LEAGUE
DIVISION TWO BLACKPOOL 0 READING 2 |
Attendance: 4,291 |
Scorers: McIntyre, Butler | Date: 8 February 2000 |
Team: Howie, Gurney (Bernal), Primus, Hunter, Robinson, Grant, Parkinson, Caskey, McIntyre (Hodges), Butler, Forster. | |
Audio: Supplied
by Classic Gold radio. |
Match Hero: Forster
|
Another well deserved, hard working victory from the Royals. Reading made the most of the conditions and did everything they needed to do to take all three points home. Blackpool failed to offer much resistance - but this was Reading's fourth win from six games. That's a record a team on top of the league would be proud off. And one of those games we failed to win was Saturday's amazing draw away at table toppers Preston North End. Reading move further clear of the relegation positions - eighteenth - our highest position since November last year.
It seems to be getting better game after game for the Royals, and Saturday should at last see a decent crowd at the Madejski Stadium as Reading look to build their run against Millwall. Martin Butler carried on where he left off on Saturday with another goal to bring him level with the Division's top scorers - tonight his goal sealed victory for the Royals - he's well on the way to paying off that transfer fee. Once again the combination of Butler and Forster up front provded fatal for the opposition - long may it continue.
Full report from Alex Craven:
A small but vocal band of Royals had stayed in/returned to Lancashire for
the second game in the county in four games. They braved gale force winds,
horizontal rain and the occassional hail storm, so nuff respect (if I do say
it myself). Of course, as us residents will tell you, this was just a
normal day for these parts :-))
Reading lined up unchanged from Saturday's draw against Blackpool's biggest
rivals, Preston North End:
Howie; Gurney (Bernal), Primus, Hunter, Robinson; Caskey, Grant, Parkinson,
McIntyre (Hodges); Forster, Butler. Subs un-used: van der Kwaak, Nichols, A
N Other
A strong wind was blowing across the pitch, from the right to the left, as
the Royals lined up, forcing much of the play down the touchline immediately
in front of the away fans.
To be honest, muh of the first half was dire stuff, and little sticks out in
my mind. Because of the weather conditions, much of the play was in the
air. The swirling wind made it hard to play the ball accurately, and
impossible for defenders to judge clearances properly. Blackpool were
content to play the ball long and Reading were happy to make sure it was
booted out at the first opportunity, so that most of the half was played out
in Reading's end. However, neither team created any telling chances. Nicky
Forster went closest for Reading. After a good turn, his blistering run
through the defence produced a shot that went just wide.
Butler was also worrying the Seasider's defenders, and he almost forced a
mistake after confusion between his marker and the keeper. After a good
trap, Butler turned and tried to run at the defence, but his marker was able
to get to the ball first. The keeper had come running off his line, and
expected the back-pass for a clearence. Instead, the marker ran past the
bemused goalie, straight at his goal, with Butler dogging his heels.
Despite ths pressure, the ball was cleared for a throw. The best chance of
the half fell to Blackpool. The ball was played forward for a Blackpool
forward to run onto, Howie came off his line and dove for the ball, but
appeared to make no contact whilst flooring the opposition striker. Despite
huge screams for a penalty, the ref played on, and the Royals quickly
cleared their lines.
With the change of ends at half time, the wind was now carrying the ball
down to the Royals right hand side, and so bringing Caskey much more into
the play. Possibly it was a coincidence, but Reading were much more
dominant in this half than the first. Even so, a mistake by Hunter almost
proved costly. Chasing a long punt forward, and being closely trailed by a
Seasider forward, he tried to play the ball back to Howie. However, he
completely missed his pass, and the ball looked like it was headed for an
own goal. The Northern Ireland international maintained his compossure,
though, made sure he was first to the ball and hacked it clear off the goal.
Reading's nerves settled a little after this, and they began to carve out
chances. Nicky forster again shot across the front of goal - agonisingly
out of the reach of Butler - after another good run through defence. He had
an even better chance to score soon after - a shot rebounded off the
Blackpool keeper to his feet and he went past the stranded goalie but his
shot was blocked on the line.
It seemed inevitable that Reading would score, and they did on the 68th
minute, from a well worked move down the left. McIntyre took theball well
in space, and started a quick break out of the Reading half. He ran at the
defence and then played the ball forward for Butler to race onto. The
forward seemed to have wasted another good opportuinty, by taking the ball
to far. Yet as he reached the touchline, he turned and played the most
delicate of chips over the defender's head for McIntyre to head home from
six yards out. It was almost a carbon copy of Butler's goal on Saturday,
with the two player's reversing their roles. Reading were forced to make a
substitution after Andy Gurney was injured in a challenge. The incident was
at the far end of the pitch, and so difficult to see, but the full-back was
left seemingly in agony on the floor, and eventually had to be stretchered
off the pitch, to be replaced by Skippy.
