 |
Reading
v West Bromwich Albion
Madejski Stadium,
Reading. 1st May 2004, 3.00pm. |
| Back
to Reports Menu |
It was a remarkable display from the Albion fans as something like
three quarters of the away support made some effort to dress up
to honour the Great Dane, although the atmosphere went a little
flat late on as Steve Sidwell's winner all but destroyed Albion's
title hopes.
With promotion secured, Megson decided to rest Andy Johnson who
had been playing for the last few weeks with an injury, and with
Koumas suspended, the midfield had an unfamiliar look. Dyer was
granted his league first start in place of Koumas, with O'Connor
taking AJ's place alongside Kinsella. The only other change to the
starting line-up saw Darren Moore return to the back three in place
of Neil Clement, who dropped to the bench.
As against Bradford last week, the match was more of a side show
than the main event as the Viking hordes sang their way through
a largely disappointing first half.
Hughes had a good chance when he picked up a pass from O'Connor
before beating two players and firing wide. Moore also had a sight
of goal from O'Connor's free kick but his header was deflected wide.
However, it was the home side that looked to take control of the
match and Moore had to be on his best form to deny Goater and Kitson
as the Royals put the Baggies under some concerted pressure.
Robinson was called into action with a great tackle to prevent Sidwell
having a clear shooting chance, and Big Dave was on hand minutes
later to deny Kitson once more.
Chambers had a rare attempt on goal when he was first to a Gregan
knock down, but his shot was deflected wide by Andy Hughes.
Back at the other end, Murty shot wide and Sidwell saw a header
blocked before half time saw some respite for the Baggies.
Horsfield had obviously been struggling in the first half and was
replaced by Dobie at half time. It made little difference to the
overall pattern of the game as Reading continued to make the better
chances.
Kitson saw an effort from a tight angle blocked by Hoult before
Andy Hughes headed over with the goal gaping. Kitson was guilty
of a similar opportunity minutes later before Megson made another
change bringing Sakiri on for Lee Hughes.
Albion finally showed some quality with the best move of the match
on 68 minutes when Dyer, Kinsella and Sakiri combined well to put
Chambers through on the right side and his low cross evaded Dobie
but fell for Dyer at the back post but he could only fined the side
netting from tight angle.
Kitson failed to hit the target once again with eight minutes to
go before Albion looked to try and win the game. They started to
put some passes together and push forward before they were caught
with two minutes to go. With defenders committed forward, the ball
was lost and suddenly Sidwell was breaking with Reading with a three
on two advantage. But as he advanced towards the Albion area with
a teammate either side, SIDWELL ignored them and struck a fierce
shot from the edge of the box which went in off the post with Hoult
unmoved. It was an excellent finish, but questions must be asked
as to the whereabouts of the Albion defence.
With promotion secured, the result was of limited importance for
the Baggies, but a poor display serves to highlight the work that
must be done on improving the squad for next year.
RESULT - READING 1 WEST BROMWICH
ALBION 0
Marks
Hoult - 6 - One or two dodgy moments.
Gaardsoe - 7 - Generally solid if unspectacular.
Moore - 8 - Good solid display from Big Dave.
Gregan - 7 - Solid.
J Chambers - 5 - Poor display; naive at times and wasteful with
possession.
O'Connor - 5 - Slow in thought, got caught far too often; a poor
substitute for AJ.
Kinsella - 8 - MOM. His experience keeps shining through with his
intelligent use of the ball; should have earned a new contract.
Dyer - 6 - One or two good moments, but his lack of experience showed
through on occasion.
Robinson - 7 - Another good showing from Robbo.
Hughes - 6 - Failed to really sparkle.
Horsfield - 6 - Surprised to see him start as his injury is obviously
troubling him.
Dobie - 5 - Failed to add anything; seems to have lost some sparkle
somewhere and is often knocked off the ball too easily.
Sakiri - 6 - Never got in to the game much.
Clement - 7 - Did a good job.
The Manager - 6 - Don't understand how O'Connor started, nor how
he played ninety minutes. Horsfield should've been rested, why not
Facey instead of Dobie on the bench? Sakiri for Hughes was a strange
substitution. Not one of his better days.
|
Reading
(4-4-2):
Ashdown; Murty, Williams, Newman, A Hughes; Savage (Morgan 65),
Harper, Sidwell, Solako (Gordon 45); Kitson, Goater (Brooker 65).
Subs not used: Hahnemann (GK), Owusu. |
West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Gaardsoe, Moore, Gregan; J Chambers, O'Connor, Kinsella,
Dyer, Robinson (Clement 60); Hughes (Sakiri 54), Horsfield (Dobie
45). Subs not used: Murphy (GK), Haas.
|
Scoring: Sidwell (88)
1-0.
Bookings: Reading - Newman (foul 14), Kitson (foul 90+3). West Bromwich
Albion - Chambers (foul 18), O'Connor (foul 43), Moore (foul 71).
Referee: C Penton (Sussex).
Attendance: 20,619.
|
| ^ Back to Top |
|
