Doyle double keeps Europe in mind

Reading’s penultimate visit to Lancashire this season was billed as a UEFA Cup qualifier. Both sides still held genuine hopes of being involved in European competition next season. However the match took time to ignite. Bolton Wanderers looked the more dynamic at first with Kevin Davies and El-Hadji Diouf having two decent chances early on to put the home side ahead, both creating shots that were saved easily by Marcus Hahnemann. Nicolas Anelka could also have put Bolton ahead in the first half but instead put a decent shot wide.

Reading did not create too many concrete chances in the first half and were instead unusually sloppy with their passing. Perhaps Reading could feel fortunate that Bolton also lacked the clinical touches to capitalise on Reading’s lacklustre display. Nerves didn’t seem to be the problem for either side, nor did motivation. Bolton Wanderers though suffered three major injury blows when Nicky Hunt, Diouf and Kevin Nolan all had to leave the pitch. Hunt suffered a calf problem, Diouf was carried off on a stretcher with a hamstring injury and Nolan limped off following a strong challenge from Reading defender Michael Duberry.

There may have been unfair criticism from the home supporters regarding certain challenges made by the Reading players, but the pitch had been heavily watered before the game and with players slipping around all over the place, the surface seemed a little more treacherous than either side would have liked. The wet surface didn’t lend itself to enough fluid passing movements and if a goal was going to occur it seemed likely to be the result of a mistake.

Nicky Shorey inadvertently redirected Nicolas Anelka’s shot past Marcus Hahnemann to give Bolton the lead in the 63rd minute. Shorey was trying to clear the ball, but mistimed his kick and the shot which could well have gone wide, ended up going into the net. At this stage any kind of fight back by Reading looked unlikely. Abdoulaye Meite changed the complexion of the game six minutes from the end when pulled down Kevin Doyle on the edge of the penalty box and gave referee Howard Webb no option but to award a cast iron penalty. Doyle dusted himself off and coolly slotted the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen to make the score 1-1.

At that stage of proceedings a draw was an accurate reflection of the match as a whole. Kevin Doyle, whose 11th goal of the season was his first since January grabbed himself a second a minute from the end of the game after converting Seol Ki Hyeon’s cross to put Reading into the lead. Amazingly there was still another Reading goal to come. Deep into stoppage time, Stephen Hunt nipped in front of Kevin Doyle to head in Nicky Shorey’s cross and give Reading a 3-1 victory and their fifth win on the road this season.

By Stuart Croucher