[madsteve]

This was a match where the referee was the centre of everyone's attention. He was weak and Reading latched on to this quickly by pushing, hitting, diving & pressurising him constantly, which meant they got the benefit of several decisions.

The first half was hugely frustrating. We played ok but every time we looked like threatening their goal, we were brought down. Three times, May was sent crashing off the ball - one punch, one elbow & one slap. Then Maguire was hit off the ball. All missed by the referee & his assistants.

What he didn't miss was the penalty. The first thing that has to be said is that it was so obvious what was going to happen but Coke was asleep until it was too late and his challenge was stupid. On the plus side, he didn't get a red card. Westwood did well & got lucky. More players are hitting penalties down the middle & Westwood kept his body large & was rewarded.

I said to young Padawan at half time that the game had 0-0 written all over it but with our defence & May in our side, we can always win 0-0s!!!

Maguire, Maghoma & May were all threatening but little had fallen our way in the box. Maghoma & Mattock linked well down the left but we were restricted mainly to shots from outside the box.

May & Nuhui continued to be held every time they went for the ball as the game continued to be frustrating.

Westwood made two fantastic saves to keep us in it & a looping header also struck our bar as Reading created the more clear cut chances.

Hope replaced Coke then Helan replaced Maguire.

Then we had our piece of luck. Nuhui, clearly getting frustrated, pushed a Reading defender, who handled the ball as he fell - first piece of luck. May took the free kick because Maguire had gone off - second piece of luck. The shot hit the wall and spun into the net leaving the keeper stranded - third piece of luck.

We should have had one or two penalties. One for a clear handball as May bared down on goal & another when he appeared to be tripped as he attempted to shoot.

One beauty of having a tight defence is that it only takes one moment of magic or luck to win a match. We have to ignore the referee because we cannot control him. We didn't play well. Reading controlled the match but we were solid defensively & with a player like May in the side, we are always in with a chance of winning a match.

The monkey of six months without a home win in the league is off our back which perhaps means we can play with more freedom in the future.

Westwood - 9 - won us the match with two wonder saves plus the penalty
Palmer - 6 - forced back more than usual
Lees - 8 - commanding & composed
Loovens - 7 - powerhouse defending
Mattock - 7 - always finds time, links well with Maghoma
Maguire - 6 - bright first half but faded
Coke - 5 - generally off the pace, gave away penalty
Semedo - 7 - good tackling & better distribution
Maghoma - 7 - ran well with the ball
Nuhui - 6 - got bullied by strong defender but never gave up
May - 8 - live wire, always likely to score
............................................................
Hope - 6 - bright, missed close range chance
Helan - 7 - made a big difference again
Dielna - 6 - not sure he touched the ball

Far from a fluent performance but we hung in there against a good side and got the win. SG has that uncanny knack of being lucky. He took Maguire off which meant May took the free kick which won us the match. As Napolean said, give me lucky generals every day over good generals.

We clearly lack much creativity from midfield to break down defences at home but on the road, we are far more successful when we have less bodies to get through where the running of May, Maghoma & Maguire causes far more problems.

We are now in a Playoff place & with matches coming thick & fast, we need everybody fit.