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Match report |
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Reading 1 Swansea City 1 | |
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Match Report by Peter Charles - Match Pics by Andrew Thomas
 The first half chance of the game fell to the Swans on 3 minutes, when some enterprising work from Britton, revelling in some midfield freedom, set up a difficult chance for Connor, which he volleyed well over. But in truth the opening few minutes saw a nervy Swans, and the home team could have taken the lead on four minutes when Ferdinand headed wide from close range from a corner - probably the first and only time that he evaded his marker all day. Soon, we settled into a constructive pattern of play, and began to match our opponents blow for blow.
 But the Swans were playing controlled and constructive football through the midfield, mainly through the promptings of Britton and Gurney who settled surprisingly well into a cohesive midfield partnership. They were also being well supported by some tenacious play from Forbes and Robinson, who were repeatedly getting a toe-end in to rob the sluggish home team of possession. On 18 minutes the swans produced a lovely passing move which culminated unfortunately in a wayward effort from Robinson - where have those shooting boots gone this year? On 22 minutes another Connor knock down fell to Forbes who drove in a low shot which was easily saved. And on 29 minutes a terrific surging run and cross from Ricketts was cut out just before it arrived at Connor's head (Connor really should try attacking the ball sometimes - it might double his goal tally!)  We already felt well rewarded for our trip - the effort and commitment of the first half performance was everything we could have asked. But could they hold out? Unsurprisingly, the home team moved up a gear in the second half, looking much more sprightly in midfield. They exerted some early pressure, which we handled well, but they did not come close until 55 minutes, when an excellent passing move resulted in a low cross which just evaded Ferdinand at the far post. A minute later, there was further panic at the heart of our defence, when Izzy was forced to head clear from in the six yard box with Willy beaten. For the first time, we were really under the cosh. Another Reading corner saw Ferdinand outjump Gueret ( who was claiming a foul) only for Forbes to clear acrobatically from off the line. KJs response was a tactical change. Clearly feeling that we needed to stem the pressure he pulled off Conner, added Anderson to midfield and went 4 - 5 - 1. Still not sure it was the right decision, as it effectively declared our innings and invited more pressure, which duly came. A header flashed right across goal, and Willy made another save shortly afterwards. For 20 minutes we really hadn't been in it, but we did manage to steady the ship and began to create a few half chances on the break. The best of these came on 79 minutes when a Trundle through ball sent Leon scampering towards goal just to the right of the penalty area - with Anderson unmarked in the centre and screaming for it, he checked and fed the ball back Trundle, who fired over under pressure - a good chance to sew the game up had gone begging. Reading's response was to force another corner, from which a half volley flashed just over our bar.  Gueret - 6 Reading delivered a lot of quality crosses and he didn't look comfortable today. Ricketts - 8 Had to handle the best attacking player and showed tremendous composure. Anderson - 7 Looked a bit flat footed at times, but worked tirelessly Monk - 8 A pillar of strength in a defence which was often under a lot of pressure Iriekpen - 9 (MOM) As above, but had to mark Ferdinand out of the game...and did! Forbes - 7 Worked tirelessly throughout Robinson - 7 As above, and forged a couple of pot shots Britton - 8 Showed that he might indeed be a better player at a higher level - our most creative player in the first half. But Kenny, if you play him, its no good putting him on the wing! Gurney - 7 A far better midfielder than a full back; battled well today, and pushed the ball about too. Trundle - 7 Plenty of hard running and commitment; couldn't quite force a clear chance for himself Connor - 7 Took his goal well, and got plenty of flicks-on Anderson - 7 Played tidily in a midfield role, and twice got forward into good positions (though his team mates failed to pick him out on both occasions!) KJ's tactics - vindicated by the result, but the 5 man midfield actually invited more pressure. Perhaps Maylett could have been introduced later as fresh legs to stretch them a bit. Nonetheless, he got them fired up for this one deserves all the credit for that - well done Kenny and Nuge. All in all, a good and encouraging performance. The replay will spin more money - by the way, how much revenue do we have to earn before we can go out and sort that left midfield position? Answers on a postcard.... Jeremy Kivell
An excellent away following saw a whole-hearted backs-to-the-wall performance from Swansea at the Madejski stadium today. Although the timing of the equaliser was unfortunate, I don't think we could have had many complaints about being pegged back after the number of chances Reading created.
