08-04-2018, 15:39
Reading 1 Burrow Preston North End 0
Reading: Mannone, Gunter, Ilori, Moore, Richards (Clement 46), Bacuna, Kelly (Evans 85), Swift, Barrow, Bodvarsson (Martin 71), Aluko. Subs (not used): Ven Den Berg, Kermorgant, Jaakkola, Holmes.
PNE: Rudd, Fisher, Huntington, Davies (Clarke 46), Cunningham, Pearson, Browne, Bodin, Robinson (Harrop 79), Barkhuizen, Moult (Maguire 46). Subs (used): Gallagher, Horgan, Earl, Maxwell.
Referee: Andy Madley (West Yorkshire)
Attendance: 15,501 (704 PNE)
As with Monday one effort on target one goal was enough to beat North End as we stumble towards the finishing line against a Reading side fighting to avoid the drop. As seems to be the norm we cannot seem to break down sides who sit on leads. We created chances but are not clinical enough otherwise would have been even higher in the table.
Defensively we were poor in the first half gave aware several free kicks in an around the area the second of which led to the goal. Reading were dangerous down the right hand side Aluko causing us all sorts of problems he was brought down outside the box by Davies from the free kick a flicked header found Burrow in space, he headed home.
North End were a shade unlucky not to be level when Moult's free kick hit the outside of the post. Bodin for North End was causing problems for the home side one shot was saved by Mannone straight to Moult but to be fair to the striker the ball arrived at a rate of knots leaving him little time to react. We got into good positions but final ball was often poor. Barkhuizen had an effort from distance which was easily saved by Mannone. On the stroke of half time Reading could have doubled their lead by Rudd and the post ensured Burrow didn't double his tally.
Clarke and Maguire on for the second half, Bodin unlucky when ball to him at the far post didn't drop right and a Maguire header against the bar from a Bodin post showed our intent however once the initial burst faded away Reading defended well against all we could throw at them with Moore being impressive at the back. Cannot fault the team for effort but our inability to put the ball in the net is a major failing at the moment. Reading rarely looked like scoring and like all sides wasted time although only three minutes extra time was shown which was a surprise Still in with a shout but the obese warbler is heading towards the stage.
Alex Neil bemoaned North End’s slow start this afternoon after conceding within the first 15 minutes dur today's 1-0 defeat away to Reading.
The gaffer was far from happy with the first 45 minutes which saw Mo Barrow head in after just 12 minutes on the referee’s stop watch - and also felt the fact that Reading drew first blood in the game was instrumental in the Lilywhites’ defeat at the Madejski.
“We’ve come unstuck recently because we’ve conceded that first goal,” analysed the manager after the game.
"Teams have scored and then resorted to sitting behind the ball which makes it hard for us to break them down. We’ve created chances today like we did in the last game, but we just couldn’t find that little bit of magic to put the ball in the back of the net.
“We did not perform well enough in that first half. The second half we stepped up our games and the lads who came on contributed and did well but we’re at the business end of the season and points are more important that performances right now.”
North End fought back in the second half with the manager making two substitutions at half-time which saw Tom Clarke and Sean Maguire come on for Ben Davies and Louis Moult, and despite creating a number of chances to win the game, they couldn’t find that elusive equaliser.
"We hit the post twice and we had two or three really good opportunities which we’re hoping we can do a bit better with,” continued a frustrated Neil post-match.
I thought second half, we made a couple of changes and got a lot better which is the one thing I will say.
“The way we’ve played all year, we need to perform well enough to win - we’re not a stuffy team that sits behind the ball; We go out to win the game but that first goal’s been crucial.
“We had enough opportunities to get that goal and I think if you do get that goal, the next goal’s the winner because they’re just going to burst out to get that winner because they needed the win. We didn’t start well, they get the first goal and they win the game and I think in recent weeks when he have been chasing the game, it’s not been our strongest suit.”
The manager also felt that North End were lacking a real target man today, and having coped relatively well without Jordan Hugill since his deadline day move in January, Neil spoke about missing his presence in the last couple of games.
