Reading 3-0 Newport County: We Got There Eventually

Sim’s match report as a Harvey Knibbs brace and goal from Jayden Wareham progress the Royals out of the Pizza Cup group stage.

Well we got there... eventually.

Reading’s win against Newport County never really looked in doubt tonight, with the hosts comfortably the better side pretty much all evening, but a lack of ruthlessness in the final third made the contest less straightforward than it needed to be.

The Royals didn’t want for possession (58.6%), or shots (27 to Newport’s eight), but converting that into goals was another matter. Reading had chances throughout the first half, including Ben Elliott hitting the post, but lacked the composure required to establish a lead.

That was belatedly rectified in the second half after the introduction of Harvey Knibbs, who, despite his main reputation as an intense presser, has so often also been a reliable converter of chances. So it was again today, with Knibbs breaking the deadlock in the 73rd minute before later adding a third in the 87th, with Jayden Wareham quickly following up on the opener to make it 2-0 in the 75th.

So credit to Ruben Selles for the introduction of Knibbs, which ultimately went a long way to deciding the game, but also the choice to bring on Chem Campbell. The Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee took a little while getting going at Reading but looked bright at the weekend and backed that up with another sharp display tonight, getting assists for the second and third goals.

This was a very different game to Saturday’s draw at Stevenage in most ways: Reading didn’t have a poor first half and, of course, the results weren’t similar, but the lack of cutting edge was clear in both games. Each time the absences of Sam Smith and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan were apparent, with the lack of proven depth in the final third evident, until Knibbs eventually rectified matters.

Still, the crucial thing is that Reading came through with a very positive result (with a penalty shootout not required), a good enough performance, and some squad development to add on too. Jeriel Dorsett got minutes under his belt after returning from injury, Abraham Kanu did likewise with a cameo off the bench, and various other youngsters made a positive impression for Selles to ponder over.

Ashqar Ahmed again stood out at right-back, showing just how adept he is as an all-rounder in that position. Shay Spencer kept things ticking over nicely and efficiently at the base of midfield. Andre Garcia put in the kind of confident attacking display at left-back which makes you wonder if he is actually still only 16. Are we sure he hasn’t got five years more experience in the game that we didn’t know about?

And Reading are through to the knockout stage of the Pizza Cup once again! OK, sure, progression in the least important of Reading’s four competitions won’t get much excitement going in the fanbase, and there are valid concerns about the workload on a small, young group, but good results are never a bad thing, especially when talented youngsters get to use them as part of their development.

Assuming Amadou Mbengue is OK - he went off for Louie Holzman in an enforced second-half change - we couldn’t have had much of a better night. Reading now head into yet another international break (seriously, it feels like there’s been about 10 already this season), and do so on a high note.

See you at Peterborough!