MATCH REPORT: 2002/2003 Season

26 October 2002: LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
PRESTON NORTH END 1 READING 0
goals
Reading: -
Preston NE:
Cresswell (22 mins)
Half Time: 1-0
Attendance: 13,021

DIVISION ONE  26 Oct 2002
Pos Team P Pts GD
11 Wolves 13 20 +10
12 READING 14 20 +3
13 Bradford 15 19 -4
teams
Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Shorey, Upson, Williams, Hughes, Salako (Mackie 74), Watson (Cureton 74), Newman, Forster, Rougier (Harper 61).
Subs not used: Ashdown, Butler.
Preston NE:
Lucas, Alexander, Lucketti, Murdock, Edwards, McKenna, Skora, Rankine, Lewis (Broomes 89), Cresswell (Mears 72), Healy (Abbott 71).
Subs not used: Moilanen, Etuhu.
bookings
Reading: Hahnemann , Newman , Shorey , Upson , Williams. Preston NE: Cresswell , Lewis.
Referee: C J Foy (St Helens)
report

-


FANS' POST MATCH OPINION
darren hall
"Cheer up Craigy Brown..." used to be chant from the England fans over the last few years and after seeing this it is obvious that the round little Scotsman is still in charge of a sh*t football team, unfortunately for us we were able to be marginally more sh*t on the day. How is this so, for the first twenty minutes insert the word rampant in front of the Royals, yet thanks to some slack finishing (Fozzy), lucky goalkeeping and an even luckier piece of woodwork Preston were fortunate to be on the same planet as us, then some schoolboy defending and 1-0. A minor blip I thought, and indeed we got right back at them (the final shot count was apparently 11 on and 8 off target) but then what, a Sven inspired half time team talk, some strange tatical changes and 3 points were lost. Maybe it is a reflection on our own early season standards but these were points well and truly thrown away, at a place were we never normally expect to get anything. We allowed ourselves to be dragged down to their level, played without tempo or pace after the break and eventually ran out of ideas. Also, Ricky Newman? Sorry don't get that one, what does he bring to the team especially in the middle of the park? The game was crying out for Harper's touch and Butler's hassling... instead we got Newman and Rougier who were as anonymous as your average daytime TV presenter at a police station. Anyway the next month is a key one, the boys have set the standards, especially away from home and it is up to them to maintain it, I will put this one down to a minor blip but the teams we have to play starting with Bradford and through November should allow us to really set the tone for the rest of the season, all these games are winnable and we must definitely start doing it at home more. Also there is the small matter of the return of the original FSB next week, now that really is a Fat Scottish B*stard with a really SH*T football team!! URzzzzz.
john taylor
crowthorne
With players like Butler, Cureton, Igoe and Harper, who do we start? Rougier - with his broken toe! Where is the logic in that? If we want to win we need a full strength team. Rougier can't pass or score and gets the lowest player rating in the paper consistently but he is still selected with a broken toe! We need a proven goal scorer up front with Forster. Preston were a beatable team, we had the chances but Forster can't do it all on his own.
dean
crowthorne royal
I couldn't get to the game or hear it on saturday so I am somewhat in the dark as to the performance. However, I have to agree with my fellow Crowthornite about Rougier. I am not going to slag Tony off as I do think he has been valuable in a number of games. Logic though surely says when you have the opportunity to play guys like Butler & Cureton (who will not accept being subs long term) you grasp it! I know this is being said a lot at the moment but it does show you how our expectations have changed since our above average start to Div1. We obviously expected (me included) to get a result at Preston. I can think of numerous games where we should have won already and who knows where we could be if we'd done that. Anyway, spilt milk and all that - Tomorrow Bradford and saturday Millwall - At least 4 points required methinks. Would be very nice to do Millwall on Sat, not so much because of Mcghee but more the fact that they thrashed us here last time. 4-0 down after an hour, yeah okay it was finally 3-4 but we were shocking. Tomorrow? A good attacking team to beat what is a fairly decent Bradford side bouyed by beating 2nd placed Norwich on Saturday. Need to win to get momentum going again and belief back with the players before Millwall on Saturday. Hahnemann
Mackie Upson Williams Murty
Watson Newman Harper Salako
Cureton Forster
Butler, Igoe, Alex Smith, Parky, Ashdown
What a team - My rationale, Sweep forward quickly with ball winner and good distributor Newman and there's a lot of flair in the midfield to create opportunities ON THE GROUND for both Jamie & Nicky Forster.
Come on URZZZZZZ!!
NB - If you're going tomorrow MAKE A LOT OF NOISE.. It makes all the difference!
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