There was not much to get excited about in this routine F.A.Cup first round victory. The result was never in doubt although the performance from Reading's point of view was far from satisfactory. The referee gave the Royals an advantage they didn't really need when he sent off Welling's Overton for a second, relatively minor, bookable offence right on the stroke of half time.

The first half had started slowly with Reading predictably dominating possession. The best chance of the half came when Cureton and Hughes exchanged passes producing a low cross to the far post which Forster side footed just wide. He probably should have scored. Forster in fact posed the greatest threat with his pace throughout the game, but his lack of composure and vision let him down. He blazed several shots high and wide and failed to pick out simple passing options when he got behind the defence. The passing in midfield deteriorated as the half progressed. Hughes was typically erratic with his passing. Neil Smith worked hard but Gamble looked the sharpest of the midfield four. Pardew decided that he should play with another forward after the sending off and Alex Smith, who had a poor first half, was the obvious choice to be replaced by Henderson.

The second half saw Cureton playing deep behind Henderson and Forster, and as well as scoring the goal, he saw a lot more of the ball. The goal was a well taken header from cross whipped in very sharply by Shorey. This should have sparked off a rout but in fact Reading made hard work of a relatively easy job. They failed to exploit the acres of space that appeared on the flanks and not for the first time this season, poor passing and finishing let weak opposition of the hook. Murty had a good effort saved and Neil Smith curled a long range effort just wide.

Welling did create one clear cut chance in the 76th minute but Whitehead blocked the shot. Welling battled hard as you would expect and deserved their applause from both sets of fans at the end especially 'keeper Knight who had a very solid game. As for Reading, they are in the draw for the next round and £20,000 better off, but there is more important business to be dealt with on Tuesday against Tranmere.
Report by John Wells.

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