It's hard to imagine a few weeks ago the state Reading Football Club were in. People were calling for Pardew's head, Reading had slumped to fourteenth in the table and already it looked as if the season was over before it had really got going. Nine matches later and we've won eight of them to progress in the cups and leap up to a very stable fourth in the table. Tonight's win was classy at times and a superb result which ever way you look at it. This was our sixth straight victory and our fourth straight league wins. The statistics surely don't lie - Reading are on their way up.

The main changes are the departure of assistant manager Martin Allen and the placement of Dillion in his place, and the loan signings of Watson and Salako. Both Watson and Salako were back in the team tonight after missing Saturday's cup game and we looked instantly a better side. With these two players in the side we look like a great passing side - capable of playing in a higher division. The rest of the team certainly played their part in tonight's impressive victory. Defensively we were strong, we looked good coming forward with plenty of play down the wings and through the middle and we ran the midfield. Up front we scored four goals and thoroughly deserved each one of them. One of the few weak links was Andy Hughes who wasted plenty of chances to get the ball into the box and will again be disappointed with his performance. However, this isn't the time to complain after another convincing home victory.

Tranmere fans will point to the red card of their player mid-way through the first half and say it was a turning point. It wasn't. The score was 0-0 when N'Diaye was sent off after appearing to punch John Mackie as the players lined up in a wall for a Reading free-kick on the edge of the area. Mackie picked up a yellow card and the delay, backed up with chants of "off, off, off" from the East Stand, could mean only one thing. He took ages to leave the field after being sent off - but it only served to delay Reading's following domination of the match. Reading were already well on top at this stage as the dangerously positioned free-kick suggested. Tranmere's reduction to ten men certainly helped us and it was always going to be a question of how convincing the win might be from that point onwards.

Reading could have taken the lead before the sending off after the ball was crossed from the right and the shot was speeding net direction with the keeper beaten. Unfortunately it hit a Reading player before bouncing to safety. Reading did take the lead a few minutes after the red card incident - the ball was crossed low from the right by Forster and Cureton appeared to get a touch on it. A Tranmere defender was also involved and perhaps the keeper as the ball was pushed out wide to the left. Neil Smith was there sliding in to tuck the ball in at the far post. 1-0 to the Royals!

Unfortunately for Neil Smith, and Reading, he limped off clearly injured a few minutes after scoring with what appeared to be a back injury. Hopefully nothing too bad. His replacement, James Harper, rose to the occassion to play some beautifully skilled football. Pardew might call it showboating but it certainly entertained me. With Salako on the pitch and doing all kinds of jiggery and pokery with the ball we simply looked a class above Tranmere who just had to watch our skill on the ball. When the jiggery was followed up by a tasty pass it was rather pleasant to say the least. In defence Murty was showing off with his amazing first touch, and we just looked a good side all round. Nice.

Tranmere had a bright spell after the goal when they broke with speed into the Reading box. The ball was pushed into the middle in a rare gap in the Reading defence and Whitehead did really well to pull off a reaction save to push the ball wide. Tranmere's chance was gone and it was up to Reading to take control of the game. We did that fairly convincingly by stroking the ball all around the park, on the ground, and keeping possession. It was great team football. However, Reading's second goal was a superb individual effort from Nicky Forster. He took the ball wide of two players on the edge of the box before blasting it into the bottom right corner of the Tranmere net. A great goal to give Reading a 2-0 lead at the break.

The second half carried on with more of the same with Reading making use of the extra man to find space and make the away side do all the running. All Tranmere could do was chase the ball and the Reading players and the home crowd cheered as yet another pass found the feet of a Reading player. Reading's third came after seemingly hundreds of passes eventually found Forster wide on the left. Forster cut in and fired the ball home with a bit of cheek from a tight angle to find the far corner of the net just inside the post. Another great goal and Reading were three goals up. To Tranmere's credit they kept playing and did more than enough to prevent a demolition. Reading remained in control but Tranmere deserved their consolation goal with thirteen minutes to play. They won a corner on the left which was eventually stuck home from inside the box. 3-1, but it didn't really make any difference.

Reading replaced the disappointing Hughes with the more impressive Igoe, and Forster missed out on his hat-trick after he was replaced by Henderson, who had signed a new contract on the pitch just before kick-off. Igoe put in some crosses of a higher quality and Henderson caused trouble in the few minutes he was on the pitch and eventually scored the fourth to wrap up the victory. The keeper came charging out of his box in injury time to face two on-side Reading players. The ball dropped for Henderson and he made no mistake. 4-1.
A great score-line and yet another vital victory as the season continues to be pieced together.
Graham

Following report by John Wells
Two stunning goals by Nicky Forster were the highlights of another highly entertaining home victory. For the second time in four days Reading found themselves playing against ten men for most of the game. This time however they took full advantage of the situation. Tranmere clearly arrived with the intention of winning the game pushing three men forward when in possession but even before the sending off, the Royals looked more likely to open the scoring.

As early as the second minute Reading could have been awarded a penalty for a blatant push but the referee chose not to see it. On eighteen minutes Smith powered in a header which beat the 'keeper but appeared to be deflected away by a Reading player. Tranmere were clearly rattled by the sending off and it seemed inevitable that Reading would score. Tranmere were justifiably aggrieved when the Smith opened the scoring. Forster had clearly run onto a through ball from an offside position before he crossed the ball. Cureton's effort was pushed away by the 'keeper and Smith and followed up well from midfield and slid the ball into the net.

Tranmere rallied briefly and Koumos burst into the Reading penalty area and created a good scoring opportunity which was well saved by Whitehead. The resulting corner was headed just over. Forster then produced the sort of goal that makes football such an exciting game. He received a pass just outside the area with two defenders in attendance. A sharp turn gave him enough room to rifle the ball into the bottom right corner. The power and accuracy of the strike left the keeper with absolutely no chance of stopping it.

To their credit Tranmere started the second half positively but the Royals defence coped easily with anything they had to deal with. With about half an hour left to play Forster finished Tranmere off with another superb goal. Viveash knocked a good ball down the left for Shorey who flicked the ball into Forster just outside the area wide on the left. He accelerated past his marker with blistering pace and cut into towards the goal. A cross looked the best option but Forster was full of confidence and blasted the ball low into the far corner. He narrowly missed claiming a deserved hat-trick before being substituted when he curled a shot just past the post with the 'keeper beaten again. Henderson completed the scoring rolling the ball into an empty net after Cureton had nipped in to beat the 'keeper to the ball.

The only blight on the evening was an awful display from Hughes. His passing and crossing were woefully inaccurate and was responsible for allowing the player he was marking from a corner get free and head the ball across goal for Price to head home for Tranmere. He was eventually replaced by Igoe but perhaps should have come off sooner.

As Pardew would say there were a lot of 'positives' to be taken from this game. Salako as usual produced some great touches and went looking for the ball all over the pitch. Cureton worked much harder than usual up front and although he didn't score I felt he had one the best games I've seen him play in terms of working for the team. Harper showed some excellent touches. Viveash's distribution became increasingly accurate during the second half. Watson was outstanding in midfield. He has tremendous presence and is always calm under pressure. He closes players down quickly, often surging forward over the halfway line and forcing opponents to play the ball backwards deep into their own half. He will be greatly missed when he returns to Rotherham.

Now we really are in the hunt for an automatic promotion place again. We may have lost six games but what is far more significant is that we have won as many games as the three sides above us in the table. Confidence is high and we are now starting to pass the ball well and score goals.
John.

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