Reading's impressive start to the league campaign took a serious dent this afternoon with a home defeat against one of the Division's weakest sides. Wimbledon appear to have massive problems both on and off the pitch but shrugged that off to gratefully accept three points from the Royals with a late goal of some quality. Wimbledon's following of just over 100 fans went absolutely mental as the large home following started streaming out of the ground in silence. It was a poor result for Reading after enjoying perhaps the best of the game. A draw would probably have been the right result, and perhaps Reading should have won it, but it was Wimbledon that took one of their few chances to pick up the full three points. There were plenty of lessons for Reading today.

Reading started with a decent enough looking formation. The inclusion of Sammy Igoe at the expense of Forster suggested we'd be using the wings - but we rarely did as it it turned out, until late in the second half. Murty was left on the bench allowing Newman to continue at full back. In defence we looked pretty good - good enough to keep loan signing Matthew Upson on the bench throughout the game. Nicky Shorey was perhaps Reading's man of the match with some solid defending and some good runs forward. He supplied a few decent crosses later on but unfortunately didn't come forward perhaps enough with Reading lacking creativity up front.

The main problem for Reading was supplying the front men. Martin Butler worked harder than ever today, running all over the pitch and flying into Wimbledon players in attempts to win the ball. Again he scored maxiumum points for effort - but he was never likely to score a goal with poor service and the lack of the ball played to him in the box. Jamie Cureton, Reading's leading scorer, must have been frustrated too with an insane number of long balls played into the box. In honesty Wimbledon's defence coped without problem during the first half. They conceeded six corners in the opening 45 minutes - but Reading failed to do anything inventive with them.

The first half was mostly forgettable as Reading seemed all too content to play the time up and wait for the second half. It was something that was going to back fire as we ran out of time to find the net in the second half. After the break Hughes, who had had a decent first half, was replaced with Graeme Murty. Murty immediately started playing as a winger and Igoe drifted into the middle. It appeared to generate the odd moment of confusion - but there was no doubt the game picked up after the break. All of a sudden it developed into an interesting end-to-end game with both sides looking more likely to find the net.

Reading looked most dangerous when Murty was given the ball down the right wing - unfortunately he wasn't given it enough. He created one of Reading best chances after skipping past two players and delivering a great cross into the centre of the area where Jamie Cureton connected to send a great header towards goal. The Wimbledon keeper did well to tip it over the crossbar for another Reading corner. Down the other end Marcus Hahnemann pulled off a far better save from a close range effort. The ball was mid-height and just to his side, and the Reading keeper did amazingly well to get his hands to it to push it wide. Jamie Cureton burst into life and twice nearly created goals after steaming through the middle of the pitch. Once he went right past the keeper but took the ball too wide, leaving Wimbledon the chance to hack the ball clear.

Just when we looked like we might piece it together for the win we were let down by some moments of poor concentration. We were losing the midfield battle and seemed to be unable to play the ball forward from the centre of the pitch. Salako played two quite disgraceful balls in the space of two minutes - and immediately two attacking opportunities were lost. Reading's biggest missed opportunity was provided, or rather not provided, by the referee when Rougier broke clear into the Wimbledon area. Rougier looked dangerous since coming off the bench to replace Martin Butler. He appears to have mastered how to stay on his feet rather than fall over at the end of every run, and so nearly ran into the box to create a chance for Cureton. However, when he did go down in the box it was after racing onto a ball and getting in front of his man for a clear run on goal. He might have scored it, but he was muscled to the floor without the ball being played for a clear penalty. The referee refused to give it and Reading lost their best chance of finding the net.

With the game entering injury time we were still hopeful of the win. But all of a sudden the ball was in the wrong net. A quick move on the break from Wimbledon was pieced together a treat and played through the Reading defence into the middle of the box. The resulting shot was a beauty - right into the top right corner giving Hahnemann no chance. 0-1, and it was all over. The defeat was caused by a lack of creativity throughout the side rather than the fault of individual players. It was impossible to fault the effort of the side as a whole during the second half, but we were clearly failing after only forcing the Wimbledon goalkeeper into a couple of saves throughout the entire match. With a bit more urgency and a bit more concentration we could have taken this game.
Graham

Following report from John Wells
Had Reading won this game it would have put us in the promotion play-off zone. However, the result, a mediocre performance, and a mid table spot are a more accurate reflection of the quality of our play at the moment. As a fan there is nothing more frustrating than seeing your team dominate possession and then concede the only goal of the game in the last minute.

I took my two year old son to this game and already he has shown himself to have a deep insight into the game. He fell asleep after five minutes, and just like the teams, woke up after half time. The Royals looked more enterprising than the visitors but didn't create much more than a couple of half chances. The midfield looked sluggish and the passing lacked the sharpness of previous home games. McAnuff surged through Reading's midfield with ease on a couple of occasions but the back four held firm. Reading produced some decent long balls but they are not the sort of ball that Cureton thrives on, and Butler, who is capable of scrapping for the ball, doesn't have the touch or awareness to make more of them. Newman looked solid at right back giving Pardew the option of putting Murty into a more attacking role, which is not a bad idea. It was obvious that Hughes had a problem with his fitness when he was replaced by Murty at half time.

The second half began much more brightly with chances being created at both ends. Shipperly forced Hahnemann into a good diving save and Cureton had a header blocked and scrambled away. It was Cureton who came closest to finding the net for Reading when he rounded the 'keeper and from a fairly wide position hammered in a good shot only to see it cleared off the line, which to fair was an excellent piece of defending rather than poor finishing.

Pardew then decided to make a bid to win the game by putting on Rougier and Forster and taking off Butler and Igoe. Igoe had not had a good game by his standards, but neither had Watson or Salako. Salako's distribution was wayward in the second half and Watson was getting caught in possession. The midfield did not defend as a unit as well as they usually does and as Reading pushed forward late in the second half the marking was noticeably loose. Rougier caused problems with his strength and pace but Forster couldn't seem to get into the game.

A couple of efforts from Wimbledon rolled wide of the post as they looked increasingly threatening on the break. When the winner came Reading were all over the place defensively. Any one of three opponents were in space waiting for the ball in the box - having broken from midfield without being picked up.

Last week Ronnie Moore made the meaningless comment that his side should have won 8-3. Alan Pardew's view that Reading were unlucky to concede the goal was equally meaningless. What worried me was that we looked extremely vulnerable to a counter attack on several occasions and I was also disappointed in the support given to Butler and Cureton when Reading played the ball out of defence. Hughes usually is willing to get forward quickly but nobody else seemed prepared to do it today. I hope Harper and Gamble are not loaned out because I feel they could provide the energy and enterprise which was sadly lacking today. Surely we should be bringing them into the team now at least for part of the game. Also, I can't help wondering if Pardew would like a forward who is strong in the air and scores goals to compliment Cureton. Obviously the plan is to consolidate this season, but sooner or later we will have to strengthen the squad if we are to be serious contenders for promotion. Neverless we can still play some good football with this squad and enjoy the season.