| A mixture of bad luck and too many mistakes brought defeat for Reading in their South West Division One game. The visitors controlled much of the first half, going 19-8 up,
but Reading surged back to take the lead in the first ten minutes of the second half. However, the Holme Park men failed to maintain their momentum, mistakes crept back in and the visitors pulled clear.
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| The bad luck came as early as the 7th minute when centre Clinton Gibson, playing his first game of the season, had to go off with a leg injury. With no back replacements on the bench flanker
Tim Laverye had to come on as a replacement, Matt Davies moving from back row to wing and Duncan Mollison moving into the centre. After this the Reading backs lacked cohesion against their lively
opponents who were well served by the kicking and passing of fly half James Reid.
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| In the first twenty minutes Reading allowed the visitors to take the initiative through a series of mistakes – dropped passes under pressure, tactical errors and some poor kicking – and
the visitors took a tenth minute lead after Reading had been penalised for not binding at a scrum. A kick to touch was followed by a lineout catch and drive and lock Andy Richards was awarded the try.
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| Gavin Simpson, the Weston flanker, was yellow carded on the half hour and Reading opened their scoring a minute later, Ben Sturge slotting over the penalty. However, during this
crucial ten minutes when they were a man up, Reading still conceded two tries while scoring just one of their own. “This was the spell when we lost the game”, admitted Alastair McHarg after the match.. |
| Speedy winger Chris Crichton picked up after Reading had dropped the ball in a backs move and raced under the posts for Chris Young to convert. Reading scrum half Simon Dyson
then took advantage of a free kick to dart through the disorganised Weston defence for a try but, right on half time Young converted another lineout try, scored by prop David Burge, to put the visitors up
19-8 at half time. ” |
| Then, in the first ten minutes of the second half, came Reading’s golden spell. First, Sturge kicked his second penalty. Then Paul Fisher scored from a lineout drive set up by a superb
touch kick by fly half Billy Bragg. Another Bragg kick set up a penalty in front of the posts 40 metres out but an injury to Sturge prevented him from kicking and Duncan Mollison missed. It was all
Reading now and after Bragg missed with a drop goal attempt a good forward drive set up a try for Sturge and Reading were in the lead.
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| t was the visitors, however, who took control after this. Scrum half Ross Bennett raced down the blind side of a scrum to restore his side’s lead and Kirk Middlemass took advantage of
some sloppy Reading passing to touch down under the posts for Young to put the visitors ten points up. There was no coming back from that. For the Reading pack, particularly the front row and Sean
Kenneally, faultless in the lineout, it was less than they deserved. |
| READING: Alex Blackstock; Dai Birkby, Clinton Gibson (Tim Laverye, 7 mins), Ben Surge, Duncan Mollison; Billy Bragg, Simon Dyson; Richard Pryor (Justin Coleman, 69 mins),
Paul Fisher, Andrew Grierson, Pete Lawless, Sean Kenneally, Tristan Haines, Matt Davies, David Carey
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| HOW THE SCORING WENT: 11 mins Richards try (0-5), 30 mins Sturge pen (3-5), 32 mins Crichton try, Young con (3-12), 34 mins Dyson try (8-12), 38 mins Burge try, Young con (8-19),
42 mins Sturge pen (11-19), 44 mins Fisher try (16-19), 53 mins Sturge try (21-19), 61 mins Bennett try (21-24), 67 mins Middlemiss try, Young con (21-31).
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| Reading scorers: Tries: Simon Dyson, Paul Fisher, Ben Sturge pens: Sturge (2) |
| Ted Goodhew |