Job done! Really weird watching football in a three sided crap stadium and for the first half we looked like a crap side to match the surroundings. With Coppell resting quite a few first teamers we struggled to find any momentum .Oxford produced a few good chances but had nothing up front to put the chances away. We huffed and puffed up front with both Owusu and Goater both looking unable to either control a ball, lay a ball off or produce anything worth a chance . Goater was simply awful. He may have scored in the second half but so could my mum with the chance he had and she's nearly 70 ! He's probably on the biggest pay packet at the club and is simply not worth it, get rid now. Hughes did well with his goal with a great finish dispelling the myth he couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo. Little also played well as did Harper who gets better by the day. Remember last year we drew Chelski at home after the same result, same again would be nice or any decent team at home, but most of us would swop it for three points at Millwall on Saturday. Biggest test so far this season which has got off to a promising start, I'd settle for a point.... URZ
Nick Newbury

This was really the first time I've seen Reading properly this season having been away for most of August, apart from catching the Wet Sham match on Sky. For the most part I thought the team did ok, although the same deficiencies exist in defence as last season (poor marking, people sitting back, being often slow to react to what was going on around them) & on another night the opponents could have taken far more advantage of them than Oxford did. All in all though, it was a fairly comfortable win & I thought Little looked good (much better than he did when on loan here before), after a pretty poor 1st half Brooker came alive & did well (especially his involvement in both goals), & Hughes (for once not being played out of position ahead of more suitable candidates) worked hard in the middle, used his pace well & deserved his well taken goal. My only gripe was having to put up with the constant slagging our front two got both during the game & after on 'good old Berks' in their phone in, particularly Goater. I'm sure they could both have bagged hat-tricks & folk still would've moaned about them. Yes, they were both guilty of wasting chances in the game, but no more than Kitson & Forster have done recently, yes they made errors in the match but no more than anyone else in the team. To their credit, Owussu worked hard & as the game progressed began to win more & more in the air & use his physical presence to godd effect and was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions (including 1st goal). Goater showed his usual array of nice touches, lay-offs, etc as he sought to bring in those around him into the game & as all decent strikers (of which he IS one despite the slaggings of some of our 'fans') do, was in the right place at the right time to convert the chance that came his way for his goal. Making certain players scapegoats is a crappy trait I've seen all the years I've been supporting RFC (I used to have the mis-fortune to stand near folk who would barrack Gilkes at Elm Park as soon as he touched the ball in a way they didn't like, & now have sit next a couple of miserable sods who do the same with Harper). It is BORING. If players are playing poorly, or not putting in the effort they should that's one thing, but slagging them off for the sake of it...AARRGGGHHH!!!
Caversham Royal.