Back from the game - Ipswich

[Murts-is-Lej]

Bit of a flattering result that one but I'll take it!

I was worried when I saw the line-up with Kanu and Hunt as wingers and only Shane up top. However, we were comfortably on top until we scored (another perfect header from Long) - then we seemed to back off and let them back in (bit like the Millwall game). In the second half Ipswich were all over us and I was convinced we'd do well to get yet another 1-1 draw. Then when it got into the last 10 minutes they started trying too hard and we started getting the break-outs. Hunty got fouled in the perfect position for a Harte special but unfortunately we were all side-on so it was difficult to tell just how special that was. Queue the Ipswich fire drill...! Hunty's clinical 1-on-1 finish from Longy's lovely through ball should have been the icing on the cake - just a shame we had to concede that excellent goal from Wickham (he's going to be some player...).

Too late to remember everyone's contribution so just a MoM this time: Hunty for doing a great job slightly out of position

[Maguire]

Oh yes, a good night to follow the Royals. The 247 who attended saw an excellent away win.

Talk before the game was how Jewell had finally got Ipswich playing. Well, they were outplayed well and truly tonight.

We were helped by Bullard not playing. He has apparently been at the heart of their recent improvement, but then again we had no Kebe, McAnuff, and Mills went off injured in the first half looked like groin or hamstring.

Should have gone in at half time 2-0 up rather than just Long's excellent header from a corner. We held them for some time at 1-0 to us and I thought an Ipswich equaliser was likely at some point as the ref looked likely to give them a penalty for a series of possible handballs although none looked nailed on from where I was sitting.

Then we got a free kick 25 yards out and Harte stepped up to curl a delightful shot sending the away fans into raptures.

After that there was only one team in it and we carved them open time and time again culminating in Hunt racing clear for a one on one, rounding the keeper and tucking it away. It's no exaggeration to say we could have had at least two more. Howard missed a glorious chance and there were several others.

Much fun was had after half the Ipswich crowd upped and left at three-nil, chants of 'Is there a fire drill,' from the Reading fans as they streamed out.

McCarthy looked very assured tonight, Khiz was calmness personified, Karacan plenty of energy, Leiger good first half quieter second, HRK frustrating at times and wasted one very good crossing opportunity, Long excellent, Hunt grew into the game, felt he should have played closer to Long at times, Ingi very good when he came on, Gunnar did four nutmegs in a row within a few minutes in the second half.

My MOM though was Ian Harte. He has his detractors I know but he really did look good tonight. Cleared the ball with purpose and was unflappable at a time when Ipswich exerted moderate pressure at 1-0 to us.

And the free kick was sublime.

[Para Handy]

LOL. You're a massive twat but you've got that humour thing going too.

[BenReadingFC]

Such a piss poor turnout of fans for this game although not surprised considering the ticket prices and our form at Portman Rd over the years.
A great result against a very timid Ipswich defiantly lacking Jimmy Bullard. Shane Long showed plenty of awareness tonight, bagged our 1st , Continued well after taking a knock. He just keeps scoring. Harte's freekick was superb, almost a carbon copy of Gylfi's freekick here last season.
Noel did well when 1 on 1 with the keeper to drag him wide and slot it home. Special mention to Brynjar, showing some silky skills to take the piss out of the Ipswich players time and time again. Please don't let him go on loan.
3 wins on the spin gives us great confident momentum leading up to the City game on Sunday, We had a cracking week last week, Make it a superb fortnight.
1st time I've witnessed a Reading victory at Portman Rd in 6 visits so I'm happy tonight.

[No Fixed Abode]

247 away fans- I'll take it all back about the Man City tickets now!

[Kitson12]

247 away fans- I'll take it all back about the Man City tickets now!

Tuesday night, £31/36 a ticket, you can understand why only 247 fans turned up.
My thoughts in the morning, as I'm knackered.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Good to see so many fans refusing to pay such rediculous prices to be honest.

[Norfolk Royal]

One of the more pleasing aspects of last night was the way Shane Long played against Gareth McAuley.

McAuley is a lumbering centre-half but I've seen him dominate opponents physically and it is usually a key battle at Ipswich.

But I thought at times Shane had the measure of him physically and at least on two occasions muscled him by rolling off him, on both occasions creating chances that Long himself could have scored, once just before half time and again in the second half.

Dare I say it, but the way Shane did it was almost Dalgleish-like.

[Norfolk Royal]

http://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswich-town ... l_1_823763

Candid honesty from Jewell here, ties in with my assessment. Fair play to the bloke.

