Royals edged out in promotion six-pointer

Published 21 Jan 2012 17:00 1 Comment

Reading 0 - 1 Hull City

READING suffered a 1-0 home defeat by Hull City following a controversial winner by the visitors.

Aaron McLean looked to be in an offside position before Robbie Brady fired home the decisive goal in the 66th minute.

McLean did not touch the ball in the move, but his run undoubtedly caused Reading's players to hesitate as they expected to see a flag.

However, it stayed down and Brady raced through to drill the winner past Adam Federici.

Brady has a habit of scoring against the Royals having notched the winner in this season's fixture at KC Stadium which ended in the same result.

It was harsh on the Royals who deserved at least a point from the game.

Brian McDermott's men lacked a cutting edge up front, but they rarely looked in trouble at the back either until controversy struck midway through the second half.

Alex Pearce should have put Reading ahead in the first-half when his close-range effort was blocked on the line by Paul McKenna.

But overall it was a game of limited opportunities for either side.

Hal Robson-Kanu also tested Vito Mannone in the Hull City goal, while Brady's long-range effort was all the visitors had to show for their effort in the first half.

The theme continued after the interval, with Ian Harte heading wide for the home side.

Then came Hull's controversial winner as McLean was hard offside when McKenna played the ball forward.

But the flag stayed down and Brady calmly slid the ball under Federici for a 66th minute lead.

Sadly, Royals rarely looked like equalising and when Noel Hunt's header flew straight at Manonne at the death, their chances had gone.

The defeats sees Royals slip out of the play-off positions and down to eighth.

They have now suffered back-to-back home defeats following their FA Cup exit to Stevenage.

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 21 Jan 12

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• 

  Nick from Hull
  Unregistered User
  Jan 21, 20:52
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  Harsh on Reading..but eh thats football!
  
  McLean was offside, no doubt about it, but didn't touch the ball, therefore not active. Brady was on-side and smacked it in the onion bag....One nil to the Hull City..
  
  Recommend?   Yes 6     No 2

• 

  ******
  Jan 22, 16:04
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