The trip up to Nottingham Forest always felt like one of those games we might slip up at - and that was exactly what happened. The single goal defeat wasn't down to a lack of Reading effort in general but perhaps down to the lack of depth in our team and the quality of opposition. Forest weren't a bad side at all - despite being two places off the bottom of the table at kick-off. The form guides would have pointed to a Reading win but that went right out of the window during the first half with Forest looking much the better side against a Reading team that looked that bit slower and that bit less organised. Forest desperately needed a win and worked hard for only their third of the season - Reading fell short in the second half despite having most of the game after the break.

We started with an unchanged eleven from the side that beat Cardiff City last weekend but there were few signs that it was a regular line-up with play breaking down quickly and the game looked like it was heading towards a scrappy affair. Forest were the first to settle, winning the first corner of the game and forcing Hahnemann to come for a dangerous cross into the area that he did well to punch clear. After the initial spell of Forest possession Reading eventually started to get their football together. We put in a couple of crosses from each side but seemed to be lacking in the middle with Kitson wildly swinging at a few crosses but failing to make any impact. Shorey had the first shot of note from a free-kick on the left that required a straight forward save from the Forest keeper who got down low to his left.

As it turned out it was perhaps even against the run of play when Forest took the lead on twenty six minutes. Forest were allowed to shoot from the middle, well outside the Reading area, and fired in a powerful shot that crashed into Hahnemann's crossbar and back out into play. If it had been on target Marcus might have made the save but it was bad luck when it bounced into the middle of the area allowing Taylor to react the fastest to storm into the area and scoop the ball into the back of the net. The goal signalled the start of the home side's dominance of the rest of the first half. The away fans in the corner behind the Reading goal developed a stunned silence as we become clumsy and awkward at the back. Murty had a poor game at right back and was getting beaten every time as Forest attacked down their left. Bringing the ball out we were running into problems with Murty and Sonko both getting caught on the ball when they should have simply hoofed it clear. Sonko was generally doing a good job - but it required Ingimarsson to tidy up on a number of occassions as Forest looked likely to extend their lead. Hahnemann was neeed to make a couple of saves but thankfully Forest generally failed to find the target. Half time couldn't have come soon enough.

After the break the Royals seemed a changed side - there was plenty of effort on show from most of the side - and especially Andy Hughes. Hughes had been a ray of light in the first half with some determined runs forward that oozed effort and helped maintain possession, as well as work the ball in the right direction. In the second half he seemed to help inspire the rest of the side as we started to play the ball around. We still struggled to get through the Forest defence but elsewhere on the pitch we were first to the ball when we'd always been second to it in the first half.

Kitson wasn't in top form and a rare shot from him was blocked before he was forced to limp off injured to be swapped with Brooker. Moments earlier Owusu had been replaced by Little. With no strikers on the bench we'd swapped our two front men for midfielders and it seemed obvious that we weren't going to be finding that equaliser. Morgan was pushed forward with Hughes to support him and it seemed too much to ask. The ball was spending the massive majority of time deep in the Forest half but to little effect. A series of Sonko long throws compeltely failed as each time they were headed clear. We were seriously short on ammunition. Morgan tried a couple of runs and had a powerful low shot just wide of the left post when he shot from outside the area - perhaps he could have taken it closer. He tried another close range effort moments later, firing the ball into the ground but not quite connecting as he'd hoped. The disappointing side to Morgan's game was his continual falling to the floor and raising his arm in the air in an attempt to win something - he'd have been so much more productive if he could have stayed on his feet.

Reading continued to work hard with virtually every player improved on their first half showing but it started to spill over into frustration with a couple of players nearly coming to blows. With both sets of players throwing themselves into challenges there were five bookings in the last ten minutes - when there hadn't been a single yellow card shown previously. Forest nearly sealed the win with a second goal on the break as Reading pushed forward but generally the Royals kept players back until stoppage time at the end of the game. The final Reading corner saw Harper swing the ball in from the left and the whole Reading team crowd the area - including goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann who ran the length of the pitch to try and help out with a last gasp goal. However, it wasn't to be, and once again the home side seemed to clear with ease. I couldn't help feeling that we probably should have taken at least a point at the end - but you couldn't argue with the result and Forest were good for their win. Reading remain in third place and on the verge of great things, but if Kitson, or any other key player, remains out of action we're going to struggle to stay in the top three.
Graham