Noel Hunt hoping to follow in brother's footsteps
James Walker-Roberts • Published 26 May 2011 17:30
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JUST a week after suffering the highs and lows of one emotionally draining journey, Noel Hunt is raring to go again.
But, unlike last weekend, when the Reading striker was glued to his television watching brother Stephen score the goal that kept Wolves in the Premier League, this time he will be on the other side of the screen, on the pitch, and on the biggest stage of all, with one of the biggest prizes of them all at stake.
Not that he is nervous, not in the slightest.
"I'll admire it and embrace it all after the game but before that it's the lines on the pitch that make the difference and they're the same as on every pitch," he said.
"Obviously it's a massive game for the club, we know how big it is but we need to play the game and not the occasion and do things right. If we do that then we'll win."
While Hunt's relaxed demeanour ahead of a potentially career-defining match is well in keeping with his jovial nature, he readily admits that he has already been put the through mill recently, by his brother.
"I couldn't remember a game where there has been so much emotion. I was watching two or three at the same time, one minute they were up, one minute they were down. Wigan and Birmingham scored at the same time, it came on TV and I thought 'oh my God,'" Hunt recalled.
"I had my head in my hands and phoned my agent to ask what was going on, he said he didn't know but then he said Wolves had scored and hung up on me! Then it came on the screen saying Hunt and we went mental, it was great knowing that was the goal to keep them up. I spoke to Stephen this week, we chatted about it and he was buzzing. I asked him if he knew the situation and he said yes because the fans were singing 'just one more goal', he still wanted to score another but it was enough thank God."
The brothers have not played together since they were both at Reading in the 2008/09 season, the campaign that the Royals were back in the Championship after suffering relegation from the Premier League on goal difference.
Since then, Noel has continued to ply his trade in the Championship, while Stephen has enjoyed spells in the Premier League with both Hull and Wolves.
And Noel admits that he is keen to follow in his older brother's footsteps and compete against the best in the country every weekend.
"It's something my brother's done so it's something I want to achieve before I finish playing football and I don't think I will get a better chance than Monday," he commented.
"It was why I joined Reading, we knew that we had a chance to get into the Premier League and it was a massive incentive. I was straight on the plane [from Dundee United], it was a dream come true, but hopefully it will be an even bigger dream if we win at Wembley."
After losing to Swansea twice in the regular season, Reading go into the final as slight underdogs with the bookies, a situation that Hunt says his side are not just used to, but thrive on.
"The pressure is on Swansea, they've been up there all season, they've been expected to be there, nobody gave us a chance at Christmas or February but we were quietly confident," he said.
"Everyone was talking about everyone else but us, that was nice, we were sneaking up the table and nobody noticed. We only got two or three seconds on the television and that was perfect. Now we have good momentum and we'll go to the final and see what we can do.
"I'm going to treat it as a league game, and if we win the next game we go up. The manager has drilled into us about playing the game not the occasion and I think that was massive for us against Cardiff."
"Obviously it's a big achievement getting to Wembley but it doesn't scratch the surface if we don't win and we're going there to win."
If Reading are to win, they will need to beat Swansea's player of the season and goalkeeper Dorus de Vries, who Hunt knows from his time playing north of the border.
"I know Dorus from our Scotland days, he used to come round my house and chill, he's a lovely big guy," he explained.
"I was 22 and he was about 21, he's a big Dutch friendly guy. I was playing for Dundee and lived in Dunfermline and he came round and chilled out. He's a big character, he looks scraggy in the goal but he does the job really well. Hopefully I can put a couple past him!"
And, if Hunt is to find the back of the net at Wembley, he will have plenty of friends and fans in the crowd, although brother Stephen will be watching on TV, just as Noel did last weekend.
"Stephen is away on international duty so can't come but I've got a few people coming up. I've got about 24 tickets, some are 100 quid a pop, it's ridiculous. It will all be worth it if we go up though," he quipped.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 26 May 11
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