Match Report Southampton (Home)

Coca-Cola Cup Round Four
Tuesday 28 November 1995

READING 2 SOUTHAMPTON 1
(Nogan, Morley) Att: 13,772
READING TEAM: Shepherd, Brown, Macca, Wdowczyk, Bernal, Gooding, Jones, Parkie, Holsgrove, Morley, Nogan.

There's several reports here. First up is my one...

What a game! A terrific performance from the lads in a true return to form that bought us all the success from last year. I couldn't make the game but sat in in front of the radio (!) all night. Radio 5 Live did us proud with live commentry of the entire game in all its glory. Then when me dad got in I got any gaps filled in over the phone. So heres my match report.

What a game!! There was one change from the Sheffield United draw. Bobby and Adie still strangely missing despite the rumour of their return. Lee Nogan came into the team in place of Archie Lovell. A change that told later.

It looked like a Bury job to start with the rain pouring down and Southampton apparently recieved a hoax phone call (a Reading fan?) calling off the match. So the game started 15 minutes late due to the traffic and cramming a full house crowd in.

Reading started very brightly. After just three minutes Nogan turned and shot wide. Five minutes later Morley tried a spectacular overhead kick which ended up well wide. Reading continued their bright start.

The first corner came after 12 minutes and went to Southampton. Le Tiss stepped up to take it. The ball came over and we saw poor Simon Shep shag it up in a typical manner. Panic must have reared its head amoungst the South Bank. Macca tidied up and Southampton had another corner. The ball came over again and this Nogan was back to save Shepherd with a clearance. Scarey stuff. Where is Bobby?

After 18 minutes Holsgrove almost gave the Royals a deserving lead. A free kick was won just outside the area and Holsgrove stepped up to take it. The kick was powerful but the ball soared just over the bar. Reading continued to step up the pressure. A few minutes later we created another great chance that could have put us in front. The cross came in from the left hand side from wide out. Kenny Brown got the header in, but wide. Excellent attacking play built up from a number of passes from the Royals who obviously were determined to win this one.

After 22 mins a yellow card for a dirty Southampton tackle. Quite right too.

Then... on half an hour... GOAL TO READING. Completely with the run of play. Nogan won the ball and split the Saints defence. He took the ball on the left foot waited for Beasant to come out and commit himself, then Lee chipped the ball neatly over him as he dived at his feet. And the ball was in the back of the net. THERE'S ONLY ONE LEE NOGAN! 1-0 to the Royals, and Nogans 5th of the season, and what a sexy one too.

Southampton came at the Royals but Shepherd was easily equal to the inferior Le Tiss (who?) Super Si! Reading didn't sit back though, 5 minutes later we were on the attack again. Morley and Wdowczyk linking well on the left but the pass blocked before it could be fed through to Nogan. The Saints pushed forward more but Reading remained in control, playing football. Yes, football!

Then it had to happen - right on half time. Sheppard cocked up again from a free kick. Le Tiss curled it in over to the far post in front of Shep. Shep failed to come for it, unsure of what to do and then a diving header, inside the post. 1-1. Bollocks.

Whatever though, a good first half from Reading. Southampton were lucky to go in level at the break.

Reading started the second half as they finished the first - brightly. There was danger for the Saints as Nogan had a header on target after a few minutes of the restart.

On 52 minutes Reading won a corner. Kenny Brown crossed it over for Tom Jones to have a header across the face of goal. A few minutes later Nogan broke away yet again and took a powerful 20 yard shot that Beasant gathered at the second attempt.

On the hour the pleas from Reading fans for a penalty when Nogan was floored in the area resulted in a yellow card for Nogan, judged to have dived.

Reading continued to pressure. It paid off on 65 minutes. Jones crossed the ball superbly for Morley who stuck his head in the way. The ball flew into the net for Readings winner! 2-1 to the Royals. And now in a first for these web pages you can (re)live the moment the ball hit the net with this sample - GOAL!! Click on the highlighted bit for the commentry of these superb moment taken from the game. Aren't I kind to you?

This superb patch from Reading continued. The sweeper system had been abondoned. On 70 minutes Swales replaced Bernal who had taken a knock. Reading were superb. The ball was being passed with style around the pitch, and there was no way Southampton were going to recover. 2-1 and we were cruising!

