No Telling What It Means: Reading 1-1 Imps

This is a bit of an odd write-up, but the title is quite clever, as it serves a dual purpose.

I’ve had a couple of messages asking me if our draw with Reading was a point gained or two points lost. My response is I don’t know. Nobody does. The value of this point, or the detriment of not having two more, will only now be evident when the next four games have been completed. That’s it. If Oxford lose or draw this coming weekend, and we win, then Reading will look like a decent point. If they don’t slip up, then we’ve lost two points, and our grip on sixth place.

That’s one meaning of the title of this piece. The other meaning is literal because I really can’t tell you a thing. Most of you will know that I’ve spent this weekend in Birmingham for my mate Dave’s stag party, arranged on a matchday, much to the ire of at least four members of the 12-strong party. However, one of those partygoers did have a VPN on his phone, and you know what that means. No? Well, you can see below.

Yep, that was me at 3:15 pm on Saturday afternoon. Imagine what I looked like ten hours later, heading back to the hotel. It’s not big, and it’s not clever, but both Chris and I tried to watch the game, albeit not in a great way. I certainly remember the first 15 minutes, where I felt we were the strongest side, but after that, I seemed to have to step up to the pool table more and more, and slowly the game got away from me. I am led to believe that was also the case in Berkshire.

Therefore, I can’t really tell you anything about the game, but I can tell you how I feel having been very much on the periphery for the afternoon. Firstly, almost every journey has a bump in the road (on Friday, that bump was the Lincoln bypass), and while 1-1 at Reading certainly doesn’t feel awful, it is a minor setback. I’ve been very clear how I feel about them all along – they’re a big team on a huge downward trajectory, but the players and head coach are talented, and they’re a good prospect at home. They’re one of the best sides we’ve seen at the Bank this season, and I have been predicting a draw for most of the week. There’s no shame in being held to a draw there, and if the game was in October, you’d be cheering a good point.

Good news came out of the game, in the form of Lukas Jensen being announced as fit. I know Jordan Wright is a decent keeper, but Jensen is hunting down his 19th clean sheet, and they’ve all been hard-earned. The goal we did concede, watching back, isn’t great, but there’s certainly a benefit in having him back, and the highlights suggest he made a couple of crucial saves as well. With four massive games left, having him in the sticks will give us a better chance of finishing in the top six.

Of course, losing Ben House to injury is not good, and I believe we’re still waiting for news on how serious that might be. I feel like Ben needs a break and a pre-season, but the games are coming thick and fast right now. However, consider this – Oxford lost Cameron Brannagan to injury this weekend as well, and he’s as crucial to them as Ben House is to us. That’s a blow for them, so both teams are finding themselves slightly hindered going into next weekend. The difference is we’re going into a home game against a midtable side with nothing to play for, and they’re going into an away game against a side looking to cement a place in the top six.

I also think Freddie’s goal is something to be really pleased with. I know there’s the academy connection, with Roughan providing the cross, which is great for the club, but for me, it has a slightly deeper positive running through it. Joe Taylor is a good striker, we know that, but he goes back at the end of the season, and there’s only a slim chance he ends up back here (Luton stay up, we go up). Freddie Draper is our boy, he’s very much a product of our academy, and he’s been frightening for Drogheda and Walsall. His time back at the Bank has been a bit stop/start, with injury hampering him and then a Taylor/House combo conspiring to keep him out of the team. To see him get his first League One goal is a massive bonus, and it will help his confidence.

I said when Joe Taylor got his first for us, he’d go on a run, but I’m not making the same prediction about Freddie. He’s a natural finisher and has the qualities to bag a few, but I can’t see two or three more in the next four (or maybe seven) games. At present, Taylor is the fox in the box, and Freddie is playing a different role, where he’s battering defenders and putting himself about late. He might still be the impact sub, coming on looking to change a game, and his goal will have given him confidence he can do that. Next season, I can see him joining Ben House up top, and maybe then we’ll see him as the more mobile prowler, with House doing what House does.

Right now, that’s all I’ve got. I wanted to write something about this game, but I’m not going to analyse a game I didn’t watch. Right now, all I want is a bed and 24 hours to myself (which I don’t have), and I couldn’t watch it back objectively either. I found out about Freddie’s goal as we walked along the canal back to the hotel and then about the equaliser as we popped into the shop for something non-alcoholic to try and stave off impending drunkenness. I know less about the game than you reading this, unless you were on the stag weekend with me.

By the way, their equaliser stung hard, but it didn’t feel like a hammer blow to our top six ambitions. Of course, it is still in our hands; we still have to go to Oxford. Each of the next three weekends and that trip to the Kassam are another chance to find a twist in the road, maybe a bump, maybe not. Either way, we’re still 16 unbeaten, and hunting a club record. This was one game of that run, one game in a 46-game season that, on the face of it, feels like a good result. If you don’t know what you need, it probably is a good result. Let’s hope three weeks today, we’re looking back at it as a crucial point in a top-six bid.