Back From The Game - Sheff Wed (H)

[sandman]

Fed - 7 - the little he had to do he did well enough
Griffin - 7 - not quite as good as he has been, but solid
Ivar - 7 - competent
Zubar - 8 - held it all together at the back IMHO
Kebe - 9 - the boy's a fooking genius. 10 if he'd got a hat-trick
Tabb - 8 - like Sidwell, you don't notice a lot of the good stuff he does
Howard - 6 - fine
Sigurdsson - 6 - deliveries usually overhit and didn't influence the game as muc as he might have liked
Church - 8 - not the finished article by any means but he works hard and scored a cracker
Rasiak - 7 - didn't get massively involved but scored twice and gives us something extra in the air

Don't usually do r8tings so happy to be argued out of any of these.

Jimmy is a love vote btw

Where's Berty?

[URZZZZZZZZ]

Its my fault that we weren't as good in the first half!!

Over Xmas I found my 2003 RFC home shirt, and have worn it to every game since. With the exception of the Liverpool and WBA draws we have won every game I've seen (6 in total)!

Now today, en route to the game my car broke down, and I didnt get the game until 50 mins in. From then onwards we were superb, and I was finding my seat when Church's went in! Needless to say said shirt will be in attendance a week tomorrow, lets hope for the same outcome!

[Basingstoke Royal]

A good performance, but we have played as well this this season and lost.

Fed - 7 not much to do.
Griffin - 7 did most things right as usual
ivar - 6 played ok but still worries me
kish - 7 solid performance
berty - 8 great performance, would love him to stay.
Kebe - 8 confident display and great second goal
tabb - 8 gave his all and his hard work was key to today's result
Howard - 8 great performance, long may it continue
church - 6 good goal, but looked slow, lightweight and missed a fee chances
rasiak - 7 poachers goals, well suited to today's opponents

I think Howard is finally proving that he is a
good player, and is offering far more than harps was.

I thought Church did ok, but as in previous games he didn't convert enough chances, was pushed off the ball too easily and some how got out paced by the Wednesday centre back when through in goal. You can tell he is still fairly raw as someone with more experience would cut across the defender to make it difficult to win the ball without commiting the foul and probably being sent off. He will get better and better, just needs to continue maturing.

4 more wins and we are safe. Next 4 home games could do it.

The future all of a sudden looks bright again. Urz.

[Maguire]

Fed - 7 - the little he had to do he did well enough
Griffin - 7 - not quite as good as he has been, but solid
Ivar - 7 - competent
Zubar - 8 - held it all together at the back IMHO
Kebe - 9 - the boy's a fooking genius. 10 if he'd got a hat-trick
Tabb - 8 - like Sidwell, you don't notice a lot of the good stuff he does
Howard - 6 - fine
Sigurdsson - 6 - deliveries usually overhit and didn't influence the game as muc as he might have liked
Church - 8 - not the finished article by any means but he works hard and scored a cracker
Rasiak - 7 - didn't get massively involved but scored twice and gives us something extra in the air

Don't usually do r8tings so happy to be argued out of any of these.

Jimmy is a love vote btw

Where's Berty?

Oops. Err, 7 i guess

[1871 Royal]

Really didn't do anything of note then

[Maguire]

Fed - 7 - the little he had to do he did well enough
Griffin - 7 - not quite as good as he has been, but solid
Ivar - 7 - competent
Zubar - 8 - held it all together at the back IMHO
Kebe - 9 - the boy's a fooking genius. 10 if he'd got a hat-trick
Tabb - 8 - like Sidwell, you don't notice a lot of the good stuff he does
Howard - 6 - fine
Sigurdsson - 6 - deliveries usually overhit and didn't influence the game as muc as he might have liked
Church - 8 - not the finished article by any means but he works hard and scored a cracker
Rasiak - 7 - didn't get massively involved but scored twice and gives us something extra in the air

Don't usually do r8tings so happy to be argued out of any of these.

Jimmy is a love vote btw

Pretty much spot on, though it seems a tad harsh anyone receiving only a 6, given the result.

