LATEST NEWS ON 'The Royals'
October 2002
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29th October 2002 - Royals 1 Bradford 0

Reading quickly got back to winning ways with a narrow victory over Bradford City. The Bantams came to the MadStad full of confidence after an impressive victory over Norwich at the weekend. But it was the Royals who dominated the opening exchanges. Once again, Nicky Forster was causing havoc for the opposition defence, making chance after chance for himself. Unfortunately Fozzy's finishing was not up to the same standard as his creativeness as a hatful of opportunities went begging. Bradford, to be fair, had certainly not come to defend for 90 minutes and looked to get forward whenever they could. However, the home defence were again on top of their game and in control.

The second half continued in much the same vain, with the Royals still creating a number of good opportunities. The best chance to open the scoring came from the penalty spot after Forster had been bought down (twice). However, the Fozzy struck his effort weakly and the visiting keeper saved his second penalty in 3 days. Fortunately, Forster's blushes were spared by an unlikely hero. Young full-back Nicky Shorey popped up in the box to fire home from a pull-back. His first effort, hit with his right foot, was a poor effort. Fortunately, it came straight back to Shorey and he made no mistake with his favoured left foot, firing first-time past the stranded keeper.

It was Shorey's first senior goal and sealed a deserved victory for Reading, despite a period of sustained pressure from the visitors in the closing stages.

29th October 2002 - All-away

Young Royals defender Ricky Allaway has left the club to join Basingstoke on a permanent deal.

26th October 2002 - PNE 1 Royals 0

Reading suffered their first defeat in 5 games, but undeservedly. The Royals came out of the blocks flying and caused their hosts a number of problems in the opening minutes. Andy Hughes fired just wide of the far post in only the 3rd minute, and Forster was a constant threat. Preston were being forced to defend anxiously and were lucky to escape when Fozzy rattled the underside of the cross bar, only for the ball to bounce down and be cleared to safety. The home side took the lead against the run of play when a perfect cross from the left was headed home by Cresswell. The Royals, though, did not let the goal dampen their spirits and continued to dominate the game, but just couldn't quite find the breakthrough.

After the break, Preston dropped their midfield back 10 yards and were happy to defend what they had. As a result, the game did not live up to the first half excitement and became somewhat stifled. The Royals were not helped by the fact that 5 players were suffering with flu and their energy levels began to sap. Also taking into account the weary 9 hour journey up to the North West, it was no surprise that they began to tire.

So a defeat, but not despondency as the Royals can take plenty of heart from their display. Overall, they were certainly the better side but were not able to get the goals to show it. The only real concern, is whether the Royals will be able to field a strong enough side for the forthcoming game at home to Bradford.

19th October 2002 - Fozzy! Fozzy! Fozzy!

Reading won at home on a Saturday afternoon for the first time in 8 months - and what a fabulous victory it was too!

The Royals secured an impressive 3-1 victory over the Tractor Boys of Ipswich at the MadStad. Livewire Nicky Forster was the hero as he scored all 3 goals in a scintillating display. His first arrived just before the half hour and was simplicity itself. Ricky Newman swung in a free-kick from just outside the right side of the box and Fozzy beat the visiting keeper to the ball to easily head home. It was a deserved lead for the home side, who were playing some delightful football in a thoroughly entertaining match. Reading were without the injured Andy Hughes, but his midfield replacement James Harper was giving an excellent performance - probably his best in a Royals shirt. Together with the hard working Anthony Rougier, Reading were dominating the play, although Ipswich certainly displayed plenty of talent of their own. Forster's 2nd goal was worth the admission cost alone. Fozzy had the close attention of 2 defenders when a long ball was played upfield. The striker's pace left one of the defenders in his wake, whilst the other could do nothing as Fozzy saw the keeper out of position and unleashed a first time effort into the far corner.

In the second half, Ipswich came out strongly and had their best spell of the game. However, the Royals defence were holding firm with both Williams and Upson commanding in the centre of defence, and Hahnemann on top of his game between the sticks. It took a wonderful free-kick to undo the Royals, as Ambrose blasted the ball into the top-left corner of the net from 25 yards. It was a superb strike that the Reading keeper did well to even get a hand to. Less than 10 minutes later, however, the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Counago was dismissed for violent conduct. Within 2 minutes, the Royals had restored their 2-goal advantage when Fozzy beat the off-side trap to latch onto Harper's through ball and fire home. That effectively ended the game as a contest and Royals were content to make the most of their numerical advantage by playing keep ball.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon that was appreciated by the biggest home crowd of the season so far (19,524). The players were rightly given a standing ovation at the final whistle.

19th October 2002 - Young For England

Royal's youth keeper Jamie Young has been called up to the England U19 squad.

5th October 2002 - Royal Romp

Reading romped to their 3rd away victory of the season at struggling Grimsby. In-form Andy Hughes opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he latched on to Rougier's flick and calmly slotted the ball past the Mariner's keeper. Twenty minutes later, Royals doubled their lead. The impressive Nicky Forster left one central defender on his backside, raced into the box and coolly rounded the keeper to slot into an ungaurded net. The first half was dominated by the Royals with Fozzy giving the home defence the runaround.

After the break, Reading were less adventurous as the home side tried to find a way back into the game. But the vistors defence were in defiant mood and restricted Grimsby to long range efforts. In the dying moments a fine afternoon for the Royals was capped thanks to a bizarre own goal. Darius Henderson mis-controlled the ball in the centre of the pitch and the Grimsby defender made a strong challenge for the ball. However, he only succeeded in smacking the ball high over his own keeper from fully 45 yards. For a while, confusion ensued as a fight broke out in the middle of the pitch and no-one was quite sure whether the goal had been awarded. Happily, the referee indicated it had and the Royals were laughing all the way back down the M1.