In almost usual Reading style we spent 70 minutes of the game looking like complete disorganised shite, but managed to put in a good 10 minute spell at the end of the first half, and a good 10 minutes at the end of the second half to somehow come away with a point. The final score line disguised the truth - Reading were simply not good enough tonight if they are to stand a chance of going up this season. For seventy minutes it looked like the eleven men in Reading shirts were playing together for the first time. In parts it was comical watching two Reading players chase the same ball and collide, time and time again. But despite that, the majority of Reading fans who stayed to the end to catch Reading's late comeback - coming back from 1-3 down with six minutes left to draw 3-3 - left feeling entertained. Although probably a game we needed to win, the home fans were happy leaving the ground, when for ages it looked like we were going to be stuffed out of sight.

As hoped, and expected, Jamie Cureton made his home debut starting for the Royals up front alongside Martin Butler. However right from the start it looked like we were unlikely to see much of him. With just 22 minutes gone of the first half Reading were two goals down, and at that point it seemed simply a question of how many more we were going to conceed before the end of the 90 minutes. Stoke took the lead with a move down the left that ended up inside the Reading box. Viveash went flying in for a tackle, the ball came across to the middle and Hunter went sliding in to stick the ball past Whitehead and into the right side of the Reading net. But that was just a taster of one of the worst defensive performances we've had the misfortune to see in quite some while.

Just five minutes later and Stoke again broke down the left taking the ball quickly forward from just inside their own half. Their centre forward strode forward into the Reading box as the only man forward, waiting to the cross from the left. A man went to the player about to cross it and that left three Reading defenders in the middle to cope with the lone striker. The ball was played in, Hunter and Viveash drifted into the centre of the box, everyone left the lone striker to himself.... he drifted wide to the right for the cross, leaving the entire Reading defence, for an easy free header past the helpless Whitehead. A more simple goal he'll never score - and that was with the entire Reading defence back and out-numbering him. A terrible goal to conceed, and it didn't look like getting any better.

The Reading midfield. What Reading midfield? Balls were hoofed forward to our two short-arse centre forwards Butler and Cureton. Neither player got near anything pumped forward at them with the Stoke City defence clearing up with ease. Gurney looked scared to go forward and Rougier was ineffective with his ball control not up to his Swindon Town performance. Even Caskey's free kicks were flying miles wide instead of finding the target. It looked like it wasn't going to be our night.

Stoke came forward again and Viveash just couldn't cope with it. He was outpaced every time, never made a tackle, and probably wasn't helped by Hunter's poor posititioning and desire to chase every ball alongside him. I lost count of the number of times they ended up going up for the same header leaving Stoke's forwards unmarked all over the place just waiting for the ball to drop. Stoke almost made it 0-3 when they again got free down the left hand side with Gurney strangely beaten yet again. The winger paced with ease into the box and played the ball backwards into the middle to the free man - with Viveash and Hunter again absent. The just as he was bringing his boot back, about to slam it home, Matt Robinson slid in with the tackle of the match to send the ball flying to safety.

But then all of a sudden, with ten minutes of the first half left, it all changed. Pardew looked set to bring on a substitute - probably Hodges to replace Gurney - and we upped the pace of the game and determination spread across the whole Reading side. This was more like it! Reading won a couple of corners, started putting a few passes together and created a whole string of chances. Caskey almost pulled one back for Reading after shooting from just inside the area, sending the ball hard against the base of the left hand post. The ball spun back out into the box and then went flying in again off a Stoke player - it looked like it was heading in for the second own goal of the match until the keeper tipped it wide for another Reading corner. Moments later Reading pulled back the vital goal. With players packed in the area, the ball came to Martin Butler who drove it into the roof of the net from the centre of the box. 1-2 with just about a minute left of the first half. A perfect time to score.

Reading went off to plenty of applause at half time and it was all set up nicely for the second half. But the optimism didn't last long after the break as Reading returned to the same scrappy disjointed play we'd seen over the first half an hour. Instead it was Stoke who looked like going further ahead - sending in an early second half shot from just outside the box on target. Whitehead was awake enough to tip it over the bar for a Stoke corner. With Howie obviously helping Whitehead in training, Whitehead's kicks were flying off all over the place, as were a large number of the passes from the outfield players. To be fair there were a couple of nice moves from Reading - but they just weren't coming off. The right balls were being played at times, but the receiving player was off running in a different direction expecting something else. Like the Northampton game we just weren't playing together - not enough communication through the side.

It was no suprise when Stoke made it 1-3 with 15 minutes left to play. And once again Hunter, not having his best game, was in the middle of a serious Reading defensive error. The ball was hoofed forward into the Reading box. Hunter went for it.... and so did Whitehead. Then they both changed their mind, I guess no-one called for it, and the ball bounced towards goal with the Stoke forward containing his laughter just enough to stride forward and collect it. It bounced against the post and he side-footed it home into the empty net. And plenty of people had had enough as some home fans started to leave... a mistake, as it wasn't to be long before Reading put together a fantastic late comeback.

