Reading took revenge on West Ham United reserves for the
3-0 defeat Steve Brown's side inflicted on them at the Madejski
Stadium a fortnight ago with a comprehensive victory at
Bishop's Stortford last night.
The Royals clinched the 4-0 win to claim the FA Premier Reserve League South title as the Hammers' unbeaten run of six games came to an end. James Tomkins and Roy Carroll also sustained nasty injuries as the Hammers finished with nine men.
The first half was fairly even and Brown's side started well, winning a corner after five minutes when Junior Stanislas dribbled into the Reading penalty area and passed to Zavon Hines, whose shot was deflected out of play. But Stanislas' corner was headed away by Alan Bennett.
A sloppy back-pass from John Halls nearly allowed John Pantsil to charge down Adam Federici but the Reading keeper made it to the ball just in time.
Carroll displayed some neat footwork after he found himself under pressure to clear. As Leroy Lita charged forward, Carroll took a touch to retain possession and booted the ball up field.
Lita nearly fired Reading into the lead in the 16th minute as he brought the ball down and struck it towards Carroll's near post but Christian Dailly did enough to tighten the angle and force the shot into the side netting.
Ben Hunt saw his effort deflected wide in the 19th minute from Jack Jeffery's through-ball. After half an hour, Jem Karacan rattled the woodwork with a fierce drive from 20 yards but he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher moments later after colliding with Pantsil.
Freddie Sears teed up Jeffrey with an excellent scoring opportunity before half-time but Jeffrey scuffed his shot and it travelled wide. Hunt then found space on the edge of the area but smacked the half-volley off-target.
Carroll produced a good save to deny Lita shortly before the break after the Reading forward beat the Hammers' offside trap and struck the ball at the target. But Reading had the lead moments later as Hal Robson-Kanu crossed to Shane Long at the far post and he headed the ball into the net.
The Hammers came close to equalising after the break when Sears struck the ball across goal but Bennett deflected it just wide of the post.
Reading soon scored a second. Robson-Kanu turned and struck a low shot past Carroll from just outside the penalty area and three minutes later Lita made it three with a skilful curling shot from the right.
With just over 20 minutes left there was a further blow for the Hammers as Tomkins left the field clutching his arm and, with all three substitutes used, Steve Brown's side were down to ten men. The young defender could face a lengthy lay-off as it proved to be the recurrence of a nasty shoulder injury.
Lita scored a controversial fourth to complete his brace with just over ten minutes left. After seeming to pull the Hammers' defender out of his path, Lita ran clean through and struck the ball past Carroll.
Moments later Carroll collided with Reading substitute Nicholas Bignall on the edge of his area and gashed his shin open. He was carried off the field on a stretcher, leaving Brown's side with nine men on the field as Pantsil donned the keeper's jersey for the final minutes.
"I am bitterly disappointed," said Steve. "I lost my temper in the dressing room after the game. I didn't want to, because we'd been on an unbelievable run. We had five straight wins, a draw before that and five clean sheets out of six - it had been a great run for us.
"I expected this game to be a hard, physical battle but we got outfought in every department, we got outbattled in every department and we got outplayed for the entire second half. The fist half was scrappy but it was quite even.
"I could see it coming. I had a pop at them at half-time and said we would have to raise the tempo of the game, start making more challenges and putting them under pressure if we were to compete and get back in the game but it went the other way.
"We've lost a couple of players in the second half. Roy's come out, got an extremely nasty gash and come off, I've ended the game with nine players and it just capitulated into a bit of a mess really. It turned into a very bad night. James Tomkins needs an operation on his shoulder and could be out four to six months. All in all it was a mess and the result went against us."
West Ham United: Roy Carroll, John Pantsil, Joe Widdowson, Lee Hales, Christian Dailly, Calum Davenport (James Tomkins, 60), Junior Stanislas, Tony Stokes (Ashley Miller, 55), Zavon Hines (Ben Hunt, 12), Jack Jeffery, Freddie Sears.
Subs not used: Tom Harvey, David Blackmore
Reading: Adam Federici, Greg Halford, Julian Kelly, Jem Karacan Oliver Bozanic, 35), Alan Bennett, John Halls (Patrick Cox, 46), James Henry (Nicholas Bignall, 67), Leroy Lita, Shane Long, Scott Davies, Hal Robson-Kanu.
