Match Report vs Portsmouth
Portsmouth 0 READING 2
Att: 5,900
Team: Mautone, Booty, Sandford, Houghton, McPherson, Primus, Parkinson, Hodges, Asaba, Williams, Lambert.
Goal Scorers: Hodges (15 Minutes), Williams (88 Minutes)
Report from Nick...
This win was as important not only because of the result but in the manner that Reading gained it. The word "jelling" has been tossed around alot, but today Reading actually started to play like a unit. For long periods in the first half we looked quite impressive and fully deserved the 2-0 scoreline.
Reading began nervously enough. Portsmouth twice came close in the first 3 minutes with Reading defenders standing off their men. After that Pompey rarely threatened. Hodges was given too much space in the box and shot across the keeper to make it 1-0 to the Royals after 15 minutes. From then on for the rest of the first half we were superb. Portsmouth were restricted to a long range effort from which Mautone saved well.
Pompey didn't really pick up in the 2nd half and rarely looked dangerous. Asaba showed some clever touches and even managed to head the ball on a couple of occasions. Martin Williams looked lively and combined well with Meaker on the right and so it was no injustice when, from a Houghton corner, Williams followed up from his header that rebounded off the post to put Royals 2 up with several minutes to go - game over.
Considering last week's 6-0 drubbing, the club must have been pleased that around 1,700 Reading supporters made the trip.
The important thing now is to get away from the bottom three into the relative safety of a mid-table position. On this showing, Portsmouth look set for challenging for a bottom three place.