Viveash penalty seals Hammers' fate

Reading 0 West Ham United 0 aet; Reading win 6-5 on pens

Second Division Reading dumped West Ham and former Royals goalkeeper Shaka Hislop out of the Worthington Cup in a thrilling penalty shoot-out at the Madejski Stadium.

Hislop flung himself to his left but was unable to keep out substitute Adrian Viveash's spot-kick that gave Alan Pardew's team a memorable 6-5 second-round triumph after a goalless 120 minutes.

Reading's fourth penalty taker, James Harper, saw his effort saved by Hislop, but the Hammers' England Under-21 international Jermain Defoe could only hit the outside of the post when he had the chance to claim victory. Scott Minto's effort was then saved, leaving Viveash to side-foot home the decisive kick.

The match progressed to the penalty shoot-out after poor finishing from both teams. They played fluent passing football throughout, but defences dominated, the home strikeforce lacking a killer final pass to latch on to and the visiting forwards unable to nudge the ball beyond the final opponent.

The first half contained an array of half-chances but few real openings, while the second period brought goalscoring opportunities for both sides, with the goalkeepers alert enough to keep the scores blank.

Early on, Don Hutchison's quickly-taken 20-yard free-kick brought a fine tip-over from Reading goalkeeper Phil Whitehead. From the resulting corner, the West Ham captain, Trevor Sinclair, the subject of speculation suggesting that he could be Hutchison's replacement at Sunderland, cracked a deflected half-volley wide.

A lightning-quick break and brilliant diagonal pass from Sinclair then set up Defoe who jinked inside two defenders before Whitehead made an excellent block. Defoe went close with another two efforts as the visitors dominated.

Reading, who beat Luton 4-0 in the first round, came into the match immediately after the break, when Hislop had to make an fine block when a Sammy Igoe flick found Martin Butler in a wonderful position just eight yards from goal.

Whitehead was again called upon just after the hour, when a Michael Carrick corner found Svetoslav Todorov at the far post. He met the ball with a firm header, but Whitehead proved equal to his effort.

Pardew threw on Darius Henderson with 22 minutes left, and the substitute almost made a spectacular entrance, nodding a foot wide of the Hammers post with his second touch. As extra time loomed, Reading had another chance to win the match but Alex Smith blasted his 20-yard shot a fraction over the bar. Both sides had chances to score in extra time, but Hutchison summed up the night's finishing when he headed over when unmarked just five yards out.

Reading: Whitehead; Robinson, Alex Smith,

Williams (Viveash, 95), Whitbread, Igoe, Harper, Parkinson, Murty, Butler (Rougier, 100), Cureton (Henderson, 68). Substitutes not used: Ashdown, Shorey.

West Ham: Hislop; Schemmel, Minto, Song, Dailly, Hutchison, Carrick, Moncur (Courtois, 71), Sinclair, Defoe, Todorov (Garcia, 85). Substitutes not used: Forrest, Soma, Foxe.

Referee: W Jordan (Tring).