The manager continued: “I think for the last two weeks, I’ve not mentioned Jordan since he’s left but we’ve probably struggled without a target man in terms of when we do get balls in the box.
"Because of the stature of a target man like Jordan, people get attracted towards them which gives space for others and I think Jordan’s presence has been lacked in the last couple of games because teams sit that deep; we had a target man to attack that ball and to have that cleverness to move and get in front of people and we unfortunately without that, we've struggled to break teams down recently.”
Reading view
"That's what it is all about...getting the results," manager Paul Clement said after a 1-0 home win over Preston. "That's the stage we're at. We've got five games to go now and a win was important - especially with Barnsley getting that late winner which pushed them two behind us.
"We had to respond. It wasn't pretty at times but we did enough to get over the line.
"It wasn't dissimilar to the QPR win here on Good Firday, where we got ahead early on and then they had more of the ball, getting a lot of balls into the box.
"But the way we're defending, particularly our penalty area, has been really good.
"When you stay compact, you're more together and you're getting in the right positions - if the opposition get shots in from range, you're getting blocks in, if they're getting crosses into the box, you've got players in the right positions to head the ball away.
"They came close on a couple of occasions, hit the post from the free kick and then had that big chance with the header. But it went our way and we got there in the end...with the help of the fans.
"What I hope everyone can see is the players are giving their best effort. They're trying to close people down, they're determined, they're aggressive - we saw it against QPR and we saw it here this afternoon.
"And you need that in a relegation battle...you need men, people who are going to take responsibility and these players are doing that.
"Of course we'd like to have more of the ball and create more chances, and that's something to look at moving ahead in the medium to long-term. But right now it's about winning football matches.
"We've got five games to go now and we've got to believe we can get points in all of those games if we prepare right and our mentality is strong.
"We've got a big game up next - Fulham away - they're flying at the moment, hunting down second place, so we know it's going to be a difficult game. But it's the next oppportunity for us to add points to our tally."
Reading: Mannone, Gunter, Ilori, Moore, Richards (Clement 46), Bacuna, Kelly (Evans 85), Swift, Barrow, Bodvarsson (Martin 71), Aluko. Subs (not used): Ven Den Berg, Kermorgant, Jaakkola, Holmes.
PNE: Rudd, Fisher, Huntington, Davies (Clarke 46), Cunningham, Pearson, Browne, Bodin, Robinson (Harrop 79), Barkhuizen, Moult (Maguire 46). Subs (used): Gallagher, Horgan, Earl, Maxwell.
Referee: Andy Madley (West Yorkshire)
Attendance: 15,501 (704 PNE)
As with Monday one effort on target one goal was enough to beat North End as we stumble towards the finishing line against a Reading side fighting to avoid the drop. As seems to be the norm we cannot seem to break down sides who sit on leads. We created chances but are not clinical enough otherwise would have been even higher in the table.
Defensively we were poor in the first half gave aware several free kicks in an around the area the second of which led to the goal. Reading were dangerous down the right hand side Aluko causing us all sorts of problems he was brought down outside the box by Davies from the free kick a flicked header found Burrow in space, he headed home.
North End were a shade unlucky not to be level when Moult's free kick hit the outside of the post. Bodin for North End was causing problems for the home side one shot was saved by Mannone straight to Moult but to be fair to the striker the ball arrived at a rate of knots leaving him little time to react. We got into good positions but final ball was often poor. Barkhuizen had an effort from distance which was easily saved by Mannone. On the stroke of half time Reading could have doubled their lead by Rudd and the post ensured Burrow didn't double his tally.
Clarke and Maguire on for the second half, Bodin unlucky when ball to him at the far post didn't drop right and a Maguire header against the bar from a Bodin post showed our intent however once the initial burst faded away Reading defended well against all we could throw at them with Moore being impressive at the back. Cannot fault the team for effort but our inability to put the ball in the net is a major failing at the moment. Reading rarely looked like scoring and like all sides wasted time although only three minutes extra time was shown which was a surprise Still in with a shout but the obese warbler is heading towards the stage.
