The second half came around, and I felt we started well. Tendayi, whose gut-busting runs will endear him even more to the home fans, started a move that saw Street’s cross into the box pick out an unmarked Jack Moylan. I thought their keeper made a good save, but looking back, Jack is unmarked, five yards out. He might not have known a lot about it, but had a more seasoned poacher, such as James Collins been there, we’d have been 2-0, home and hosed. Moylan seemed to think it had gone over the line, looking back, it’s not entirely clear if it did or not: I’m erring on the side of ‘not’.
After that, Reading seemed to come back into it. The game ebbed and flowed nicely, and while it wasn’t a classic, there was plenty of intrigue. I really rate Wing and he’s a great talent, as is Savage. They had little ahead of them, but those two would walk into any team in this division, from Luton to Northampton (assuming they’re the best and worst). Ehibhatiomhan wove into the area only for Wickens to save, but Reading had a decent spell.
Wing then came as close as Reading would come, a nice move by them saw him smashing the ball towards goal with only the upright saving us once again. Twice he struck, both times off the post, but he’ll be a real asset for them if they’re going to mount a top ten challenge. I think from a neutral point of view, their team feels like a half-baked pie, with absurd quality in Wing, but perhaps bottom-end faces in the forward positions.
The game was put to bed on 67 minutes, and it was Jackson with a proper second assist. His resilience was enough to win the ball for McGrandles to pick it up, and he capped a superb display with a pass Erhahon would have been proud of. A pass is only as good as the run, and Hackett’s run was timed to perfection. It made me chuckle, because as Jacko battled for the ball I heard ‘we’re up against it here’ from behind me, and five seconds later, Hackett was finishing. It was a really good finish, because he had a long time to think about it. Often, they’re harder, where a player has time to think, time to change his mind. Hackett showed great composure to finish past Joel Pereira, undoubtedly one of the best stoppers at this level.
The game changed even more at 2-0. We didn’t switch off, but we definitely slowed things down a little. Paddy Lane came on to a round of boos, which was nice to hear after his antics when at Pompey, but he didn’t get a lot of joy against Towler. The game could have finished on 70 minutes for all Reading offered after that, and we could easily have added a little gloss. Tom Bayliss should have made it 3-0 when he got in behind, but he pulled his effort wide of Pereira’s goal. 3-0 would have flattered us, 2-0 was probably about right (the xG stats certainly backed us for a 2-0 win).
As the clock wore down Reading fans got a bit agitated – there were some scuffles as a few of them left, fighting between themselves rather than with City fans. Arguably, it is frustrating when a game is beyond you: maybe at 1-0 there was a route back in, but despite leaking goals in pre-season, I never felt they’d get two. Their best efforts came from long range, but rarely did anything happen in our box that worried me.
It was good to see Erik Ring get some minutes late on, given he was out for a bit in pre-season, and Tom Hamer looked a threat on the right when he got a cameo as well. Tendayi got the Man of the Match, and I can understand why. A couple of big runs had people around me applauding, and it is clear he wanted to lead by example. I’d have to go for McGrandles, though. He took a real barracking from some sections last season, but his underlying numbers were good. Today, numbers and the eye test were in perfect correlation, and while we know new faces will be coming in, it was good to see the old guard (so to speak) putting on a show.
Nothing is won and lost on the opening day. In fact, on this opening day, we know less about the direction of our squad than we did 24 hours ago. The news of Jovon’s departure – the first £1m player in our history – really overshadowed everything pre-match. Glancing at socials (and that is as close as I’ll be getting, win, lose or draw, after matches) it seems to be overshadowing the aftermath as well.
It shouldn’t. I’m not claiming we’re top-six material, but with a bare-bones squad, lacking four of our five best players last season in Roughan, O’Connor, Jovon and Erhahon, we never looked uncomfortable. The work rate from last season has carried over. I’d expect nothing less, but there was a nice cohesion to our play. Bradley was just a straight swap for O’Connor, and Towler didn’t look out of place. It’s a familiarity, comforting in itself for fans and squad members alike.
The big question now is what happens over the next couple of weeks. There is no hiding from us being stripped bare – Dayle (a mate since the age of six who is sitting next to me this season) commented we had so few options on the bench late on. Sure, Draper could swap with Collins, Hamilton, and Ring could easily have started, as could Hamer, but outside those four, we are dipping into untried and untested waters. That said, we have a budget now to go and do some business, and we’re not talking free agents here either. I have a feeling we’re going to be aggressive, and if pushed, I’d say we need three: a left back, a central midfielder and a wide player. With those in the squad, as well as House, Montsma and Jefferies to return, we’ll look much more robust.
It’s frustrating to think we’re further away from having a competitive squad than when the released players left, and probably further away from our pre-season match against Bromley. I remarked before the game that losing Jovon and Erhahon was a blow, but it meant getting a result against Reading was important. We had to make a statement, not to the rest of the league, but also to some of the dissident voices within our support. We might not be the finished article, we might not be top six material, and we might have a lot of work to do behind the scenes, but we’re still a decent outfit with plenty to be positive about.
I just wish I could turn the clock back 12 hours and tell myself that, as I stared blankly at my morning cup of tea, wondering why I couldn’t find my optimism for the season.
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