LIVE - Reading v Northampton Town
Sportsdesk • Published 24 Aug 2010 18:00
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ROYALS have been knocked out of the Carling Cup on penalties by League Two Northampton Town on a dramatic night at the Mad Stad.
Brian McDermott's side went in front three times during the game but simply could not hold onto their lead, with Ben Hamer the latest keeper to make a blunder.
It looked like skipper Matt Mills has sent Royals though to the third round when his header made it 3-2 in the 113th minute.
But the plucky Cobblers equalised once again with virtually the last kick of extra time when Alex Konstantinou's cross-shot deflected off Mills and went in.
Mills was never far away from the action and he gave Reading a 16th minute lead with an excellent finish from Brian Howard's free-kick.
However, a terrible error from Hamer four minutes later gifted Cobblers an equaliser.
Hal Robson-Kanu put Reading 2-1 up just after the hour mark, only for Northampton to level again a few minutes later through Kevin Thornton.
Mills thought he'd settled in in extra time, but Cobblers got a third in the 125th minute.
The Simon Church saw his penalty saved before Jake Taylor put his wide to send Northampton through 4-2 on spot kicks.
PENALTIES
Osman for Northampton Town - and he squeezes it under Ben Hamer's body to put his side through on penalties and dump Royals out.
Jake Taylor for Reading - -and he's hit the post. Northampton just need to score the next to go through. R 2 NT 3
Jacobs for Cobblers - he converts. R 2 NT 3
Robson-Kanu for Reading - scores. R 2 NT 2.
Thornton for Cobblers - he scores. R 1 NT 2
Long for Royals - and scores. R 1 NT 1
Guinan for Cobblers - and he scores. R 0 NT 1
Church takes the first for Reading - and it's saved!
And Northampton have equalised again with almost the last kick of exta time.
Teenage sub Alex Konstantinou burst into the box and his cross-shot struck Mills and deflected past Hamer to take the tie to extra time.
What a hammer blow for Royals.
Don't go away.
Reading 3 Northampton 3.
120 mins. GGGGGOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
119 mins. Brian Howard hits the post. Almost 4-2 there.
117 mins. Play is stopped while Jem Karacan receives treatment. He's limping a bit but should be okay.
And skipper MATT MILLS has surely sent Reading into the net round with his second goal of this cracking Carling Cup tie.
A brilliant cross from Jimmy Kebe was scrambled away for a corner.
Howard took the flag-kick and Mills leapt like a proverbial salmon to thump a header home from eight yards.
Reading 3 Northampton 2.
113 mins. GGGGGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!
109 mins. Cobblers sub as Konstantinou replaces Purcell.
106 mins. Shane Long forces a great save from Jansson with a poweful drive from 20 yards.
HALF TIME - Half way through extra time and it's still 2-2. Fifteen more minutes for someone to settle this second round tie before the lottery of penalties.
103 mins. Another decent stop from Hamer to deny Purcell. That's more like it - though it's the Cobblers who are on the front foot now.
99 mins. Hamer makes a crucial save to deny Jacobs who cut in from the left and prevents the ball rolling to the unmarked Purcell in front of an open goal.
Hamer regained some pride there. Could he be Reading's penalty hero????
98 mins. Cobblers sub Michael Jacobs blazes over.
That came after a Howard corner at the other end his Kebe's shoulder inside the six yard box.
94 mins. Shane Long replaces Hunt. That was Hunt's first 90 minutes in a Reading shirt in more than 10 months. Will Long's fresh legs gives Royals a boost?
91 mins. Extra time is underway. Shouts of 'C'mon you Royals' ring out.
Royals form a huddle and boss Brian McDermott is particularly animated during his team-talk.
The cameras pan onto him and he's clearly not happy.
Still, Royals are still in this and have every chance of going through.
Even so, credit to League Two Cobblers who have been excellent at times.
90 (+3) mins: Northampton sub Steve Guinan pokes home from close range.
He thinks he's sent Cobblers through, but the linesman flags for offside.
And that's the final whistle. We're heading for extra-time.
88 mins. What a chance for Thornton to grab the headlines there.
He skipped through three half-hearted challenges, drove into the box but his shot lacked power with the goal at his mercy and Hamer held on.
Lucky escape that.
85 mins. Cobblers putting Royals under a bit of pressure now. Hamer flaps at two more crosses. He's having one of those nights.
81 mins. That final killer pass is proving elusive at the moment.
Cobblers make a change with Guinan replacing McKay.
77 mins. Royals looking a bit edgy as we head towards extra time.
The attendance is 6,986 which is a little disappointing given the cut-price ticket offers available.
72 mins. Both sides are going for it now. No-one wants extra time, but no-one wants to throw it away either. Maybe a bit of class from Reading is all it will take.
68 mins. Kebe's shot from a narrow angle is well saved by Jansson.
And it looks like Royals are having trouble holding onto the lead as Northampton snatch another swift equaliser.
Hamer could only push McKay's cross-shot into the path of KEVIN THORTNTON who drilled the ball home from eight yards.
Hamer may feel he could have done better there as well.
Reading 2 Northampton 2.
63 mins. GGGGGOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
Royals go 2-1 up through HAL ROBSON-KANU.
There was chaos in the Northampton penalty box with Robson-Kanu having a shot saved and hitting the woodwork, and Howard also having an effort blocked.
