Up and Running: Imps 2-0 Reading

2:59 pm on the first Saturday of the season is meant to be the magical time, the sweet spot where anything can happen.

In the modern game, it feels less significant, with no Championship or Premier League meaning some clubs are up and running weeks before others kick off. That leads to clubs at the top doing their business later, and surprise, late moves. I thought us losing Ethan Erhahon a week or two before the season started was harsh – losing Jovon Makama a few hours before kick off felt like even more of a blow.

I’ll pick that up tomorrow.

It meant that, come 2:59 this afternoon, I didn’t feel that wave of optimism that I have become inadvertently famous for. I’ve always been a lifelong pessimist, but over the last few years, my attempts to be balanced and measured have, for some, become pessimism, rose-tinted pessimism sprinkled by a little bit of club rhetoric. Even those who believe I wake up on Jez George’s sofa every day couldn’t have imagined how down I felt at kick-off.

There are a few reasons why. Ethan Erhahon was one of my favourite players, Jovon Makama almost certainly one I felt was going to be key this season. Today was the first game that my Dad wasn’t well enough to attend in his ongoing battle, and so everything just felt a bit flat. I didn’t have the new season thrills, and while social media was awash with people excited about matchday, I was belittling Nick Oxberry for a ridiculous rumour he messaged me about regarding Jovon and Norwich. I apologised later in the day.

I just didn’t feel it.

Then the clock turned to 3 pm. We kicked off looking like a depleted version of us from last season, the roar went up, and it dawned on me that too much football is played on paper, on screen and in heads. We look at players, signings, tactics and don’t see them for what they are – important for 90 minutes on a Saturday. When that whistle went the awful blue shirts of Reading got the upper hand for five minutes, the adrenaline kicked in and I forgot we were without Jovon and Ethan. Football was back.

We felt like a weaker version of ourselves from last season, but after a shaky few minutes, we started to look like the same side that showed top-eight form in the last ten weeks of the season. It’s not always fluid, and on opening day it never is, but we did the things we’re good at, and we did them well. Conor McGrandles, free from the shadow cast by Ethan Erhahon, looked calm and assured, intercepting balls and working incredibly hard. Reading played a high line, dangerous when we had the pace of Reeco Hackett and Rob Street out wide. Street had the focus on him, stepping in late for Jovon, and he did really well in the opening 45 minutes.

McGrandles had already had a decent shot deflected when we took the lead. Adam Jackson would get a ‘second assist’ for his role, laying the ball back to Wickens, were it not classed as an own goal. After that, it was route one, over the top for Street, who got behind really well. I have to comment on Street’s touch, a wonderful moment as he controlled it enough to maintain momentum, bringing it down with real quality. His pace saw him able to get a cross in for Hackett, only for the defender to deflect the ball home long before it was a danger. 1-0 City.

Any criticism of the long ball isn’t justified in my opinion. We knew Reading were going to play a high line, so exposing that by landing the ball in danger alley where our wide men could turn up the heat was a sensible tactic. This wasn’t big balls onto the head of forwards, it was a more measured long kick. That said, on the occasions where the big balls did land on the defenders for James Collins to attack, he attacked well. Collins impressed me, he didn’t get a sniff in front of goal, but his all-round play was good and he wins far more in the air than a smaller centre forward should.

After the goal the game dropped off a little. Instead of pressing en masse, we pressed more sensibly, with the safety net of a 1-0 lead to rely on. That’s not to say we went defensive, but we did slow things down a bit, given the luxury of the lead.

I was critical of referee Martin Woods during the first half, but in Reading’s dangerous moment, I think he let us off. Lewis Wing’s long-range effort was touched onto the post by Wickens, and while the follow-up was scored by Camara it was offside. Nothing wrong with that, but the moment before the effort saw Adam Jackson give one of their lads a push in the back, in the area. I didn’t see it at the time, and their lad was backing in a little, but it’s two-handed on the replay. Woods did give them quite a bit in my eyes during the game, but that was a real let off.

Half time didn’t bring respite – despite the quality of Wing, Savage and Elliott, the Royals didn’t have a lot going forward. After a dodgy first quarter of an hour or so, our defence settled and Sonny Bradley showed exactly why we brought him in, winning plenty of headers (eight in total). That was bettered only by Mr New Contract himself, Adam Jackson, with nine. Ryley Towler won a few as well, although dare I say he did look like a centre back playing left back. That’s not a criticism, it’s a stylistic observation.