Over 3,000 Reading fans packed into the Madejski Stadium last night in the hope of seeing their team win the FA Premier Reserve League South.
A draw would have been enough to seal the title but they
didn't count on an outstanding display from Steve Brown's
Hammers, who earned their fourth consecutive victory with a 2-0
win, thanks to goals from Lee Hales and Calum Davenport, who made a
welcome return to action after six weeks out with a foot injury.
There was some bad news for the Hammers, however, as midway through
the first half Paul Konchesky picked up an injury to his ribs and
replaced by Jordan Spence. Shortly afterwards, Reading substitute
Tom Hateley missed a glaring opportunity to put the Royals in front
but he couldn't direct his header on target from inside the
six-yard box.
Freddie Sears made a darting run into the penalty area at the other
end and played the ball out to Jack Jeffrey, whose goal-bound shot
was blocked by a header from Alan Bennett.
Nicholas Bignall squandered the Royals' best chance when
Henry found him in space on the edge of the box but he scuffed his
shot and it flew wildly off target.
With two minutes left until the break, Hales tried a long-range
effort but it drifted above the bar. A minute later, Hammers were
awarded a penalty when Scott Davies was judged to have pushed
Sears, who had skipped skilfully into the box. Hales stepped
forward and fired the ball to Adam Federici's right, sending
the keeper the wrong way and Hammers into half-time with a 1-0
lead.
Hammers were 2-0 up less than 10 minutes into the second-half
thanks to a clinical header from Davenport, as he turned in a
free-kick from Junior Stanislas. With 20 minutes left, Reading
threatened to pull a goal back when substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson
curled in a testing cross with his first touch but Henry was closed
down at the far post as he charged in to convert it.
Zavon Hines had a good chance to make it 3-0 with just over 10
minutes to go but he struck a blistering half-volley straight at
Federici. Reading piled on the pressure in the final ten minutes
but excellent work from captain Christian Dailly and his fellow
defenders meant Jimmy Walker was rarely tested.
Afterwards, coach Steve Brown described the performance as
'super.'
"I said to them before the game that it would be an
unbelievably tough game," said Steve. "Reading put it in
channels, they put it in the right areas, they work hard as a side
and if you don't match it you'll get steamrollered into a
defeat.
"They came up trumps, they worked hard. They overpowered a
good Reading side and we came up with two good goals. Albeit one
was a penalty but the way we built up to it and got the goal was
excellent play. Then we've had a set piece delivery in the
second half with a great header from Calum Davenport.
"Paul Konchesky's picked up an injury - winded and hurt
his ribs - so we took him off early but that's the only down
side. Everything else is positive.
"They were looking to win the league against us. Now
they're going to have to wait another week because they've
come up against a team who have put in an super performance and
thoroughly deserved their win."
Reading: Federici, Davies, Spence, Karacan (Hateley 18), Bennett,
Halls, Henry, Halford, Long, Church, Bignall (Sigurdsson 69). Subs
unused: Andersen, Cox, Webb
West Ham United: Walker; Pantsil (N'Gala 46), Konchesky (Spence
25), Hales, Dailly, Davenport (Stokes 63), Stanislas, Collison,
Hines, Jeffery, Sears. Subs unused: Street, Stokes, Harvey,
Spence