[handbags_harris]

A quite exceptional performance in my opinion. Not worth the £31 paid but hey ho, I'll take a win at Portman Road at any price given our tendency to get absolutely screwed over there. Thoroughly on top and the goal was no surprise, Brian Howard corner, Long gets a yard on his man, free header eight yards out, bang, goal. Ipswich came back at us but rarely manufactured any kind of chance during the first half, their best effort being an inventive free kick that can only have gone a foot wide, McCarthy looking like he was getting nowhere near it. Comfortable-ish half from Reading and we should have gone in 2-0 up after a Harte inswinging free kick was missed by flappy Fulop and Ingimarsson (I think) got his head to the ball. Unfortunately he put it past the far post. Hunt was there to chase and put it back in and it was cleared off the line.

Second half Ipswich threw the proverbial kitchen sink at us but, again, despite a load of pressure struggled to break through. A header from a right wing corner flew over, one was off the line with the fans behind the goal in the Sir Bobby Robson Stand all screaming for handball - didn't look clear cut to me in all honesty - a few long rangers straight at McCarthy, but as is always the case again Reading should have put the game to bed. We had the best opportunities all half again, Howard guilty of a glaring miss. Then, five minutes from time, cue Ian Harte who seems to have found his range once again, an absolute peach of a free kick from 25 yards. Hunt then outpaced a defence caught square, rounded Fulop and slotted home to put the game to bed, happy days, although irritatingly we still found the time to concede our customary shoddily sloppy goal. Long ball over the top caught the backline napping, McCarthy committed, then stopped, no-man's-land, good hit from Wickham, goal.And even after that Church was unlucky, putting past the far post with just the keeper to beat from an angle. It wasn't a customary Church glaring miss, he was genuinely unlucky.

Moan #1) Officials who had a frustrating knack of interpreting the rules of the game incredibly wrong. It is obviously an offence if, regardless of whether you win the ball or not, you perform a controlled tackle on your feet. Twice in the first half Khizanishvili performed perfectly timed challenges - the first where he stood up to a man running at him, stuck his leg out perfectly to get the ball and flicked the ball away. The Ipswich player went over his leg, referee deemed it a free kick 30 yards out. The second, Khizanishvili running alongside Scotland who had controlled the ball well and attempted to turn. Zurab stuck his leg out in front of Scotland, took the ball away cleanly, yet this is illegal as well. Also an offside decision where the ball was passed back to McCarthy who cleared with an Ipswich player charging him. Said Ipswich player then started running back as expected, Ipswich defender heads the ball forward with the offside player still in an offside position by at least 15 yards, he sees where the ball is going and alters the angle and speed of his retreat to try to tackle Zurab who is shaping to control the ball on his chest. Zurab controls on his chest and the offside Ipswich player then tackles Zurab. No offside apparently. One in the second half stands out - a passage of play about ten seconds long in the Ipswich right back area in front of us, the ball was worked forward 20 yards and then after a few seconds cleared long, an Ipswich player then clearly just bumps Gunnarsson in order to gain an advantage with an aerial challenge and they run away with the ball. Considering the passage of play and it's direction, what was the referee doing still back in the right back area?! A succession of completely incorrect decisions all evening that served to annoy both sets of fans, utterly irrelevant in the end but with our perennial luck in East Anglia I'm surprised a dodgy penalty or red card wasn't given against us.

Moan #2) Reading fans. Who cares about the number there, 247 was a decent turnout considering four midweek away games in six weeks but seriously, Reading must be the only club in Britain where, at 3-0 up in injury time, a section of fans can chant about their fellow supporter's perceived lack of vocal support. Seriously seriously embarrassing and annoying at the same time, honestly, have a f*ckin look at yourselves. All game they were at it, yet the atmosphere they generated rarely ventured into any kind of positive support for the team, instead chanting at the rest of the away fans, the home fans, and quite disgracefully at Hal Robson-Kanu (we want our Kebe back) and Brian Howard - perceived laziness; "Get stuck in Howard you lazy f*cker", as if that's ever been his game at all?! Betrays a complete lack of intelligence to the game and knowledge of their own players). 1) Who the f*ck are you to tell me how I should support my team and 2) if you're not going to back the team regardless of whether you like a player or not then just don't bother turning up. My, and any other people's enjyment factor would increase immeasurably if you f*ckwits didn't bother to turn up at games.