Rougier limped off with an ankle injury after the golf buggy the club use broke down on the edge of the pitch. Only Reading Football Club could use something like that, all in the name of sponsorship money. Doesn't matter how embarrassing or impractical it is as long as it might earn a few quid - the usual Reading FC approach. There was more injury worry for the Royals to come. Newman, who had drifted back into right back after Gurney was replaced by Hodges, went down with what looked like a serious back injury after a collision inside the last ten minutes. After five minutes lying on the pitch he was eventually stretchered off, leaving a total of seven minutes of injury time for Reading to get something from the game.

With six minutes to go Cureton was brought down inside the area. A penalty and a lifeline for the Royals. Caskey stepped up and fired the ball confidently into the roof of the net. 2-3. And time for the equaliser. Deep into injury time Reading threw everything forward looking for the goal - and the determination was to pay off. A shot was blocked on the left inside the Stoke area and the ball was played backwards and across the box. Lee Hodges headed it on, and there was Cureton deep in enemy territory to get on the end of the ball and send it to the keeper's left, for his second Reading goal in three games. The home fans went mental - at last something to get really excited about. 3-3 which was unthinkable just ten minutes earlier.

At full time Reading left to a standing ovation from the home fans - deserved for showing a bit of fighting spirit and scrambling a draw. However we could have easily lost this one - improvements are needed if we're to go up this season.

Graham

Following report by Neil Cole, guest reporter:

This was perhaps the luckiest point I've ever seen the Royals win, and we shouldn't let the result disguise what was a truly awful performance. We were promised "all-out attack" with new signings Jamie Cureton and Tony Rougier playing alongside Martin Butler. Yet the reality was that however talented these players are, they're not going to achieve much in a team that can't defend or pass the ball.

The Reading defence was terrible from start to finish, leaving every Royals fan praying for the return of Adie Williams. Barry Hunter, having played reasonably well recently in the absence of Williams, ruined that today with one of the worst performances I have seen from a centre back. He didn't seem to have a clue what he should be doing, failed to communicate with any of his teammates (including the goalkeeper), and showed a complete lack of control or composure when he had the ball.

This, combined with Andy Gurney's most inept performance to date, made for a comically bad back four, and it was a surprise Stoke only managed to put three past them. City, as did Northampton before them, soon realised the weakness of our right back, and it was no surprise that most of Stoke's play focused on charging down the left.

Pardew's tactics again had to be called into question as early as the 17th minute, as Reading pushed everyone forward for a corner. The "all-out attack" philosophy may in theory make for exciting football, but the way Reading played last night it was tantamount to suicide. Darren Caskey, who failed to get a corner past the first defender all night, wasted another set piece and Stoke came charging forward. With the rest of the Reading team still waiting in the box for the cross to materialise, it was 3 on 2 and Stoke were always favourites to score. Adi Viveash made a superb challenge to stop the first man, but this still left 2 on 1, and in the end it was Barry Hunter who accidentally forced the rebound into his own net.

The second goal came just five minutes later, as Gurney was ripped apart once again by the Stoke attack. He got nowhere near the ball and was left for dead, leaving the Stoke winger to simply pick his man out, crossing for Thordarson to head home at the far post.

We were all thinking "Bristol Rovers" at this point, as it seemed plausible that Stoke could go on to score six or more without reply.

Yet, credit to the Royals, they didn't give up as easily as they might have done, and had a spell of pressure towards the end of the first half. A Caskey shot hit the post, with the rebound excellently saved by the Stoke keeper, saving his own defender from recording the second own goal of the night. Just minutes after that, a goalmouth scramble fell perfectly for Martin Butler to fire home his second of the season.

This gave us all some hope, and the 45th minute goal saved the players from facing the boo's at half time.

Half-time came at the wrong moment for the Royals, just as they were getting back into the game. The break ruined Reading's momentum, and in the second half it was back to the soul-destroying lack of drive or creativity that we have had to endure for the majority of the last 5 seasons. Stoke again started making chances, and the Reading defence again started making fatal mistakes.

This culminated with another shocking goal to give away in the 75th minute. The lack of communication between Hunter and Whitehead became apparent as Hunter headed over his keeper, leaving Graham Fenton the simple job of knocking the ball into an empty net. The chants from the Stoke fans were "dodgy keeper", but in reality the entire defence was beyond "dodgy" last night. Even Whitehead somehow lost the ability to kick, strengthening the case for the re-instatement of Scott Howie as number one.

We all expected this to be game over, given Reading's usual inability to get back into games when they are trailing. Yet this time it was different. Reading came at Stoke once again, and were gifted a lifeline as a Stoke defender unnecessarily pushed Jamie Cureton over in the box. It was a clear penalty, and the confident looking Darren Caskey put Reading back into the game.