Alex Neil bemoaned North End’s slow start this afternoon after conceding within the first 15 minutes dur today's 1-0 defeat away to Reading.
The gaffer was far from happy with the first 45 minutes which saw Mo Barrow head in after just 12 minutes on the referee’s stop watch - and also felt the fact that Reading drew first blood in the game was instrumental in the Lilywhites’ defeat at the Madejski.
“We’ve come unstuck recently because we’ve conceded that first goal,” analysed the manager after the game.
"Teams have scored and then resorted to sitting behind the ball which makes it hard for us to break them down. We’ve created chances today like we did in the last game, but we just couldn’t find that little bit of magic to put the ball in the back of the net.
“We did not perform well enough in that first half. The second half we stepped up our games and the lads who came on contributed and did well but we’re at the business end of the season and points are more important that performances right now.”
North End fought back in the second half with the manager making two substitutions at half-time which saw Tom Clarke and Sean Maguire come on for Ben Davies and Louis Moult, and despite creating a number of chances to win the game, they couldn’t find that elusive equaliser.
"We hit the post twice and we had two or three really good opportunities which we’re hoping we can do a bit better with,” continued a frustrated Neil post-match.
I thought second half, we made a couple of changes and got a lot better which is the one thing I will say.
“The way we’ve played all year, we need to perform well enough to win - we’re not a stuffy team that sits behind the ball; We go out to win the game but that first goal’s been crucial.
“We had enough opportunities to get that goal and I think if you do get that goal, the next goal’s the winner because they’re just going to burst out to get that winner because they needed the win. We didn’t start well, they get the first goal and they win the game and I think in recent weeks when he have been chasing the game, it’s not been our strongest suit.”
The manager also felt that North End were lacking a real target man today, and having coped relatively well without Jordan Hugill since his deadline day move in January, Neil spoke about missing his presence in the last couple of games.
The manager continued: “I think for the last two weeks, I’ve not mentioned Jordan since he’s left but we’ve probably struggled without a target man in terms of when we do get balls in the box.
"Because of the stature of a target man like Jordan, people get attracted towards them which gives space for others and I think Jordan’s presence has been lacked in the last couple of games because teams sit that deep; we had a target man to attack that ball and to have that cleverness to move and get in front of people and we unfortunately without that, we've struggled to break teams down recently.”
Reading view
"That's what it is all about...getting the results," manager Paul Clement said after a 1-0 home win over Preston. "That's the stage we're at. We've got five games to go now and a win was important - especially with Barnsley getting that late winner which pushed them two behind us.
"We had to respond. It wasn't pretty at times but we did enough to get over the line.
"It wasn't dissimilar to the QPR win here on Good Firday, where we got ahead early on and then they had more of the ball, getting a lot of balls into the box.
"But the way we're defending, particularly our penalty area, has been really good.
"When you stay compact, you're more together and you're getting in the right positions - if the opposition get shots in from range, you're getting blocks in, if they're getting crosses into the box, you've got players in the right positions to head the ball away.
"They came close on a couple of occasions, hit the post from the free kick and then had that big chance with the header. But it went our way and we got there in the end...with the help of the fans.
"What I hope everyone can see is the players are giving their best effort. They're trying to close people down, they're determined, they're aggressive - we saw it against QPR and we saw it here this afternoon.
"And you need that in a relegation battle...you need men, people who are going to take responsibility and these players are doing that.
"Of course we'd like to have more of the ball and create more chances, and that's something to look at moving ahead in the medium to long-term. But right now it's about winning football matches.
"We've got five games to go now and we've got to believe we can get points in all of those games if we prepare right and our mentality is strong.
"We've got a big game up next - Fulham away - they're flying at the moment, hunting down second place, so we know it's going to be a difficult game. But it's the next oppportunity for us to add points to our tally."
Why should a man go to work, if he has the health and strength to stay in bed?