[Archived] Reading 1 Rovers 2

[Mr. E]

YES !!!!!!! BENTLEY 4 ENGLAND !! :D

Very needed 3 points...should come in handy as we'll get destroyed the next two games.

[Paul Mellelieu]

A massive win. Maybe the start is nigh.

[Dan]

............................. Speechless.

How do we go from Burnley to Brazil in 15 minutes? Maybe Hughsie does it on purpose to prove himself as a good manager? We went from not passing properly, no one making runnings, giving the ball away every other pass, rubbish defending, no marking to everyone making runs, crisp passing, defenders getting stuck in and reading the game brilliantly, working as a team.

Feels like we've won a cup final after that first half, Rollacaster Rovers indeed!

[cravenblue]

whaheyy going to have agood night tonight for a change, may even tape match of the day and buy a paper tomorrow!!!!! eases pressure a little and puts more on west ham and middlesborough

[Lathund]

Shouldn't even bother watching the second half, but I suppose I will. 45 minutes worth of agony and frustration.

Couldn't have been more wrong there, and couldn't have been happier about it either

[Dan]

whaheyy going to have agood night tonight for a change, may even tape match of the day and buy a paper tomorrow!!!!! eases pressure a little and puts more on west ham and middlesborough

Match of the day, whats that? Haven't watched that in ages.......tonight maybe

I was working a night shift last night, haven't been to bed as went xmas shopping today, decided to stay up for Rovers. After the first half I was gonna head off to sleep, but glad I didn't! No sleep for 24 hours but I feel like partying! It is only 3 points, but it feels like 10!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Great result Rovers...and Burnley throw away a 2-0 lead!!!!!

[pleasure]

So am I, too many frame freezes today

i knw, but it's a small price to pay.

great 2nd half performance. many thanks to jon oster (fat burnley reject).

todd, neill (brilliant assist), sav, tugay, bentley, ped and mccarthy all did the business today.

whether it's another 'turning-point', remains to be seen, but we were impressive in the 2nd half. my works-do hangover has suddenly cleared!

[tchocky]

We are only 3 points behind Wigan who are 11th. The win today was extremely important. I have never been so happy for a rovers goal as when Bentley scored the winner today.

[OscarRaven]

3 Points off newcastle and Wigan, with more points than games played. Projected total 42-43 based on todays performance - i.e. inconsistant.

Please let this be the end of our 'wobble' with storming results against Arsenal and Liverpool!

Can't wait for Nelson & Reid 'signings', the resolution of the Lucas saga and hopefully some fresh blood as well - if we can survive as we are till January I'm hopefull.

Edited December 16, 2006 by OscarRaven

[Roar of the Rover]

Great win , very important 3 points as we have Arsenal away and Liverpool at home! i think McCarthy's gonna miss the Arsenal game after picking up a yellow today, but have to give credit to the lads, worked there socks off , did'nt let Reading have a decent chance in the 2nd half.

[West Sussex Rover]

Excellent result!!! Derbyshire to play against Arsenal though!!

[den]

Great win , very important 3 points as we have Arsenal away and Liverpool at home! i think McCarthy's gonna miss the Arsenal game after picking up a yellow today, but have to give credit to the lads, worked there socks off , did'nt let Reading have a decent chance in the 2nd half.

Yes, no McCarthy for that one.

[RevidgeBlue]

Proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but I can't see us getting anything at all with that formation. What we need is the eleven on the pitch to actually start performing in a normal 4-4-2 not revert to an unworkable line up.

It actually panned out exactly as I predicted, woeful in the first half, with the negative formation, the players devoid of self belief and McCarthy left completely isolated.

What a transformation in the second half, playing 4-4-2. The team played with a hunger we probably haven't seen all season and fully deserved the three points. Turning point of the season?

McCarthy had a very odd day. Had the ball in the net four times, but only one counted. Of the disallowed efforts, one was miles off, another was clearly off and one should have stood. Overall he had a great second half but I hated seeing him go to ground with a pathetic dive when he was in a very dangerous position anyway. If it was Ronaldo we'd be accusing him of ruining the game etc.

[DudeAbides]

Great result im well happy!!!

[yellowsubmarine]

First half - Forgetable. Gamst got 2 shots on target. Benni had a goal ruled out.

Second half - Benni had another goal ruled out. Soon Benni had yet another goal ruled out. Finally Benni got his well-deserved goal - a diving header from a cross by Lucas Neill. Abit silly for him to roll the ball to the linesman, caused him the yellow card. Then came Bentley's stunner. Good layoff by Oster, Bentley skipped past a midfielder with ease, drove forward and unleashed a shot from just outside the box that screamed into the top left roof of the net. BINGO!

3 points in the bag! A thoroughly-deserved one (based on 2nd half's performance).

[vyeo]

McCarthy had a very odd day. Had the ball in the net four times, but only one counted. Of the disallowed efforts, one was miles off, another was clearly off and one should have stood. Overall he had a great second half but I hated seeing him go to ground with a pathetic dive when he was in a very dangerous position anyway. If it was Ronaldo we'd be accusing him of ruining the game etc.

i completely agree; looking at the replay, the dive was ridiculous and almost comic. From his position, he could well have had lashed the ball at goal anyway.

As for the general performance, first half was terrible, but the second was great. We really need to be much more consistent now. On the positive side, it looks like last week's goal has done wonders for MGP's form, gray continued to do well, and savage was very good as well.

[Fife Rover]

Rovers to loose by an innings.

You forgot to add the 500+ runs Ozzie

[James No. 7]

i completely agree; looking at the replay, the dive was ridiculous and almost comic. From his position, he could well have had lashed the ball at goal anyway.

You can tell the players don't practice diving in training! Everytime one of them has a brain fade and decides to dive, they end up doing a terrible job of it.