[dantheloyalroyal]

yet the atmosphere they generated rarely ventured into any kind of positive support for the team, instead chanting at the rest of the away fans, the home fans, and quite disgracefully at Hal Robson-Kanu (we want our Kebe back) and Brian Howard - perceived laziness; "Get stuck in Howard you lazy f*cker", as if that's ever been his game at all?! Betrays a complete lack of intelligence to the game and knowledge of their own players).

+1

[Fox Talbot]

any news / views on Mills injury?

[Norfolk Royal]

A quite exceptional performance in my opinion. Not worth the £31 paid but hey ho, I'll take a win at Portman Road at any price given our tendency to get absolutely screwed over there. Thoroughly on top and the goal was no surprise, Brian Howard corner, Long gets a yard on his man, free header eight yards out, bang, goal. Ipswich came back at us but rarely manufactured any kind of chance during the first half, their best effort being an inventive free kick that can only have gone a foot wide, McCarthy looking like he was getting nowhere near it. Comfortable-ish half from Reading and we should have gone in 2-0 up after a Harte inswinging free kick was missed by flappy Fulop and Ingimarsson (I think) got his head to the ball. Unfortunately he put it past the far post. Hunt was there to chase and put it back in and it was cleared off the line.

Second half Ipswich threw the proverbial kitchen sink at us but, again, despite a load of pressure struggled to break through. A header from a right wing corner flew over, one was off the line with the fans behind the goal in the Sir Bobby Robson Stand all screaming for handball - didn't look clear cut to me in all honesty - a few long rangers straight at McCarthy, but as is always the case again Reading should have put the game to bed. We had the best opportunities all half again, Howard guilty of a glaring miss. Then, five minutes from time, cue Ian Harte who seems to have found his range once again, an absolute peach of a free kick from 25 yards. Hunt then outpaced a defence caught square, rounded Fulop and slotted home to put the game to bed, happy days, although irritatingly we still found the time to concede our customary shoddily sloppy goal. Long ball over the top caught the backline napping, McCarthy committed, then stopped, no-man's-land, good hit from Wickham, goal.And even after that Church was unlucky, putting past the far post with just the keeper to beat from an angle. It wasn't a customary Church glaring miss, he was genuinely unlucky.

Moan #1) Officials who had a frustrating knack of interpreting the rules of the game incredibly wrong. It is obviously an offence if, regardless of whether you win the ball or not, you perform a controlled tackle on your feet. Twice in the first half Khizanishvili performed perfectly timed challenges - the first where he stood up to a man running at him, stuck his leg out perfectly to get the ball and flicked the ball away. The Ipswich player went over his leg, referee deemed it a free kick 30 yards out. The second, Khizanishvili running alongside Scotland who had controlled the ball well and attempted to turn. Zurab stuck his leg out in front of Scotland, took the ball away cleanly, yet this is illegal as well. Also an offside decision where the ball was passed back to McCarthy who cleared with an Ipswich player charging him. Said Ipswich player then started running back as expected, Ipswich defender heads the ball forward with the offside player still in an offside position by at least 15 yards, he sees where the ball is going and alters the angle and speed of his retreat to try to tackle Zurab who is shaping to control the ball on his chest. Zurab controls on his chest and the offside Ipswich player then tackles Zurab. No offside apparently. One in the second half stands out - a passage of play about ten seconds long in the Ipswich right back area in front of us, the ball was worked forward 20 yards and then after a few seconds cleared long, an Ipswich player then clearly just bumps Gunnarsson in order to gain an advantage with an aerial challenge and they run away with the ball. Considering the passage of play and it's direction, what was the referee doing still back in the right back area?! A succession of completely incorrect decisions all evening that served to annoy both sets of fans, utterly irrelevant in the end but with our perennial luck in East Anglia I'm surprised a dodgy penalty or red card wasn't given against us.

Moan #2) Reading fans. Who cares about the number there, 247 was a decent turnout considering four midweek away games in six weeks but seriously, Reading must be the only club in Britain where, at 3-0 up in injury time, a section of fans can chant about their fellow supporter's perceived lack of vocal support. Seriously seriously embarrassing and annoying at the same time, honestly, have a f*ckin look at yourselves. All game they were at it, yet the atmosphere they generated rarely ventured into any kind of positive support for the team, instead chanting at the rest of the away fans, the home fans, and quite disgracefully at Hal Robson-Kanu (we want our Kebe back) and Brian Howard - perceived laziness; "Get stuck in Howard you lazy f*cker", as if that's ever been his game at all?! Betrays a complete lack of intelligence to the game and knowledge of their own players). 1) Who the f*ck are you to tell me how I should support my team and 2) if you're not going to back the team regardless of whether you like a player or not then just don't bother turning up. My, and any other people's enjyment factor would increase immeasurably if you f*ckwits didn't bother to turn up at games.

