This was a great result for everyone involved with Reading Football Club. At half time the Royals were a goal behind and looking vulnerable against a tough side to break down, having just lost their unbeaten record and their manager in quick succession. The reaction on and off the field to Reading's second and goal, venomously struck by Steve Sidwell, was unprecedented. The players mobbed Sidwell on the touchline, and a relatively small home crowd (approximately 12,000) raised the roof - and rightly so - it was a great goal and spirited comeback. The celebrations were very much an expression of relief as much as joy.

Cardiff, fresh from a very convincing 5-0 victory over Gillingham, started confidently. Opening exchanges were fast and furious. Forster was looking dangerous and typically his pace was taking him behind the City defence. He made room for a couple of good strikes on goal but they were both virtually straight at Alexander. There was a lot movement in midfield and both sides were looking likely to score. However it was City who struck the first blow. Some very slack marking by Shorey left Thorne unmarked on the edge of the area who, with only Hahmnemann to beat, finished well. The Royals were clearly shaken. They seemed to lose their and composure as Cardiff settled into their game. The home crowd were subdued as the City fans roared their team on. Forster headed wide form a good Murty cross after twenty seven minutes, and shortly after, a very good save by Hahnemann prevented Earnshaw from adding a second for City. The half ended with a flurry of rash challenges from City which Reading's players did well to avoid. (Shorey didn't quite manage to get out of the way of one 'challenge'!) It was hard to see how Reading were going to get back into the game.

We did not have to wait too long to find out. Virtually straight from the re-start Reading forced a corner which produced a cleanly struck right foot volley from Sidwell. The shot was blocked, and from outside the area, Sidwell volleyed the rebound back, this time with his left foot, sending the ball flashing just wide of the post. There can be few players capable of striking the ball that well with either foot. Ten minutes later Hahnemann tipped over a long range effort but that was really Cardiff's last decent effort. Reading were taking the initiative and were more direct and aggressive than they had been in the first half. Even Goater managed to get himself booked. Having contributed little else to the cause he was replaced by a very lively and direct Tyson. The equaliser took just over an hour to arrive but it was definitely on the cards. Murray drove the ball across the goal and Forster deflected it past Alexander. Reading were growing in confidence and the ball was breaking kindly for them, deservedly so.

On sixty five minutes the game turned on a crucial moment. Earnshaw was clear on goal on the penalty spot, but somehow Brown managed to hook the ball away when the City striker looked certain to score. The City fans absurdly howled for a penalty but it was challenge that probably saved Reading from what might have been a harsh defeat. The City threat began to subside and as Reading broke forward the winner looked likely. When the ball was rolled across the area we were all extremely grateful that it was Sidwell who was there to administer the finishing touch with a blistering strike.

A lot will be said and written about Pardew during the rest of the season but all that matters to me is that he has left the club in better shape than he found it. It was his legacy out on the pitch tonight that gave us such a fine game of football, and team two points from the top of the Division. Thank you Alan and goodbye. Only time will tell if Dillon is the man to take the club forward. I remember going up to see Reading play Northampton shortly after he had replaced 'Mad Dog'. From that point on Reading began to pass the ball well and play better football. I am convinced Dillon was a significant influence behind the change. I'm sure he can coach but managing is a tougher job. I'd like to think he is the man for the job. He certainly deserves a chance. I have a feeling that West Ham are going to run away with the championship, but I still see Reading, among a few others, as realistic contenders for automatic promotion.
Report by John Wells

Following report by Ali Costelloe
I turned up to this game thinking we were going to lose to a strong Cardiff side, who won 5-0 at the weekend, and as I walked towards the stadium a Cardiff fan in front of me turned around and told me to save my money, as we would be given a "real footballing lesson". I believed him.

As I took my seat I was very impressed with the atmosphere between the two sets of fans, Cardiff having bought what looked like a good four-thousand. A lot of songs were directed towards praising Dillon and Madejski, and it was nice to hear the whole of the east stand singing our chairman's name. Reading kicked off attacking towards the away end, and quickly put on some good pressure.

