Church answers prayers as Royals roar back

Anthony Smith • Published 2 Nov 2010 10:30 0 Comments

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ROYALS boss Brian McDermott hailed his trio of substitutes after watching his side recover from 3-1 down to beat Doncaster Rovers 4-3 in seven-goal Mad Stad thriller.

Wales striker Simon Church came off the bench to net the winner for the second time this season when he converted a cross from fellow sub Michail Antonio in the 88th minute.

And another of McDermott’s benchmen, Noel Hunt, had supplied the perfect cross for Jem Karacan to make it 3-2 on the hour and grab his side a lifeline.

It was the second game in a row Royals had scored four goals, and McDermott declared: “All I can do is give credit to my players. The substitutes, Churchy, Noel and Michail, they helped give us that impetus.

“We had to change the shape of the team, but with the players we’ve got we will create chances if we keep going.”

Matt Mills gave Royals an eighth minute lead but, after wasting several chances, they were soon 3-1 down.

Rovers’ James Hayter levelled with a 26th minute header, Shelton Martis gave them a 41st minute lead then Dean Shiels grabbed their third five minutes after the break.

But Karacan pulled one back with a cracking header in the 60th minute, Ian Harte levelled with a stunning, trademark free-kick 14 minutes later before Church answered McDermott’s prayers by netting the winner with less than two minutes to go.

“I’m so pleased for the fans, they hung in there,” beamed McDermott, whose side moved up to sixth in the table. “When we got back to 3-2, the fans were right in amongst it, right in the game and that’s why they are our number 13. They nudged us over the line and I’m delighted for them.

“If we had lost that 3-2 our fans wouldn’t have been happy. But as long as we give everything right to the death they’ll take that.”

Royals also rattled in four at Burnley a week earlier in a 4-0 victory and McDermott quipped: “That’s from the team that couldn’t score goals. We’re creating more chances and we’ve scored eight in two games. That’s good news. We just need to learn from the first hour of the game.”

Royals take on hooped rivals QPR at Loftus Road this Saturday.

Neil Warnock’s Rangers conceded top spot to Cardiff City on Saturday following a 1-1 draw against Burnley and have not won in four now.

McDermott added: “The Doncaster win is only three points but we take the momentum into QPR. They’re unbeaten, so this result is really good for us.”

Reading (4-5-1): Federici - Griffin, Mills (c), Khizanishvili, Harte - Robson-Kanu (Antonio 82), Karacan, Howard, McAnuff - Tabb (Church 55) - Long (Hunt 55). Subs not used: McCarthy, Cummings, Pearce, Armstrong. Booked: Hunt 90.

Referee: Grant Hegley (Herts). Att: 15,553.

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