Forster's strike puts Reading in control

Crystal Palace 0 Reading 1

Another day, another dollar was how David Brent would welcome his work in The Office, smiling through the pain of the daily grind in Slough. For his Berkshire neighbours, Reading Football Club, their maxim should read: "Another match, another win", for this was their fifth consecutive victory, all achieved without conceding a goal.

Although the merit of the win was questionable, Nicky Forster's first-half strike ensured there was certainly no pain in the Royals' smiles last night as they moved into fourth place. Forster's 40th minute strike was against the run of play but despite that the result went to current form.

The facts suggested a tight match because Reading, managed by the former Crystal Palace defender Alan Pardew, had climbed up the First Division on the back of their winning run.

Palace have been almost as difficult to beat. The Eagles sneaked into the top half of the table thanks to a 2-0 win at the weekend against Grimsby and their record before last night was just one defeat in 11 games, but they had won only four of those.

As a result, the opening 45 minutes did not make for pretty viewing and when Reading did break forward, the Palace offside trap was ready to trap any mistimed runs. For once, however, they were caught napping when Forster ran on to Andy Hughes' header, the striker held off Darren Powell's challenge and found the bottom corner of Alex Kolinko's net.

Reading did up the temperature with a couple of tackles that earned Matthew Upson and Tony Rougier bookings, with the former's challenge on Steven Thomson forcing the midfielder off injured.

Palace, without six first-team players, were bereft in attack. In the circumstances, this narrow defeat was almost praiseworthy, and Trevor Francis, their manager, was quick to acknowledge Reading's merits, saying: "Credit to Reading for the way they played and protected their lead."

Crystal Palace: (4-4-2): Kolinko; Granville, Symons, Powell, Butterfield; Gray (Black, 67), Derry, Mullins, Thomson (Routledge, 34); Adebola, Johnson. Substitutes not used: Michopoulos (gk), Popovic, Riihilahti.

Reading: (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Murty, Upson, Williams, Shorey; Salako, Hughes (Butler, 88), Watson (Newman, 80), Harper, Rougier; Forster. Substitutes not used: Ashdown (gk), Mackie, Cureton.

Referee: D Elleray (Harrow).