[Finch]

When was the last time we came from behind to win away in the Premiership?

An excellent result and much needed before next week's trip to The Emirates Stadium.

Only moves us up one place however.

We came from behind to win against Wigan, but that was at home and its very rare.

I think we went for a year or two before this season without winning after having conceded the 1st goal (home or away), so that makes the result even sweeter

Edited December 16, 2006 by MC

[yorkblues]

very happy rang jordan after the 2nd goal went in i think he was very happy

[handbags_harris]

The Reading perspective. On show today was a transformation in performance that I've not seen for a long time from a Reading team. From a first half where we should have gone in at least 3 up, totally dominant, breaking through at every opportunity, to a 2nd half where we were completely devoid of ideas and inagination. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, we're not used to losing at home. At half time my mate and I were positively purring over what was arguably the best 45 minutes of football we'd seen all season. Our only worry was that we hadn't sown it up, or at least got a 2nd. At the end it was a case of what the **** happened there? Ultimately you won this game because we didn't take our chances in the 1st half. If we'd got a 2nd I think we'd have absolutely murdered you. You looked a very poor outfit, Ooijer and Todd looking distinctly average at best. Doyle looked like it was a matter of time before he stuck his 9th of the season away. The goal was coming, the only surprise was who it came from! Harper must have had a nosebleed, he rarely gets that far forward! We should have kicked on from there, and it was disappointing that half time came along when it did. As for the 2nd half, all change. You made a tactical switch and we completely failed to even counteract it. We normally don't have to because we try and play our way regardless of the opposition, but today was one of those days where it was crying out to be switched. You had far too much room in midfield, and we should have brought Gunnarsson on for Seol who was off the pace for most of the game (admittedly he hadn't trained all week after ripping a toe nail from his toe). From a dominant midfield to a dominated midfield, something needed changing, but bringing Leroy Lita on was not the answer, or John Oster for that matter. Oster's first and only contribution was to gift Bentley the ball, and we then saw Hahnemann flap at his admittedly well struck effort, although I think he should have at least got his hands to it to tip it over.

All credit to Rovers though, on your 2nd half showing you deserved it. You came out with a different shape 2nd half and for once Coppell got his decisions wrong. We failed to counteract it and you took full advantage. 3 points are yours, and you deserve them.

One last point, someone noted in an earlier post that Doyle doesn't look powerful and had you defenders in his pocket. He is deceptively strong and quick, and regularly plays like that.

Now I'm off to go and have a drink to try and forget the second half ###### I witnessed today!!

[RoversFanUSA]

Well being from the USA they havent showin the game on the channel yet but i couldnt wait!!! When i seen that Rovers won i literally fell out of my chair! I am VERY happy with the results today and cant wait to see the game. And as for having liverpool and the gunners next. I have faith that Rovers will play well. Its seems to me that when we play a top 4 team we play and up to that level of football. I mean look at the results we got agenst Man U this year and even better last year. Hopfully the fact that henry is out and that the boys have a little fire under there ass's will get them going in the right direction. Also wanted to point out that we were in almost the same spot this year as we were last year and look how the boys ran with it and came away with a 6th place finish. I feel that we all need to be backing the Rovers and Hughs in bad as well as good. Keep it up Rovers!!! Keep it up!!!

[Roost]

The Reading perspective. On show today was a transformation in performance that I've not seen for a long time from a Reading team. From a first half where we should have gone in at least 3 up, totally dominant, breaking through at every opportunity, to a 2nd half where we were completely devoid of ideas and inagination. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, we're not used to losing at home. At half time my mate and I were positively purring over what was arguably the best 45 minutes of football we'd seen all season. Our only worry was that we hadn't sown it up, or at least got a 2nd. At the end it was a case of what the **** happened there? Ultimately you won this game because we didn't take our chances in the 1st half. If we'd got a 2nd I think we'd have absolutely murdered you. You looked a very poor outfit, Ooijer and Todd looking distinctly average at best. Doyle looked like it was a matter of time before he stuck his 9th of the season away. The goal was coming, the only surprise was who it came from! Harper must have had a nosebleed, he rarely gets that far forward! We should have kicked on from there, and it was disappointing that half time came along when it did. As for the 2nd half, all change. You made a tactical switch and we completely failed to even counteract it. We normally don't have to because we try and play our way regardless of the opposition, but today was one of those days where it was crying out to be switched. You had far too much room in midfield, and we should have brought Gunnarsson on for Seol who was off the pace for most of the game (admittedly he hadn't trained all week after ripping a toe nail from his toe). From a dominant midfield to a dominated midfield, something needed changing, but bringing Leroy Lita on was not the answer, or John Oster for that matter. Oster's first and only contribution was to gift Bentley the ball, and we then saw Hahnemann flap at his admittedly well struck effort, although I think he should have at least got his hands to it to tip it over.

All credit to Rovers though, on your 2nd half showing you deserved it. You came out with a different shape 2nd half and for once Coppell got his decisions wrong. We failed to counteract it and you took full advantage. 3 points are yours, and you deserve them.

One last point, someone noted in an earlier post that Doyle doesn't look powerful and had you defenders in his pocket. He is deceptively strong and quick, and regularly plays like that.

Now I'm off to go and have a drink to try and forget the second half ###### I witnessed today!!

Hey handbag............... Thanks for your honesty.

I was not looking forward to todays game - you seem so strong at home, and we seem so weak away from home.

But, at last Rovers have shown some fighting spirit, and God, ho we needed it.

You have made a great start in the PL and deserve to be where you are..............good luck

COME ON YOU BLUES!

[modes98]

Typical i travel round the world and rovers start winning!

Come on Rovers! Just need to see this Wonder Goal