Harley and Windass blow away Reading's illusions

Reading 0 Sheffield United

After seven League matches without conceding a goal, Reading yesterday conceded more than just goals. Prior to their Worthington Cup quarter-final encounter with Crystal Palace next week, Sheffield United exposed their hosts' reliance on a single-player strike force and found them to be vulnerable to quick, accurate forays through midfield. Even so, Reading have the resilience to return to their sequence of success, but yesterday they were taught a few lessons that need to be digested.

It would be churlish and inaccurate to suggest that the result, which obviously harmed Reading's hopes of a First Div-ision play-off place, was direct-ly related to the departure of on-loan defender Matthew Upson. Yet when he returned last week, more than a little reluctantly, to reserve team football at Arsenal, there was an immediate sense of poten-tial consequential loss at the Madejski Stadium. The question was: how would Reading cope without a player who, only a week before, had not offered even a rampant Ports-mouth more than a few hints of shooting chances?

John Mackie, who spent the duration of Upson's loan languishing in the reserves, had to return to senior respon-sibility and the crowd's expec-tancy of another clean sheet.

He responded surprisingly confidently in a first 15 minutes which could have found him out. A calmly controlled tackle as Steve Kabba thrust himself into the area quickly raised his confidence, but United kept flowing forward on a wide spread of attacks. Nick Montgomery had encouraged them with a fourth-minute 20-yarder that goal- keeper Marcus Hahnemann forced over the bar with his fingertips, and Reading took half an hour to raise much by way of reply. Even then, out of character, misuse of poss-ession hindered them.

Hahnemann again closed the door of danger shortly before half-time, palming Jon Harley's menacing shot round the post. United comfortably coped with Reading's lone-man attack. Nicky Forster is quick but the disadvantage of being outnumbered generally negated that asset.

When Reading finally released their hold on a record of 757 minutes without conceding a goal, it came through the clever and attractive work of a United side who counter-attacked with imagination and haste throughout. Peter Ndlovu shone in particular. In the 59th-minute he and Harley twice exchanged passes going into the area and when Hahnemann was forced off his line, Harley confidently slipped the ball beyond him.

Straightaway Reading made changes, reinforcing their attack by bringing on Jamie Cureton and Martin Butler, but that only depleted them in the midfield, through which United were countering so effectively. So, unsurprisingly, in the 75th minute a breakaway by the alert Ndlovu on the left concluded with his penetrating centre being forcefully headed in by Dean Windass. Hahnemann, who had done so well over the previous weeks, was this time caught off guard.