Andy Munro braves the cold to see Blues beat Reading.
Let there be no doubt that Reading are a decent outfit, given that they have the luxury of having Andy Carroll and Junior Hoilett on the bench. Indeed their first eleven were a rumbustious, pacey and powerful outfit and if John Ruddy (surely a certainty as player of the season) hadn’t pulled off a couple of excellent early saves, the result could have been different.
Luckily Troy Deeney netted a brace, including a textbook penalty, and Tehith Chong, at last, got off the mark with a coolly taken goal when he rounded the keeper. It was also notable that Chong and Krystian Beilik looked extra committed and effective when one might have expected World Cup fatigue to have set in.
Emmanuel Longelo was a source of trouble to the visitors’ defence whilst Messrs Trusty, Sandersen and Roberts all stood up well to the physical and pacey problems set by the opposition.
In fairness, we took our foot off the gas as the game drew to a close, especially as the referee seemed determined to play until Reading pinched an equaliser. However, it gave some of our youngsters an opportunity to showcase their skills and we deservedly held out to move into the nosebleed territory of seventh place.