Cardiff were looking dangerous, and before Hahnemann had any work to do Forster had had two shots saved, both directly at the Cardiff Keeper, Cardiff began to quickly counterattack, with Earnshaw and Thorne both looking to be a handful, long diagonal ball being played towards the two strikers, who were finding space worryingly easily. After 12 minutes the Welsh drew first blood, Thorne tucking the ball under Hahnemann after some good work in the box by Kavanagh. I couldn't say it wasn't coming, but it was somewhat disappointing that Cardiff had been able to score before Hahnemann really had anything to do.

Kavanagh, the Cardiff Midfielder, was bossing the game about in midfield, and made ours look like a pub team, with no real communication between the two central men, Harper and Sidwell. This lead to the Royals giving the ball away far too often, and the Cardiff player exploited that by getting the ball to Earnshaw as soon as possible, who would run at the defence, drawing men, and leaving space at the back post.

If it hadn't have been for poor Cardiff positioning, and insufficient accuracy on the crosses, Cardiff could have easily grabbed another. Hahnemann was forced to make a few diving saves at Earnshaw's feet, after long balls from the midfield into space had confused the full backs. Murty was often left with a lot of work to do, after the midfield hadn't put enough pressure on the Cardiff players, letting them slip the ball about, and put it into the flying Earnshaw's path.

Reading were making few efforts on Cardiff's goal, Forster often running in from the left, but having too much to do after the City defenders got close to him. There was not enough men in the box, and Shaun Goater was often hanging at the back at the 18yrd box, with seemingly no chance of getting the ball. I want to see more of him near the 6 yards box, continuing his reputation of being a goalscorer. Pardew bought him to the Madejski to put the ball in the back of the net, and if he isn't doing that, then you have to question what he's here for. He was not performing well at all, in my opinion, and its now 3 games since he scored. Scott Murray was making some good runs, and won a few corners after the Cardiff defenders had no choice but to put the ball behind.

Once we had won these corners, Sidwell and Forster would try to play it short, but the Cardiff defenders crowded around and often left us with throw-ins, without us ever having put the ball in the box. Just before half time, Shorey was taken out long after the ball had been played, and the Cardiff defender, who I think was Richard Langley, was lucky to escape Scott free. The Linesman was standing right next to the incident, so I can only presume that he made nothing of it. As the players walked off the pitch, Shorey was left needing treatment, and it left a sour note as we headed towards the break.

The second half saw the Royals come out on fire, a lot more movement, and somehow we had miraculously stopped giving the ball away. Sidwell was playing into the path of Murray, who continued to win corners, which were being cleared out after a good cross had been put in. Sidwell almost grabbed an equaliser after the ball bounced to him, and as he smacked the ball it rebounded back to him, this shot however bounced behind the goal.

Cardiff looked sluggish, and Peter Thorne was the only player looking dangerous for them, and he forced Hahnemann to make a superb save after a cracking shot from about 30 yards, which looked to be heading towards the top corner. It was the most dangerous chance they had for the rest of the game. The play that preceded this was a lot of neat, short passes, with little pressure from the Royals. This style was reminiscent of the play towards the end of last season, but with Little and Chadwick now gone, a lot of the play hinges on Murray dribbling towards defenders.

Harper was playing well, and was instrumental in starting off a lot of the moves, the defenders feeding him, and in turn Harper playing the ball to Murray, who was making a lot of good runs at the Cardiff defenders, drawing men, and eventually muscling around them, and getting into good positions in the box from which he could put in dangerous crosses or lay the ball off to somebody to have a long shot A lot of the time these chances were turned into Cardiff attacks, the Welsh impressing with their quick play, so full credit to the defenders for stopping anything being created. The visitors from Wales began to mock the royals, singing, "you're shit and you know you are" and "you're not very good". The Royals players immediately responded, Harper feeding Murray, who slid in a low cross, which Forster ran at and turned in under the pressure of a couple of Cardiff defenders. The south stand was silenced, as the Royals players celebrated by the corner flag. Cardiff soon began to put a lot more pressure on, and unfortunately the game turned bad-tempered, with Brown, Sidwell and the Cardiff no 7 being booked for late tackles. The ball was being pinged about a lot, and Cardiff often became the ones to control it, and start a good attack.

