Royals suffer Seasiders setback on horror pitch

Sportsdesk • Published 20 Feb 2010 17:00 0 Comments

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ROYALS boss Brian McDermott accepted his side "deserved nothing" from their 2-0 defeat at Blackpool.

Reading's four match winning streak in the Championship came to a frustrating end on a shocking pitch at Bloomfield Road.

Goals from DJ Campbell and Charlie Adam in each half secured the points for Ian Holloways Tangerines on a frustrating day for the visitors.

To compound McDermott's misery, he lost striker Simon Church and midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson to injury and both are doubtful for Wednesday's FA Cup fifth round replay at West Brom.

The defeat saw Royals drop from 18th to 20th in the table having been overtaken by Ipswich and QPR who both won.

They remain two points above the relegation zone and McDermott admitted: "We were flat today, we didn't get going.

"It looked like a 0-0 game and Brynjar Gunnarsson going off didn't help us.

"But Blackpool played their pitch better than we did - and that was about the pitch today.

"They didn't have to do too much to beat us but we deserved nothing from the game and we move on to West Brom."

The dreadful pitch at Bloomfield Road did not help Royals cause and the Tangerines used it to their advantage.

But take nothing away from Ian Holloway's men who were the better side from start to finish.

Reading were lacklustre, sloppy and gave the ball away far too easily.

It was a first half of limited chances but plenty of disruption.

Blackpool lost striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher on 21 minutes to injury to be replaced by Hameur Bouazza.

And Gunnarsson limped off in the 34th minute following a crunching challenge from Keith Southern who was lucky to escape with a yellow.

Gunnarsson was replaced by his Icelandic colleague Gylfi Sigurdsson but McDermott's men were struggling to find any rhythm and they looked a shadow of the side that won 3-1 at Crystal Palace on Wednesday on another poor pitch at Selhurst Park.

Nevertheless, McDermott was fuming with the defending leading up to Blackpool's 41st minute opener.

The impressive Adam played in Campbell and, when Zurab Khazinishvili hesitated, the Tangerines striker scooped the ball past Adam Federici.

There was little change after the break with Bouazza firing over early on.

It wasn't until the 52nd minute that Royals finally threatened with a Brian Howard header from Jimmy Kebe's cross.

Then they suffered another injury when Church was forced off with a knock and was replaced by Gunnar Thorvaldsson in the 54th minute.

Holloway's side remained on the front foot with Bouazza testing Federici before McDermott made his final substitution by sacrificing midfielder Jem Karacan for striker Grzegorz Rasiak and going 4-4-2.

The move appeared to lift Royals briefly and the visitors began asking questions of the home side's defence.

But just as they were looking dangerous Blackpool delivered the sucker punch with a killer second goal in the 74th minute.

The defence backed off Bouazza who laid the ball off to Adam allowing the midfielder to slot into the corner from the edge of the box.

There was no coming back and Royals could have been further down when Southern smashed a 25-yarder against Federici's post.

A third goal would have been harsh on the Royals, though they could have few complaints about the result.

McDermott, though, was clearly angry with the state of the playing surface at Bloomfield Road: "We were aware of the pitch but we said we could use it as an excuse," he argued. "Having said that it makes it a lottery because it makes it tough to play.

"But you also have to defend better and I thought we were a bit timid with the ball.

"We don't want to be going back to performances like that because it wasn't good enough."

McDermott's men now prepare for their FA Cup fifth round replay at West Brom on Wednesday night (7.45pm ko) before another crucial Championship six-pointer against Sheffield Wednesday at home next weekend.

Blackpool: Gilks - Crainey, Butler, Baptiste, Evatt - Southern, Campbell (Dobbie 78), Adam, Vaughan - Taylor-Fletcher (Bouazza 21), Ormerod (Burgess 65). Subs not used: Rachubka, Eardley, Husband, Euell. Booked: Southern 28.

Reading: Federici - Griffin, Mills, Khizanishvili, Bertrand - McAnuff, Karacan (Rasiak 63), Gunnarsson (Sigurdsson 34), Kebe - Howard - Church (Thorvaldsson 54). Subs not used: Hamer, Pearce, Tabb, Sigurdsson, Robson-Kanu. Booked: Bertrand 23.

Referee: Clive Pawson (South Yorks).

Attendance: 7,147 (Reading 519).

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