Royals toil but Harper saves the day

Reading 2 Crystal Palace 1

Reading's path towards the Premiership is becoming strewn with the jagged rocks of self-doubt, and yesterday at the Madejski Stadium they only got home with an injury-time goal.

It had not been a good week for either club, what with Reading losing to Wolves and Palace missing the chance to leap seven places up the First Division by failing to beat an injury-weakened Ipswich. The play-offs are an increasingly distant dream for Palace, and manager Trevor Francis later refused even to mention them as a possibility, while Reading now look guaranteed at least a top-six spot.

Playing Nicky Forster as a lone striker has become a familiar ploy for the Royals, and probably explains why they rarely win in style. Yesterday they must have wondered whether it was worth being more adventurous when, after 22 minutes, Palace's goalkeeper, Cedric Berthelin, limped off with a groin strain, leaving Alex Kolinko to take over. The substitute goalkeeper had more to do in his first three minutes than Berthelin had been asked to contribute in the first 20, making an excellent save from Andy Hughes's cross-shot.

Reading had been less considered in their approach work than Palace, but shortly before half-time Alan Pardew's side ought to have taken the lead. Forster latched on to a long through-ball from Hughesbut scuffed his shot wide.

To compound his error, Forster then accepted another inviting pass from Hughes, and this time struck his shot against the foot of the post. Meanwhile, Palace continued to play thoughtfully in midfield without seriously threatening the Reading goal.

More chances came and went. The home side's Nathan Tyson only succeeded in cracking his own head against that of Palace's Gary Borrowdale when looking set to nod home. As the game wore on, Reading pushed forward and eventually, in the 66th minute, broke the seemingly unbreakable deadlock.

A free-kick given 10 yards outside the Palace box looked fairly unpromising for Reading, but when the visiting defenders disputed the decision, the referee, Mick Fletcher, moved the ball up to the edge of the area. Nicky Shorey edged the kick sideways and Steve Brown hammered the ball through a gap in the wall and past the unsighted Kolinko.

Palace's reply was the game's highlight. A quick-witted back-heel by the substitute Dougie Freedman wrong-footed the Reading back-line and Andy Johnson rammed a fine, angled shot inside the far post. But the Royals rescued themselves, somewhat undeservedly, when in the second minute of added time Luke Chadwick centred low and James Harper rapped in the winner.

Reading 2
Brown 66, Harper 90

Crystal Palace 1
Johnson 76

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 18,063