With Reading being one of the more local games for the three SussexBaggies, we couldn't pass up another opportunity to visit the Madejski Stadium after our FA Cup tie there earlier on in the season. We arrived at 12.30pm and, by the time we had reached the ground, five of the 40 coaches travelling from the Midlands were already parked up in anticipation of the game.
The drama began as soon as we entered the ground, because it turned out our seats were covered by the netting used to segregate the two sets of supporters, as Reading were under the impression that these had not been sold. Thankfully, two very helpful stewards were immediately on the case and exchanged our tickets for three just behind the goal.
The Team
Roberto Di Matteo made very few changes to the team, with Jonas Olsson, who was returning from injury, brought straight back into the side in place of Abdoulaye Meite, being one of four changes Di Matteo made to the side. The other three saw James Morrison and Jerome Thomas replacing Robert Koren and Chris Brunt, with Chris Wood surprisingly being asked to lead the line on his own in place of Ishmael Miller in a 4-5-1 formation.
First Half
In truth, this was as entertaining a 1-1 draw as you are likely to see all season, particularly in the first half, when both sides created several chances. Despite looking bright in the opening five minutes, we soon found ourselves behind. The goal came courtesy of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who tapped home after an excellent initial save from Scott Carson and a clearance off the line by Gabriel Tamas.
We created two chances in the space of a minute, when Wood saw a shot deflected wide and, from the resulting corner, Tamas saw his powerful header tipped over by Adam Federici. With the tall players we have, we should always be looking to win the ball from set-pieces, particularly when we are playing against a side like Reading, who looked dangerous every time they attacked us on the break.
Throughout the first half, both sides seemed to exchange chances, with Reading seeing a shot cleared off the line by Joe Mattock and Albion seeing shots from Morrison and Ben Watson well saved by Federici in the Reading goal.
Second Half
It was clear that Morrison in particular had been very poor for Albion in the first half, so it was perhaps surprising that, after watching Giles Barnes rigorously warm up for most of the interval, Morrison was still on the pitch as the second 45 minutes began.
Albion started the half nervously, with the outstanding Carson forced into saves from Jimmy Kebe and Zurab Khizanishvili.
However, Albion were then denied two penalties in the space of a minute by referee Andy D'Urso. The first came when Matthew Mills appeared to blatantly handle the ball inside the penalty area, much to the disgust of the vocal Albion supporters behind the goal. The next appeal was slightly less clear-cut, with Watson appearing to go down easily after a challenge on him by Khizanishvili.
Albion needed to make substitutions and thankfully Di Matteo obliged, by sacrificing defensive midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu and young striker Wood to allow Barnes and Ishmael Miller to enter the fray. This allowed the previously ineffective Morrison to move into the centre of the park, where he appeared to perform noticeably better in a more free role.
However, it was nearly curtains for the Baggies soon after when Reading substitute Simon Church shot wide with only Carson to beat.
This seemed to galvanise Albion, both on the pitch and in the stands, with the Baggies enjoying their best spell of the game in terms of territory and possession as the game entered the final ten minutes.
Then, the magic moment arrived. It looked as though the chance had gone when Olsson's header from a Graham Dorrans corner came back off the post, but Tamas lashed a ferocious shot across the goal and into the top corner to send the Albion fans into raptures behind the goal. This was a goal that our second-half performance had deserved, but there was still more drama to come.
First, Miller took too long to release the ball to Simon Cox, when the former Reading player seemed in an excellent position to score. Almost directly from this move, the hosts went up the other end and Carson was forced into the most important of his tremendous saves, as he blocked Kebe's shot, just when it seemed as though the in-form winger had found enough space to snatch a winner.
Just when it seemed as though the match was about to peter out, Dorrans found himself clean through on goal, only for Sigurdsson to clip his heels on the edge of the penalty area and deny Dorrans a shot on goal. The free-kick came to nothing, bringing to an end a pulsating encounter between two in-form sides.
On Reflection
This must certainly be seen as a point gained. If you had asked most Albion supporters before the game whether they would have settled for a point, they would have said ‘yes’, so I suspect they would have been even more delighted at the prospect of a draw if you had asked them after 85 minutes!
In truth, though, this was a disappointing Albion performance against a Reading side, who themselves weren't brilliant. We were nervous defensively and always looked as though we could be punished on the break, which became quite a concern as the game wore on. Other than these minor points, this must certainly be seen as a point gained, showed by the players reaction, both to the ball hitting the back of the net, and the final whistle being blown.
My Man of the Match was Scott Carson. He made several terrific saves and seems to have put his nightmare performance at QPR three weeks ago well and truly behind him. His contribution was just as telling as Tamas', particularly his late save from Kebe, which could prove to be very crucial come the end of the season.
Boing Boing!