Subs not used: Mikkel Andersen, Daniel Spence.
The Royals clinched the 4-0 win to claim the FA Premier Reserve League South title as the Hammers' unbeaten run of six games came to an end. James Tomkins and Roy Carroll also sustained nasty injuries as the Hammers finished with nine men.
The first half was fairly even and Brown's side started well, winning a corner after five minutes when Junior Stanislas dribbled into the Reading penalty area and passed to Zavon Hines, whose shot was deflected out of play. But Stanislas' corner was headed away by Alan Bennett.
A sloppy back-pass from John Halls nearly allowed John Pantsil to charge down Adam Federici but the Reading keeper made it to the ball just in time.
Carroll displayed some neat footwork after he found himself under pressure to clear. As Leroy Lita charged forward, Carroll took a touch to retain possession and booted the ball up field.
Lita nearly fired Reading into the lead in the 16th minute as he brought the ball down and struck it towards Carroll's near post but Christian Dailly did enough to tighten the angle and force the shot into the side netting.
Ben Hunt saw his effort deflected wide in the 19th minute from Jack Jeffery's through-ball. After half an hour, Jem Karacan rattled the woodwork with a fierce drive from 20 yards but he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher moments later after colliding with Pantsil.
Freddie Sears teed up Jeffrey with an excellent scoring opportunity before half-time but Jeffrey scuffed his shot and it travelled wide. Hunt then found space on the edge of the area but smacked the half-volley off-target.
Carroll produced a good save to deny Lita shortly before the break after the Reading forward beat the Hammers' offside trap and struck the ball at the target. But Reading had the lead moments later as Hal Robson-Kanu crossed to Shane Long at the far post and he headed the ball into the net.
The Hammers came close to equalising after the break when Sears struck the ball across goal but Bennett deflected it just wide of the post.
Reading soon scored a second. Robson-Kanu turned and struck a low shot past Carroll from just outside the penalty area and three minutes later Lita made it three with a skilful curling shot from the right.
With just over 20 minutes left there was a further blow for the Hammers as Tomkins left the field clutching his arm and, with all three substitutes used, Steve Brown's side were down to ten men. The young defender could face a lengthy lay-off as it proved to be the recurrence of a nasty shoulder injury.
Lita scored a controversial fourth to complete his brace with just over ten minutes left. After seeming to pull the Hammers' defender out of his path, Lita ran clean through and struck the ball past Carroll.
Moments later Carroll collided with Reading substitute Nicholas Bignall on the edge of his area and gashed his shin open. He was carried off the field on a stretcher, leaving Brown's side with nine men on the field as Pantsil donned the keeper's jersey for the final minutes.
"I am bitterly disappointed," said Steve. "I lost my temper in the dressing room after the game. I didn't want to, because we'd been on an unbelievable run. We had five straight wins, a draw before that and five clean sheets out of six - it had been a great run for us.
"I expected this game to be a hard, physical battle but we got outfought in every department, we got outbattled in every department and we got outplayed for the entire second half. The fist half was scrappy but it was quite even.
"I could see it coming. I had a pop at them at half-time and said we would have to raise the tempo of the game, start making more challenges and putting them under pressure if we were to compete and get back in the game but it went the other way.
"We've lost a couple of players in the second half. Roy's come out, got an extremely nasty gash and come off, I've ended the game with nine players and it just capitulated into a bit of a mess really. It turned into a very bad night. James Tomkins needs an operation on his shoulder and could be out four to six months. All in all it was a mess and the result went against us."
West Ham United: Roy Carroll, John Pantsil, Joe Widdowson, Lee Hales, Christian Dailly, Calum Davenport (James Tomkins, 60), Junior Stanislas, Tony Stokes (Ashley Miller, 55), Zavon Hines (Ben Hunt, 12), Jack Jeffery, Freddie Sears.
Subs not used: Tom Harvey, David Blackmore
Reading: Adam Federici, Greg Halford, Julian Kelly, Jem Karacan Oliver Bozanic, 35), Alan Bennett, John Halls (Patrick Cox, 46), James Henry (Nicholas Bignall, 67), Leroy Lita, Shane Long, Scott Davies, Hal Robson-Kanu.
Subs not used: Mikkel Andersen, Daniel Spence.