Published: Saturday, 30th January, 2010 8:00pm

Long wait over for McDermott victory

by Anthony Smith

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BRIAN McDermott spoke of his relief at securing his maiden victory as Reading's permanent boss.

The 48-year-old, promoted from caretaker on Wednesday, picked up his first Championship win in six attempts thanks to Shane Long's 29th minute strike against Barnsley.

"I just wanted to get it done," said McDermott, who has been given a rolling 12-month contact. "It is important to the players, to the supporters and to the staff.

"We needed to bring stability to the situation. Today is just what we needed.

"We showed courage and spirit, although 1-0 is always a bit hairy towards the end.

"In the past things have happened when were leading 1-0, but the important thing about this result is that we got all three points."

The result saw Reading move up one place to 22nd in the table but they are still three points from safety.

The Tykes have been in good form recently but Mark Robins' side were always second best here.

Royals had the better of the limited chances available with Jobi McAnuff hitting the post while Ivar Ingimarsson should have netted with a first-half header.

But the winner proved to be Long's clinical strike which came when Gylfi Sigurdsson hooked the ball back into play after Barnsley keeper Luke Steele has flapped at Andy Griffin's cross.

"Shane was excellent, really athletic and he won his headers," beamed McDermott.

"There are signs of a growing partnership between him and Simon Church, whose movement was really good, but we have five or six strikers fighting for a place in the team."

McDermott knows Reading's home form from now on will be crucial in their battle to avoid the drop.

The club won just two league games at Madejski Stadium in 2009 but under McDermott they have already beaten Barnsley and also Premier League Burnley in the FA Cup, as well as drawing with Liverpool which set up that historic Anfield victory in the replay.

And facing them in the weeks to come are genuine six-pointers against the likes of Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County and later on Peterborough United.

McDermott declared: "After this result we've won two and drawn two at home now, so we're looking to make it really difficult for teams who come here.

"2009 has been and gone, we're into 2010 now and if someone is going to take points from us here we want to make sure they have to play well.

"The crowd stayed with us as well. Asking me to give them a wave as well at the end, it was great.

"I was really, really pleased for them and I just want everyone to be part of things. When I was a player I loved playing at home and I want that to be the same here."

Reading (4-4-2): Federici - Griffin, Ingimarsson, Mills, Bertrand - McAnuff, Gunnarsson, Karacan (Howard 83), Sigurdsson - Church (Bignall 74), Long Subs not used: Hamer, Khizanishvili, Kebe, Rasiak, Thorvaldsson. Booked: Gunnarsson.

Barnsley (4-4-2): Steele - Dickinson, Foster, Moore, Shotton - Da Silva (Hallfredsson 74), Colace, Doyle, Hammill (Adam 80) - Hume, Macken (Bogdanovic 46). Subs not used: Preece, Gray, Butterfield, Potter. Booked: Anderson.

Referee: James Linington (Isle of Wight).

Att: 15,580 (591 away fans)

READING'S away fixture at Leicester City has been moved back 24 hours to Wednesday, March 24 (7.45pm).

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