Slightly harsh Handbags I think. The 15 or so who stood up at the back all game were largely supportive and got any chanting going that there was.

That Leigertwood chant is excruciatingly embarrassing though.

[biscuitman]

[quote1) Who the f*ck are you to tell me how I should support my team][/quote]

247 fans and you still get wound up by the minority. Can't you just ignore them...?

[royal jonesy91]

Wats the leighterwood song that ur on about??? Couldn't go last night..

[brendywendy]

Moan #2) Reading fans. Who cares about the number there, 247 was a decent turnout considering four midweek away games in six weeks but seriously, Reading must be the only club in Britain where, at 3-0 up in injury time, a section of fans can chant about their fellow supporter's perceived lack of vocal support. Seriously seriously embarrassing and annoying at the same time, honestly, have a f*ckin look at yourselves. All game they were at it, yet the atmosphere they generated rarely ventured into any kind of positive support for the team, instead chanting at the rest of the away fans, the home fans, and quite disgracefully at Hal Robson-Kanu (we want our Kebe back) and Brian Howard - perceived laziness; "Get stuck in Howard you lazy f*cker", as if that's ever been his game at all?! Betrays a complete lack of intelligence to the game and knowledge of their own players). 1) Who the f*ck are you to tell me how I should support my team and 2) if you're not going to back the team regardless of whether you like a player or not then just don't bother turning up. My, and any other people's enjyment factor would increase immeasurably if you f*ckwits didn't bother to turn up at games.

caught between agreeing totally with the criticism of chanting and abusing our own players, and also wondering why people even go to away games if they dont want to sing at all.
but i guess its all personal choice.

[M Brook]

Just walked through the door. Super performance - really encouraging but Ipswich were hugely disappointing - Wickham's consolation goal aside, they had minimal quality. A club in decline. Sad because they are always very friendly and welcoming.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Don't knock Wickham's consolation goal - for those of us who had 3-1 at 25s it was a godsend!

[Ian Royal]

Moan #2) Reading fans. Who cares about the number there, 247 was a decent turnout considering four midweek away games in six weeks but seriously, Reading must be the only club in Britain where, at 3-0 up in injury time, a section of fans can chant about their fellow supporter's perceived lack of vocal support. Seriously seriously embarrassing and annoying at the same time, honestly, have a f*ckin look at yourselves. All game they were at it, yet the atmosphere they generated rarely ventured into any kind of positive support for the team, instead chanting at the rest of the away fans, the home fans, and quite disgracefully at Hal Robson-Kanu (we want our Kebe back) and Brian Howard - perceived laziness; "Get stuck in Howard you lazy f*cker", as if that's ever been his game at all?! Betrays a complete lack of intelligence to the game and knowledge of their own players). 1) Who the f*ck are you to tell me how I should support my team and 2) if you're not going to back the team regardless of whether you like a player or not then just don't bother turning up. My, and any other people's enjyment factor would increase immeasurably if you f*ckwits didn't bother to turn up at games.

caught between agreeing totally with the criticism of chanting and abusing our own players, and also wondering why people even go to away games if they dont want to sing at all.
but i guess its all personal choice.

I genuinely don't get the philosophy so many seem to have of deciding who you like and don't like and sticking to it regardless of what happens on the pitch.

Too many of our fans are retarded children in need of a good slap.

[handbags_harris]

any news / views on Mills injury?

Clearly pulled up after making a challenge in front of the Cobbold Stand, tried to carry on but it had clearly gone. IMO, no chance of City on Sunday. In fact, I would hazard a guess at 4-6 weeks out.

caught between agreeing totally with the criticism of chanting and abusing our own players, and also wondering why people even go to away games if they dont want to sing at all.
but i guess its all personal choice.

Speaking for myself, my own personal history at Portman Road dictated my attitude towards the game last night.

Speaking for others, let them do what they want to do.

Also mention to the embarrassingly cringeworthy "I wanna go home, this is a sh*thole, I wanna go home" chant. Do what I told you to do then, use the f*ckin exit then. You chose to go there, don't like it f*ck off.

247 fans and you still get wound up by the minority. Can't you just ignore them...?

When they're sat behind you and it's a low roofed stand? I'd like to see you try to ignore it.