 Swansea lined up with Gueret in goal, a back 4 of Austin at left back, Izzy and Monk in the middle, and Ricketts at right back. Midfield was Forbes on the right, Britton and Gurney in the middle and Robinson playing not very wide on the left. Connor and Trundle started up front. It was Connor who had the first clear-cut chance, when he received a ball on the six yard line with his back to goal, but his turn and snapshot would only have worried any pigeons that happened to be passing overhead.   Then about 10 minutes from the break, Swansea went ahead. A ball from the right was over-hit, but retrieved by the otherwise quiet Trundle. His low cross was met by Connor, who just beat the Reading keeper to it and toe-poked the ball over the line. Cue mayhem in the away end. The rest of the first half was played out with little incident, and then after the break, the Reading assault began. For 15 minutes, we were again under siege, wth Austin continuing to have a torrid time. Jackett must have spotted this, as Connor was sacrificed for Ijah Anderson, and this helped stem the flow. By the last 10 minutes, we were pinned back in our own half, which at least meant that Reading weren't often able to use their pace to get behind us. Then came the moment that could have sealed the win. A break out of defence found Britton on the right hand side of the area, and with Anderson screaming for the ball totally unmarked in the centre of the box, the ball wasn't delivered, and the chance was gone. Then with just 3 minutes to go, Reading finally got their equaliser. A clearance dropped to Ingimarsson just outside our area, and he belted it in off the post giving Willy no chance. There were one or two more nervous moments before the end, but nothing came of them, so it's back to the Vetch a week on Tuesday. Some individual player comments-  Willy was pretty much flawless, and the back 4 worked their socks off, but our full backs were frequently struggling against decent opponents. In midfield, Robinson had a good first half, worrying their keeper more than once. Britton was, I'm afraid, poor. Gurney got thourgh his fair share of work, and Forbes was, well, Forbes - plenty of running and jumping, but I can't remember him producing a cross, although he had one decent effort on goal, and headed one Reading shot off the line in the first half. Connor battled hard for his hour or so, and poached the goal well. Trundle was marked out of the game by a good Championship defence that had a bit too much nous to give him space on his left foot. Anderson did pretty well as sub, and made us look far more solid on the left side of defence. So to sum up - this result was a product of hard defensive work, with no little luck. Reading were clearly the higher division side, and a home win in the replay would be a superb result.
Whilst promotion out of League 2 is our priority this season, the F.A. Cup is a bit special, and today was no exception. A fantastic turn out of 3,700 visiting fans boosted the gate to over 13,000. 
The only way to describe the second half is that it was 'Custers Last Stand', 'The Alamo' and 'Zulu' all in one. Apart from an occasional breakaway most of the second half was played in the Swans half of the field. We rode our luck many times but you make your own luck and the team deserved it when it came their way. They ran themselves into the ground. On the hour Connor was replaced by Anderson to try and shore up the midfield. Whilst this was a partial success it did leave Trundle the only outlet, a ploy that didn't work. We came under greater and greater pressure and the team visibly tired. Within the last 10minutes Britton went on a run down the right clear of their defence. With both Trundle and Anderson inside and in good positions Leon kept his head down and the chance was lost. By then Owusu had replaced Ferdinand and his extra pace caused further problems. At one point it did look as if Maylett was ready to come on, but a change of decision saw him return too the bench. With the final minutes ticking away Reading put in their final push, and were finding more space against a team that had given their all, maybe further subs should have been used. The inevitable happened when a cross was cleared to the edge of the box where Ingimarsson hit an unstoppable shot into the net. Maybe heartbreaking so close to the end but it had been coming. 
In the final minute Robinson and Sidwell were booked for a small flare up.
Stats suplied by Soccernet.com 
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