Reading came close to a second when the Blackpool keeper dropped a cross at
the feet of a group of Royals. They couldn't force the ball through the
legs of the defenders and, after a series of richochets, it was cleared down
the field. The insurance marker was finally chalked up with ten minutes to
go. After a period of sustained pressure, Caskey delivered a good cross
from the right, to Forster on the far post. Instead of heading for goal, he
sent the ball back across the area, and it was bundled home. Although it
was difficult to tell whether it was Butler or a defender who got the
important touch, I'm sure the defender won't be rushing to claim the goal.
There were also loud shouts of handball from the Blackpool player's, but the
ref allowed the goal to stand. Reading survived a few nervy minutes of
pressure from Blackpool to take all three points back to Berkshire.
All in all, this was a good performance and a vital result for Reading. The
conditions made it impossible for either team to play real football -
measured crosses would suddenly change direction or drop ten feet short, and
all the players seemed to find it hard to control their first touch. Credit
has to be given to Howie and the defence for keeping a clean sheet in such
conditions. The Blackpool number seven looked pretty tricky, but Linvoy had
him in his pocket for most of the evening. Primus had to be one of our
out-standing players tonight. Barry Hunter was pretty solid but he almost
caused a goal from a serious mistake, and several times Linvoy had to clean
up behind him. Still, I think his form is improving from the start of the
season - which surely is indicative of the change of morale in the Reading
camp recently.
I still feel that this formation marginalises Caskey somewhat, and also
weakens the team. He is not suited to playing wide right, which leaves
Gurney exposed down that flank, and means we cannot exploit opportunities to
the same extent. Id' still rather see him come into a more central
position. Maybe we could play 4-3-3, with Forster and McIntyre both playing
deep and wide? Still, with that said, this formation seems to be working
now, so I expect Pardew would be reluctant to tinker with it. Certainly
Grant and Parky are what we need right now - it's not pretty, it can be
costly, but we have to swap craft for graft just now.
Butler has really impressed me in these two games, not least by maintaining
a 100% scoring rate. He seems to be the kind of player we needed. He has
the pace and ability to run at defenders and go by them. He's also
excellent with his back to goal - winning a good share of headers, or
trapping and shielding the ball before linking up with a team-mate. He
seems to be the perfect complement to Forster. He will win a lot of quick
balls punted forward, protect them and then feed Forster for a run at the
defence, and no doubt be in a good position to get on the end of Forster's
cross. Butler isn't the prettiest of players, I think, but he's hard
working and effective. It's also nice to see that we've finally found a
place where Jimmy Mac fits in. Still nice to here him being cheered rather
than booed.
Man of the match for me again goes to Forster, who seems to be worth the
entrence fee alone. Granted he can be a little selfish or whinging at
times, but when he gets the ball at his feet, he's electric. Neither
Preston nor Blackpool's defence really knew how to stop him. Had his luck
been in, he could have had at least two or three more goals in the last
couple of games - he certainly did the work for them. He was a constant
thorn to the Blackpool defence, particularly in the second half when he
linked up well with Caskey. On the evidence of the last couple of games,
it's clear that Caskey is still very much the heart of our attacking play,
and we'd be stupid to sell him, especially when we need him so much now. He
seems to have a very good understanding with Forster - it was to Nicky that
Caskey made a special point of congratulating and celebrating after the
goal. I only feel sorry for Nichols, because I can't see any place in our
starting line up for him. However, it's always good to have competition at
a club, and if we were to lose a player to injury, he's an excellent
replacement.
It was easy to see why Blackpool have yet to win under McMahon this season -
despite much of the possession, they just didn't know how to score a goal.
Their best chance to score came from a failed appeal for a penalty, hardly a
sign of prolific strikers. It's hard to see how we only managed a draw
against them at home. I'm hoping that this is evidence of the improvement
that has taken place recently - indeed since Allen's arrival. At home we
had to fight to come back from behind and win a draw. Tonight, we weathered
(ha ha) their pressure, and then carved out chance after chance, scoring on
two of them and going close several more times. I don't want to start
counting swallows to early, but things really seem to be changing. Please,
oh please!....
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