Brown took another shot after picking up from a re-bound. The ball went wide. On 80 minutes Jones, who had had an excellent game, was replaced by Gilksey.

Southampton threatened with a rare defensive mistake from Reading. The Soton bloke broke through, but the angle was too wide and the ball sailed across the face of the goal. But with just five minutes left Reading continued to dominate the game. Gooding tried his luck with a strong header which needed Beasant to make a good two handed save. Reading won another corner and Beasant again got down well to Morleys 25 yard shot. With a minute remaining Morley left the field - a hero! In the last minute it was still all Reading, with a short corner giving Gilkes a header which was again handled well by the Saints keeper.

And then the final whistle went. (another sample there for Windows people) We had won!! In style. And for the first time in Reading's history we are through to the quarter finals of the league cup. It's hard to believe we were a division below Southampton. Maybe, we could have coped in the Premiership.

Brilliant performances from everyone. Holsgrove had an amazing game, Nogan looks to be back on form, Jones played well, Gooding was all over the place as normal. Perfect. We are going to Wembley!

Graham

Heres the report from the Electronic Telegraph posted by Matt Kilcast...

Coca-Cola Cup: Morley's winner is no joke for Southampton

By John Ley

Reading (1) 2 Southampton (1) 1
Morley 64, Nogan 28; Monkou 44.

TREVOR MORLEY, whose career was threatened by an horrific head injury earlier this season, put Reading into the final eight of the Coca-Cola Cup for the first time at Elm Park last night.

Morley had to have a metal plate inserted to mend a fractured skull just three games after joining the club from West Ham and following the accident, against Portsmouth, was absent for three months. The striker returned only recently, with a protective face mask.

Southampton's preparations for this game were thrown awry when their players were sent home believing it was off. The damage was done by a hoax caller, whose claims were taken at face value by Southampton secretary Brian Truscott.

In the last round, and with Reading trailing 2-0 to Bury, the match at Elm Park had been abandoned, Reading winning the restaged game. With that in mind, Truscott rang Andrea Parker, his counterpart at Reading. He was told the game was on, but was warned that constant rain would put it in jeopardy.

At 3.20pm, and with the players on the coach, a call came through, claiming to be from Reading and saying that referee Mike Reed was at the ground and that a postponement was possible.

Five minutes later the caller telephoned again, claiming the match was off. Truscott, who took the call, said: "The caller said all the right things."

The hoaxer also rang Southampton's local evening newspaper with the same information. The players were allowed home and the team coach was sent back to the depot. Christer Warren, who made his senior debut last night, had almost returned to Bournemouth.

Once the game began, Reading enjoyed the greater possession "Fortunately, the players all carry mobile phones so we were able to recall them back to the ground. But we are not very happy about it," said Truscott.

The team, who were also held up by heavy traffic, arrived at 7pm and because of an accident on the M3, the Southampton supporters travelling by coach were delayed, forcing the kick-off to be put back 15 minutes.

Once the game began, Reading enjoyed the greater possession and Lee Nogan collected a cross from Dariusz Wdowczyk before sending a low, hard shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area.

Nogan, it was though, who gave Reading the lead in the 29th minute. A long ball from Mick Gooding, Reading's joint manager, sent Nogan forward and the Welsh international capitalised on a slip by Jason Dodd before jinking past Richard Hall and chipping beyond Dave Beasant. However, with 30 seconds of the first half remaining, a lapse in defensive concentration cost Reading a goal.

A foul by David Hughes on Wdowczyk, allowed Matthew Le Tissier to float a free-kick to the far post, from where Ken Monkou was given space to head only his second goal of the season.

Nogan, restored to the team after undergoing a nose operation, continued to threaten and Southampton seemed happy to accept the pressure, responding only briefly when a shot from Neil Shipperley forced Simon Sheppard to save for the first time. However, in the 65th minute Reading regained the lead when a cross from the right by Tom Jones fell at the far post for Morley, who stooped to head his second goal since joining the club from West Ham.

MK - the teams were: Reading (5-3-2) Sheppard, Brown, McPherson, Holsgrove, Bernal (Swales 68), Wdowczyk, Gooding, Parkinson, Jones (Gilkes 80), Morley (Quinn 88), Nogan

Another report by Adam Lloyd...

