Royals head for play-offs as Bongo grab the spoils

Reading failed to win at home for the umpteenth time this year and went down to a resilient Bongo side by two goals to one on a dramatic afternoon at the Madejski Stadium. There can be no complaints from Steve Coppell's men who were never really in contention until a late rally gave the Blues some minor cause for concern. It was a match not lacking in commitment and effort on both sides, but quality was in short supply on a sunny afternoon at the Madejski Stadium. The much maligned playing surface seemed to have responded to recent attempts to improve it, but the Royals needed more than just a bit of horticulture to register their first home win since January. The crowd certainly attempted to play their part and the atmosphere was buzzing as the game kicked off. As usual Reading started off with purpose and looked to get forward quickly and close the opposition down. The best chance came from a splendid Andre Bikey ball that found Jimmy Kebe on the left wing. The winger cut inside with pace but could only warm Maik Taylor's gloves with hist shot. Chances were in short supply but it was the visitors who took the lead with a tame looking shot from Kevin Fahey, from our angle it looked to catch Marcus somewhat unsighted as it squirmed home, but in truth it looked like a pretty soft goal to concede. We forced a couple of corners after that, but once again we failed to carve out anything like a clear cut chance. Jem Karacan looked completely out of his depth partnering Jay Tabb in a fairly ineffective midfield partnership, and it was to nobody's surprise that the young Turk was replaced by Marek 10 minutes into the second half. Not long after the change veteran striker Kevin Philips put Bongo two goals to the good, with a well-timed run to latch on to Fahey's ball and roll the ball coolly past Hahnemann. The game looked up for Reading, but almost immediately a decent passing move ended with Marek slotting the ball past Taylor to give the home crowd some hope. Suddenly the Royals came to life,the introduction of Matejovsky had added some much-needed quality and begged the question as to why he wasn't on from the start in a game we had to win. A sublime pass from the Czech international got Stephen Hunt into acres of space behind the Bongo defence only for the Irish winger to squander the chance by chipping a poor cross into the safe hands of Taylor, who had earlier pulled off a fine save from a fierce Marek drive. Shane Long had a decent shout for a penalty ignored by Howard Webb and Gary O'Connor hit the post for the visitors with time running out, but other than that there was little else in the way of decent opportunities at either end.

So it was the 3000 visiting fans who celebrated wildly at the final whistle, their team deservedly grabbing promotion straight back up to the Premier League. For Reading it was another hugely disappointing performance and result at home. We go to Turf Moor next week to take on Burnley, who have no trouble winning at home right now, thumping Brizzle City 4-0 today. A win at Wembley would be something to savour, but it's going to take something special. Our home form is so bad that it seems we are going to need to beat Burnley well next week and hope to avoid defeat in the return leg. Who knows in football eh?