...

I was maybe about 3 or 4 rows in front of the fans standing at the back. Quite liked being tucked away in the corner, a nice view.

Anyway, I thought our goal was very much against the run of play, I thought they shaded the first half. Dyer was really, really dangerous, but thankfully looked utterly incapable of doing anything after he'd skinned all of our defenders in 2 strides. Second half they looked dangerous as well, they had a lot of posession around our area but didn't create to much.

But now... that oxf*rd ref... I was utterly fuming for most of the second half. Didn't really see what happen with Dyer/Griffin, could have sworn he showed a red?! And their bloke was all over Kebe for ages, wrestling with him whilst the ref stood doing nothing with his lovely Leicester shirt under his black shirt... the oxf*rd. And there was one part where Kebe expertly got his body between man and ball and the got a free kick. I was probably spitting feathers by this point. I also liked how he left Tabb on the floor for about a minute before deciding he needed a stretcher...

Anyway, ratings...

Federici 8 Made some class stops and kept us in the game at times
Bertrand 8 Good going forward and stung their keepers hands fromabout 30 hards out right in front of us
Mills 7 Very assured and rarely misplaced a pass
Zurab 7 Against very assured
Griffin 6 Looks a tad dodgy and was never, ever going to beat Dyer for pace, not really his fault and he didn't do too much wrong I guess
Sigurdsson 8 Cracking penalty and worked hard
Tabb 8 Again quality in the centre, hassling opponents, very good for his size
Howard 7 Worked hard but again don't thinkhe had too much of an impact but didn't get much wrong either
McAnuff 7 Worked hard but don't think he did too much
Kebe 9 Gave their full back nightmares all game, very good at letting the ball run past others, and his play in the box was superb.
Long 7 Didn't have too much go his way but did alright

Rasiak Just read he actually came on.
Church 7 Some good running and held the ball up well down the flanks
Gunarsson 7 Again, can't think of anything, I was too emotionally drained in the 2nd half!

[Rex]

Lol at Compo.