Cardiff were winning quite a few free kicks in dangerous places, but the Irish Midfielder, Kavanagh couldn't make anything from them, putting them into a melee of players, or putting it into the stand Hahnemann had a lot of work to do, after the likes of Earnshaw and Thorne were running onto long high balls, which the American keeper had to come out and collect. Hahnemann was often was the one putting the ball in good positions for the attacking players to run onto. This is why he is so important to the team; his distribution is so good he can do the job of a midfielder, by feeding the strikers from his own 18-yard box.

From one of these quickly started attacks, the Royals won a corner after a Cardiff central defender made a mistake and failed to head the ball back to his 'keeper, instead putting it behind for a corner. This corner was cleared for a series of about 4 throw-ins for the Royals, and from one of these Murty played in the ball. It bounced around in the box for a while, then out to Sidwell, who was in space just outside the 'D', he hit it first time into the top corner, and sent the Royals fans mad!

The Royals appeared to want to sit out the rest of the game, and this led to Cardiff attacking, and from these attacks the visitors won a few corners. Sidwell gave away a free kick in a 50-50 challenge with a Cardiff midfielder. He looked to be injured, and within a couple of minutes Dillon replaced him with Kevin Watson. He also replaced Shaun Goater with Nathan Tyson, reverting to the 4-5-1 of the Pardew era. This was purely to defend however, and should only be used to attack a team with a slower, older defence. Reading put 11 men in the box, and spent many of the remaining 11 minutes defending Cardiff crosses, which thankfully were too high and deep, which Hahnemann could easily collect. The big American 'keeper then launched a fantastic ball into the path of Nathan Tyson, it looked like we had about 4 players against a defender and a goalie. By the time he had got the ball to slow down, and get it into the middle, the Cardiff players had got back. They were attacking hard, but often the ball was too high and long for them to get anything on it. They had lost their good football, and looked set to lose the game. 4 minutes extra time were then added on, and goodness knows where from! The royals spent most of it with the ball hanging around the corner, trying to get a cross in, but the Cardiff defenders were having none of it. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the referee blew his whistle, and the Royals moved back into the playoff positions, albeit in 5th place. If we can get a win at home against Coventry City on Saturday, we have the possibility of going top of the league, it will need Wigan and West Ham to both lose though.

This game had to be one of the most entertaining I have attended in a long time, and it was nice to see the Travelling fans making noise, and actually behaving themselves for once. Cardiff are not a team to be taken lightly, so to get all 3 points against them was very satisfying.

Marks for Players and Referee
Hahnemann 8 very creative, and did his job well.
Shorey 5 slipped a bit, gave the ball away quite a lot in the first half, roamed out of position a bit too.
Williams 7 very solid, hardly noticeable, that's what you want to see in a defender
Brown 6 Booked, defended well, communicated well with the other defenders, unsung hero
Murty 6 often left with too much to do, should have communicated better, - not one of his better games
Murray 9 MOTM, awesome performance, despite taunting from Cardiff fans. Was very good running, and a good cross for the first goal. Well worth the money
Hughes 6 not really noticed, was he even on the pitch?
Harper 8 put the ball in the right places, and linked the defence to the attack well.
Sidwell 8 Well taken goal, looking better every game. Another top buy.
Goater 5 Not really playing his part, and looked like a midfielder at times, should be better
Forster 7 needed more help from Goater up front, can play better, but nevertheless, a good performance.
The Referee: Looked Ok in the first half, but sadly lost control after the break. Not biased at all, and was fair. 7.
Ali Costelloe