But in the end Robson-Kanu kept his cool to slam home the loose ball.
Reading 2 Northampton 1
61 mins. GGGGGOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!
61 mins. Purcell goes close at the other end from 18 yards.
58 mins. Kebe's shot is blocked. Still the flying winger is seeing more and more of the ball, which could be dangerous for Cobbers.
57 mins. Promising break from Reading but it breaks down in the box when Robson-Kanu had options outside.
53 mins. Hamer holds on to Purcell's header. That will boost his confidence.
49 mins. That's the end of Julian Kelly's night.
The youngster, just back from a long-injury, hurt himself making a goal-saving interception to deny Billy McKay who had the goal at his mercy.
Wales Under 21 international Jake Taylor has replaced Kelly.
Right-back isn't Taylor's favourite position but he played there on pre-season tour.
48 mins. Cobblers appeal for a penalty when Purcell goes down but more in hope than expectation.
46 mins. The teams are back out and one change for Reading with Jimmy Kebe replacing Antonio who picked up a knock towards the end of the first-half.
With a tough trip to Leicester to come on Saturday, Royals will be desperate to avoid extra-time here.
Half time: READING 1 NORTHAMPTON 1
SO it's all to play for here.
Reading took the lead through Matt Mills' clever finish in the 16th minute.
But, like last Saturday, a goalkeeping clanger gifted the opponents their equaliser just four minutes later.
This time Ben Hamer was the culprit on a big night for the youngster.
Royals had chances to go in front again when Brian Howard hit the bar and Mills headed wide.
But Cobblers have been a threat themselves and look well capable of nicking another goal.
43 mins. Hamer must feel rotten as half-time approaches. He'll feel as though he's let his team-mates down. Such a shame, but he's got plenty of time to make up for it - especially if it goes to penalties.
40 mins. Best move from Reading for a while but Hunt can't get on the end of Church's knock-back.
Cobblers look comfortable in possession but maybe lacking something in the final third with only one up top.
33 mins. It's gone a bit quiet these last few minutes. There's been a couple of interruptions for minor knocks but we're off again now.
This tie is up for grabs.
26 mins. Howard hits the bar for Reading from a 25-yard free-kick.
The moments later Church's header is tipped over by Oscar Jansson. Good from the Royals.
24 mins. Both Mills and Karacan are booked for Reading as the home side's frustrations boil over.
Alex Pearce also had some strong words to say to Hamer a minute ago.
22 mins. Cobblers close to a second as Purcell's shot flashes an inch wide.
AND another goalkeeping clanger costs Reading a goal.
Ben Hamer spilled the ball as he came for a corner, then dropped it again as he tried to retrieve it.
It dropped to ANDY HOLT who, to be fair, finished it off well from 15-yards with Hamer stranded but a few players on the line.
It was, of course, Adam Federici's mistake which gifted Nottingham Forest their equaliser on the weekend.
Reading 1 Northampton 1
20 mins. GGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And skipper MATT MILLS puts Reading in front with a sublime finish.
Mills was completely unmarked when Brian Howard's free-kick reached him.
He still had plenty to do but he flicked the ball past the Cobblers keeper with a cheeky sidefoot from 12 yards. Proper striker's finish that. Not bad for a centre-half and a great way to open your account for the season.
Reading 1 Northampton 0.
16 mins. GGGGGGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!
14 mins. Decent chance for Reading there. Antonio crossed but Robson-Kanu's header flashed over. Close.
10 mins. Simon Church is poleaxed by a crunching challenge. But he's soon back on his feet. A game of few chances so far.
8 mins. Cobblers win their third and fourth corners of the game, but Royals defence stands firm.
6 mins. Decent shout for a penalty there when Robson-Kanu goes to ground under McKay's challenge but the referee does not want to know.
3 mins. Lively start by Reading with Antonio and Hunt involved. But Northampton have an extra man in midfield and have settled quickly.
7.55pm. Royals need a victory tonight to kick-start their season.
They are yet to win a home game with their only success in any competition coming at Torquay in the last round of this competition.
But it's early days and there will be plenty of players out there who will know that a good performance could earn them a place in the side for Saturday's game at Leicester.
7.45pm - the teams are in and just five Reading players survive from the team which started against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The survivors are Marucs Williams, Jem Karacan, Brian Howaed, Alex Pearce and skipper Marcus Williams.
But the big news is striker Noel Hunt is starting a game for the first time since last October.
The other players coming in are Michail Antonio, Simon Church, Hal Robson-Kanu, fit-again Julian Kelly and goalkeeper Ben Hamer, who was excellent in the late, late win at Torquay in the previous round.
Boss Brian McDdermott names a strong bench which includes Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jimmy Kebe and Jobi McAnuff.
Reading: Hamer - Kelly, Mills, Pearce, Williams - Antonio, Howard, Karacan, Robson-Kanu - Church, Hunt.
Subs: Federici, Gunnarsson, Sigurdsson, Long, McAnuff, Kebe Taylor.
Northampton: Jansson, Rodgers, Hall, Thornton, Beckworth, Osman, Purcell, Holt, Wedderburn, Herbert, McKay.
Welcome to the Madejski Stadium for live coverage of tonight's Carling Cup second round tie against Northampton Town.
And a win for the Royals over their league Two opponents could set up a lucrative third round clash against Premier League opposition.
Kick off is 8pm..........
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 24 Aug 10
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