Reading 0-1 Lincoln City: Bad Friday
James Collins’ second-half header (and what a header it was by the way) proved to be the difference at the SCL.
An on-the-nose match report title indeed, but that just about sums it up really. Reading have have had some very Good Fridays in recent years, but this was most certainly not one of them. A Lincoln City side with nothing mathematically to compete for at either end of the table came to town hoping to spoil the party - one put on in front of a bumper home crowd - and spoil it they did.
Was it the expectation of playing in front of a big crowd that did it for Reading? The pressure of the occasion perhaps, with Leyton Orient and Bolton Wanderers breathing down our neck? Or the specific nature of the opposition, with Lincoln proving in the reverse fixture that they had our number and once again doing an excellent job in their own right of stifling and bullying us?
It was probably a mix of all three really, but (unsurprisingly given how I worded that last paragraph) I’d weight it heavily towards the third factor. But although psychology doesn’t tend to be a problem for this side, given that Reading have had so much to deal with all season, in the heat of a playoff fight it shouldn’t be discounted.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the Royals looked tired (physically and tactically), weak in the face of a Lincoln side that knew how to assert itself, uncharacteristically sloppy in possession and short of ideas. You can’t fairly accuse this team of not caring or not working hard enough, but sometimes that simply isn’t sufficient to get a result. Today was very much one of those days, a fact that became painfully apparent as the game progressed.
Amadou Mbengue had a shot saved in the ninth minute (during Reading’s only really quality spell in the entire game), Lewis Wing had a long-range effort stopped in the 53rd. Apart from that: no other shots on target in the match. None after going behind in the 65th minute, and actually only five shots in total in that period of the contest, with four being off-target long-rangers and the other a tame close-range header from Billy Bodin.
Yep, this was a blunt and frustrating attacking display. As has been said plenty of times before though (in the Northampton Town away match report for example), this has been a long-running problem with no quick or easy fixes: Noel Hunt is generally a more conservative manager, and he doesn’t have a lot of alternative options at his disposal anyway.
Reading’s penalty for this defeat is slipping out of the top six due to Leyton Orient’s 4-3 comeback win at home to Barnsley. Bolton Wanderers did however do us a solid by losing 2-0 at home to Wycombe Wanderers.
Hunt reshuffled his back four a touch today, putting out what is to my mind Reading’s best back four offensively. However, unwisely in my book, he again opted for Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan up top, keeping Jayden Wareham on the bench.
Reading (4-3-3): Pereira; Abrefa, Mbengue, Bindon, Garcia; Knibbs, Wing, Savage; Campbell, Ehibhatiomhan, Camara
Subs: Button, Yiadom, Stickland, Rushesha, Carroll, Bodin, Wareham
Though Reading started off pretty slowly in the first five minutes or so, they soon had a bright period, penning the Imps back. A couple of dangerous deliveries into the box (one from Wing, another from Charlie Savage) resulted in ‘keeper George Wickens being forced into some strong saves.
That spell proved that, when the Royals moved the ball quickly and purposefully, playing on the front foot, they were more than capable of getting at Lincoln. That quality was also conspicuous by its absence in the remainder of the game.
Lincoln hardly dominated from then until the break, but they were the stronger side on the whole, with Reading’s momentum stalling. Set pieces caused the Royals’ back line problems: a corner was cleared off the line, a long throw flashed across the face of goal, and Joel Pereira had to be on hand a few times also.
At the break I wasn’t all that worried. Reading had put in another poor first half, but again it wasn’t punished, with a resolute defence ensuring we remained in the contest.
There was a real need for Reading to improve going forwards of course though, and to be fair that did happen for a time in the early stages of the second half. The ball was being moved around more quickly and more purposefully, with some half chances being created too: none better than a quality low cross from Chem Campbell for Ehibhatiomhan, who couldn’t quiiiite get the ball out of his feet six yards out.
Again though, Reading’s momentum stalled. It’s easy to say this in hindsight but it took too long for Hunt to make his first tactical sub (after Andy Yiadom had replaced Kelvin Abrefa, who’d taken a knock, on 55 minutes). Jayden Wareham replaced Mamadi Camara in the 67th minute - only after the visitors had taken a not-all-that-surprising lead.
There’s something especially frustrating and particularly ‘0-1 home defeat’-esque about conceding from a really good header. Yes, substitute James Collins should have been picked up better from a deep free-kick delivery, wide on the right wing in the 65th minute, but he did very well to guide the ball in with his bonce from 12 yards out for 0-1, nodding it down into the ground and leaving Pereira no chance as it rebounded into the net.
(Apropos of nothing I love the word ‘bonce’, so shoehorned it in.)
Reading (soon with Wareham on the pitch) had 25 minutes in which to find a goal. To cut a long story short, the Royals simply didn’t have the quality, ideas, intent or any real consistency in their play to make Lincoln work for their win, so 0-1 it remained until full-time.
Hunt made a bold gamble by swapping Tivonge Rushesha, Billy Bodin and Tom Carroll on for Andre Garcia, Ehibhatiomhan and Campbell in the 75th minute, but it barely made any difference. I’m not sure how harsh to be on the subs really. All were poor, but any worse than the overall Reading showing? Probably not. It’s just awfully frustrating that we don’t have the attacking options on the bench to change a game.
That makes me wonder if Hunt should have a more distinct plan B for scenarios such as this one, when we desperately need a goal. There are some ideas which could be worthwhile in their own right: pairing Ehibhatiomhan and Wareham, putting Carroll as the deep-lying playmaker to allow Wing to play higher in the midfield trio (Reading do it the other way around currently) or using Garcia as a winger.
Maybe one of those ideas would work, maybe it wouldn’t. Then again, none would change the fundamental problems that are brutally exposed in games like this: the lack of experience, physicality and depth in this squad, particularly in forward areas, which comes from a dearth of recruitment, because of... well, you know all of that already.
And that’s why I can’t feel too down about this game or too disappointed in this group of players, even on a day like this. Whatever happens in the next few weeks, this season has been a quite marvellous defiance of the forces working against this team.
If any side in League One, if not English football overall (hell, world football, why not?) deserves to be forgiven for a Bad Friday, it’s this one.