Trevor Morley's bravery drew a rich reward tonight when he sent Reading into the Coca-Cola Cup quarter-finals for the first time. The former West Ham striker has only recently re-established himself in the side after suffering an early season fractured skull that threatened to finish his career.

And his decisive 65th-minute header allowed Reading to settle a 17-year-old score with Premiership opponents Southampton. The last time Reading made it as far as the fourth round, back in 1978, they went out to Saints in a replay. And it began to look though the side was going to require a second meeting to resolve differences again this time when defender Ken Monkou hauled Saints level 30 seconds before half-time.

Lee Nogan had struck thefirst blow in an Elm Park tie delayed for 15 minutes because of crowd congestion but it was Morley who emerged as the real hero for first division Reading. He was injured in the third game of the campaign following a clash with Portsmouth's John Gittens and missed 13 matches before returning sporting a Gazza-style protective mask.

The mask has gone and a determined Morley enjoyed a magic moment when he directed a 10-yard header back across goal and into the far corner after Tom Jones had crossed from the left. It was only Morley's second goal of the season but he cannot have claimed many more vital ones in his career!

Southampton, meanwhile, had an indication that it was not going to be their day when a spoof phone call stopped them in their tracks as they prepared to leave for the tie. The caller claimed the game had been postponed but a call to the Football League confirmed that was not the case. But, by the end of the night, Southampton must have been wishing otherwise after a negative, below-par performance that rarely saw them live up to their higher standing.

Nogan, who was on target at Wembley six months ago when Reading threw away a two-goal advantage in the first division play-off final against Bolton, shaved an upright with a shot as early as the second minute. He had cause for celebration after 28 minutes. Joint player-manager Mick Gooding picked him out with a long pass after a Matthew Le Tissier-inspired move had been halted.

Nogan went past Jason Dodd and also Richard Hall, who slipped on rain-soaked surface, before chipping over committed keeper Dave Beasant from 10 yards for his fifth goal of the season. Reading would have been worth that half-time advantage, but it was not to be. With less than a minute to the break, Monkou arrived unannounced at the far post to nod in a free-kick from Le Tissier.

A minute after the re-start, Monkou became one of four Southampton bookings while the eager Nogan was cautioned for "diving" when Beasant raced out of his box to clear after 61 minutes. Four minutes later Reading were back in front -- and this time they were determined to hang on. Saints made a triple substitution, sending on Gordon Watson and Neil Heaney after 67 minutes and Neil Maddison eight minutes later.

But the nearest they came was when lone raider Watson tried a shot from the tightest of angles with eight minutes left, the ball rolling agonisingly across the face of goal with no one on hand to touch it it. Beasant, meanwhile, did well to save from Gooding, who had played despite having nine stitches in a facial wound.

Here's the word according to Reuters: (posted by Luke Fitzgerald)...

28Nov95 UK: SOCCER-PREMIER LEAGUE SOUTHAMPTON KNOCKED OUT OF LEAGUE CUP. LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuter) - First division Reading knocked premier league Southampton out of the English League Cup with a 2-1 victory in their fourth round clash on Tuesday.

Trevor Morley's bravery drew a rich reward when he scored the winner which sent home side Reading into the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time.

The former West Ham striker has only recently re-established himself in the side after fracturing his skull, an injury which threatened to finish his career.

His decisive 65th-minute header allowed Reading to settle a 17-year-old score with Southampton. The last time Reading reached the fourth round, back in 1978, they went out to Southampton in a replay. Lee Nogan struck the first blow for Reading in the 28th minute of a match delayed for 15 minutes because of crowd congestion. Defender Ken Monkou hauled Southampton level 30 seconds before halftime but Morley, who missed 13 matches after he was badly injured in the third game of the season, proved the hero.

He directed a 10-metre header back across goal and into the far corner of the net after Tom Jones had crossed from the left. The all-important goal was only his second of the season.

Southampton had an indication that it was not going to be their day when a spoof phone call stopped them in their tracks as they prepared to leave for the tie.

The caller claimed the game had been postponed but a call to the Football League confirmed that was not the case. However, by the end of the night, Southampton must have been wishing otherwise.
(c) Reuters Limited 1995