Royals crash to Scunny defeat
Anthony Smith • Published 7 Aug 2010 17:00
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READING'S 2010/11 Championship campaign got off to a disappointing start following a 2-1 home defeat by Scunthorpe United.
Brian McDermott's Royals were strong favourites to notch up three points at the Mad Stad only for Scunny to spoil the party thanks to a second-half winner from Rob Jones.
Royals controlled most of the game but failed to turn pressure into goals.
And to compound their frustration, the injuries are mounting after Jem Karacan limped off and both Shane Long and stand-in skipper Matt Mills picked up knocks late on.
There was a big surprise when McDermott left Jay Tabb, Brian Howard and Simon Church out of his starting line-up.
Church had been impressive during pre-season but Long got the nod.
Royals' boss also selected Karacan and Brynjar Gunnarsson in central midfield, despite the effective partnership Tabb and Howard had forged during the latter stages of last season.
The hosts started brightly with Kebe and Karacan going close.
Yet just when Reading looked like going ahead then conceded a bizarre opening goal.
Jonathan Fortune's pull-back struck Andy Griffin allowing Gary Thompson to flick the ball over Adam Federici and into the far corner - only for the linesman to raise his flag, seemingly for offside.
But as both teams went to line up for a free-kick, Graham appeared to over-rule and award the goal.
As Scunny fans celebrated, Royals supporters were quick to vent their anger as chants of 'one-nil to the referee' filled the Madejski Stadium.
However, tv replays proved Graham got it spot on.
It took Royals a while to recover, though when they did there was nothing controversial about Sigurdsson's 26th minute leveller.
He picked up the ball midway inside Scunthorpe's half, jinked past two players before rifling an unstoppable shot into the top corner from well outside the box.
There are 45 Championship games to go but Reading fans will struggle to see a better finish this season.
The home side then nearly went in font two minutes later when McAnuff dragged a shot wide after a mazy cross-field run.
Slowly, Royals began to get on top with Scunthorpe's rhythm further disrupted when David Mirfin was stretchered off soon after the restart.
His replacement, Michael Raynes, was quickly involved, heading away McAnuff's curling effort that looked like going in.
However, the visitors almost scored form the subsequent flag-kick but Griffin did brilliantly to break up a four-on-one counter-attack.
Sadly, it was a brief reprieve as Royals did go behind again on the hour mark, just moments after Tabb had come on to replace Gunnarsson.
Royals had plenty of bodies back for Michael O'Connor's corner but skipper Matt Mills was beaten too easily by Scunny defender Jones whose powerful header gave Federici no chance.
McDermott was forced into another change when Karacan hobbled off, with striker Church sent on in a bid to boost his side's firepower.
Sigurdsson's free-kick then kissed the crossbar before Church's first-time effort was well saved by visiting keeper Joe Murphy.
But not even six minutes of time added on could help Royals this time as Nigel Adkins' Scunny held on to claim an unexpected win.
McDermott will be sweating on the fitness of several of his players ahead of next weekend's trip to Portsmouth.
Before that is a long journey to Torquay in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night (7.45pm ko).
Reading (4-5-1): Federic - Griffin, Mills, Pearce, Williams - Kebe, Karacan (Church 70), Gunnarsson (Tabb 58), Sigurdsson, McAnuff (Antonio 74) - Long. Subs not used: Hamer, Robson-Kanu, Howard, Rasiak.
Scunthorpe United (4-4-2) : Murphy - Nolan, Mirfin (Raynes 53), Jones, McNulty - Dagnall (Woolford 73), Wright, O'Connor (Wright 89), Togwell - Thompson, Forte. Subs not used: Slocombe, Canavan, Collins, Grant.
Booked: Murphy 83, Thompson 90.
Referee: Fred Graham (Essex).
Attendance: 15,914.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 10 Aug 10
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