At 2-3 there was always a chance of an equaliser, and with seven minutes of injury time to be played there was plenty of encouragement for the Reading players. The Stoke players seemed in disbelief that they could throw the points away, and as such failed to concentrate as last ditch Reading attack fired the ball into the Stoke area. Hodges was able to head on for Jamie Cureton to score on his home debut.

The Reading players, fans and management went crazy as they realised their team has rescued a point from out of nowhere. It's difficult to know whether this lucky result can be attributed to the Cureton/Butler partnership, but certainly when you have strikers of this quality goals are always a possibility regardless of the overall team performance. They say it's the sign of a great team when you play badly but don't lose... although last night's performance was a million miles from great, let's keep thinking like this and not give up hope just yet.

Post Match Opinions

You had to be there to believe it. You can blame the ref or the linesman but in truth the goals Reading gave away were head in hands, gut wrenching, farcical, morale destroying, exasperating nonsense. Twice dead and buried with Whitehead kicking anywhere I don't know where the point came from and neither do most of the Stoke fans. Yet maybe, somewhere, in that gritted teeth performance of refusing to allow poor decisions, bad goals, injuries or appalling defensive cockups get in the way of a fighting comeback there is some hope for us. A play off place? Not on the season so far but if we can come back in this game, we can come back in the season. -- Bucks Royal What a show this was - coming back from first 0-2 down and then 1-3, Reading showed us the determination needed to get our of this division. If only they had managed to actually communicate on the pitch! Several times I saw Reading players going for the same ball with some farcical consequences - were they really on the same side??? I introduced a friend to the world of football today and I think his lasting memory will be the emergency car breaking down! Now that really brought the house down! Still we must give Reading their due - this point was vital as another defeat could have seen the perennial snowball of bad results again. Its a long road ahead and come may this point could be vital! -- Jamie, Tilehurst Royal Never mind not believing the result on Tuesday, but it seemed the same old Reading as in previous seasons. Ok they showed plenty of spirit but they need to with a defence like that it was a shambles. We now have some quality up front but what about the rest of the team how can they expect large crowds with performances like that lets face it we were lucky to go away with a point. It also seem strange to me that the coverage of the Royals has been reduced. No Classic Gold now, no section in the Post for letters on Friday and no phone in on Radio Berkshire. Still we have the Hob Nob site to air our views. You don't want to be negative so early in the season but we need to improve on Tuesdays performance. -- JD Loyal Royal Reading are poor. With the money spent we should not be scraping draws against Stoke and losing to Northampton. I think we'll end up doing the same as last year we'll end up mid table lose more money and have a new man in charge who has had no experience and has beaten off the likes of Joe Kinnear etc. Same old story! -- Kevin This was the first Reading game I've been to in nearly four years, I went to see the stadium and the state of the team. I used to watch most games (home and away) but stopped due to other commitments. After the match I was amazed at how poor the standard of football was. Reading had two full backs simply unable to control the ball before the difficult task of passing it. We (Reading) continually hit long balls to our front two who stood no chance against the visitors taller defenders (logic). Annoyingly when we did play the ball on the floor through the middle we looked much better than the opposition. So why keep hitting long balls? The answer to this surely has to lie with the above comment about the full backs, I don't think the rest of the team has confidence in their ability.One bright spot for me was the forwards who looked lively each time they had the ball. I feel the team would play much better with a man directly behind the front two instead of hitting the long ball to then. The stadium is everything it should be but it certainly wouldn't have been intimidating to the visitors. How about widening the pitch a little so it reaches the stands and the players don't feel so isolated. -- Fid Firstly, Mr Pardew you asked for atmosphere around the ground and last night you got it, a BIG UP for the North / East stand corner who started and continued singing all game. Secondly, if we create an atmosphere can you please get your players to a) talk to each other b) play with a little more enthusiasm c) please try and string more than 3 passes together if not that then at least pass to one of our players. Why o why does Caskey continue to be played wide out on the left when it's there for everyone to see we have no creativity in the centre of the park, I'm all up for winning the midfield but no point if we don't find our forwards. Last nights performance and particually Hunters, who by the way i think is deaf, leaves a lot to be desired and we are in danger of giving the leading pack too big a lead to claw back. Martin Allen you said the title was ours on this performance my friend I can only see mid table mediocrity at best, 110% for the recovery but I'd rather be sitting back on a 3-1 lead than chasing a 3-1 deficit - especially at home. -- Tredder You can call Reading unlucky for the injuries we suffer but the loss of Adrian Williams could be the one thing that prevents us doing something this season. At the back we were woeful. Gurney gets a nosevleed when leaving his own half, Hunter gets too caught up trying to sought out all the others mistakes. As for Viveash, truely bad and his Swindon performance was repeated but this time Stoke were good enough to make use of them. I didn't think we would miss Primus so much. Also, the worry is tactics. Pardew must have told them to hit the ball long...with two smallish strikers against two tall centre-backs. That is not the players fault. Caskey must play centre midfield with someone like Hodges left and Rougier roaming right and left/middle with Butler and Cureton up front. But without defence we are going nowehere but mid table. -- David

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