Season ends with a thriller

Reading’s sensational first season in the Premiership was only going to end one way, with a wonderful match that really sums up what has been a truly marvellous season. Blackburn Rovers, proved very good when the two teams met in December at the Madejski, the Lancashire taking three points after a 2-1 win. Reading though wanted Europe and up until last Thursday so too did Blackburn. A 1-1 draw at Tottenham proved to be the extinguishing factor for Rovers. Mark Hughes though was not going to let his tricky side leave this season on a sour note.

Rovers took the lead after Benni McCarthy from a Morten Gamst Pedersen cross in the 21st minute, but moments before Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was injured as both he and Shabani Nonda went for the cross. Reading players protested that the injury was a foul, but referee Alan Wiley was not to be convinced. The goal was not going to stop Reading’s momentum, though. Seol soared above the Blackburn defence in the 36th minute to power in Stephen Hunt’s corner with his head to make the scores level as the half time whistle approached.

The second half produced more of the same. Rovers regained the lead in the 56th minute. David Bentley scored a tap in after Stephen Warnock had struck a post. Reading were not prepared to give up on their European dream two minutes later when Kevin Doyle flicked in a Ulises De La Cruz header for 2-2. Once again Rovers took the lead, this time from a cracking diving header from Matt Derbyshire. And once more Reading equalised, this time a thunderous low shot from Brynar Gunnarsson. Gunnarsson’s goal came in the 77th minute and with the scores level at 3-3, there was still time for both sides to have a goal each disallowed for offside.

3-3 was how the score ended. Bolton Wanderers had drawn at the Reebok Stadium against Aston Villa which means Reading would miss out on a UEFA Cup spot by virtue of not being able to score a fourth goal. The final place in the Premiership table for Reading is a highly credible eighth. Perhaps we would have all accepted fourth from bottom at the start of the season. In truth that was never going to be the case with the Reading players and indeed despite the words of the cautious Mr Coppell, that was never going to be his way either. Danny Blanchflower once said that the game is all about glory and rightly or wrongly, in this day and age a newly promoted club finishing a point off of the European qualification places is very, very glorious. However, to quote another famous person, Frank Sinatra, let us hope that the best is still yet to come.

By Stuart Croucher.