Yeah fair point - just trying to be even-handed about it I guess

[Ark Royal]

For the first time this season, today was a game that I thoroughly enjoyed from kick off to final whistle. It wasn't always pretty football, but we did a job against an albeit dire Wednesday side.

I think the players are feeling really settled now, their tails are up following the great wins in the FA Cup and I think McD has got them believing that they can and will move up the table. Next Sunday will be tough, and as with all our previous FA Cup games this season, I'm not going to expect to get anything from the game and hopefully be pleasantly surprised again!

Whatever the outcome next Sunday, McD, his staff and the players should all be thoroughly proud of the turnaround in our fortunes and of the way they have risen to the challenges and fought back.

Long may McD reign.

Absolutely +1

[rabidbee]

I thought Rasiak had his best game in a Reading shirt.

Actually, that was at Hillsborough.

Crikey, we like playing Yorkshire teams.

[RobRoyal]

Church never looks like he's going to score to be honest.

Luckily that doesn't seem to stop him, well, scoring.

[BenReadingFC]

We've been fine for a while,(since Shef Utd away) Blackpool was just a blip. Plenty of points for the taking at home over the next 3 games

[Franchise FC]

Great display all round. Best game at home since the Coppell glory days. I even clapped Kebe off when he was subbed.

Well done you - managing to forget your onvious prejudice to provide some applause for what apppears to be most viewers MOTM.

[Rex]

Its my fault that we weren't as good in the first half!!

Over Xmas I found my 2003 RFC home shirt, and have worn it to every game since. With the exception of the Liverpool and WBA draws we have won every game I've seen (6 in total)!

Now today, en route to the game my car broke down, and I didnt get the game until 50 mins in. From then onwards we were superb, and I was finding my seat when Church's went in! Needless to say said shirt will be in attendance a week tomorrow, lets hope for the same outcome!

Car breakdown excluded.

[Handsome Man]

Excellent from start to finish really. 0-0 at HT would have been a travesty, so the first two goals were welcome to say the least. Then the floodgates opened and we could have had ten. The last ten minutes were fine: we were tired; they were beaten; an the ref stopped the contest early.

Fed - 7
Griffin - 8 he's brilliant for us - can we keep him?
ivar - 7
kish - 8 extremely cool and good hair
bertrand - 7 replacing him will be really tough
Kebe - 10 you can't really expect more from a winger
tabb - 7
sig -7 should have swapped with Tabb a bit and had a couple more shots especially at 0-0
Howard - 8 seemed to be involved in loads of good things
church - 9 beginning to look very classy, he turns brilliantly
rasiak - 8 his best game in years, but he always starts slowly

Hrk - glory boy at 5-0 up - you can't blame him
Marek - I suppose it was safe to bring him on at 5-0 up

[Hoop Blah]

Wednesday couldn't handle Church's pace

They handled it brilliantly I thought, he had a couple of one on one chances and the defenders outpaced him and pushed him out wide every time. Even with the goal he scored I don't know how he didn't sail through and score, looked like the danger was over after the defender got back and got in front of him. Church never looks like he's going to score to be honest.

imo it was finally pumping the ball (properly) into space and allowing Church to chase that opened the game for us. Personally I thought he pulled their defence all over the place in the second half

Agree with both of you really. Church did pull them all over the place but they handled it pretty well and marshalled him with ease most of the time. He had plenty of chances to get away from the defence or create something but rarely did and they never really looked troubled by him.

Even Rasiaks two goals came from moves where Church probably should, or at least could, have scored nut just didn't do enough with his chance. Can't say that about his goal though! Even after again being well marshalled it was a smart turn and an inch perfect shot that was in as soon as it left his boot. Quality!

[TFF]

Also any news on griffin? went off at end with what looked like hamstring injury.
and i hope the sig will be ok for villa

Saw Siggy walking out of the ground. He had a pretty bad limp but hopefully just a dead leg.

What went on with Griffin? His number was held up on the 4th official's board as if he was being subbed although we'd already used all three.

[Blue Blood]

Saw Griffin tweak his hamstring and ask to come off. Hopefully it just tightened up on him rather than pulled. Was not mentioned after the game. Key player at the moment so hope he is OK

[rotherwick_royal]

Was he running around with a gum shield in after his change of shirt?

Nope, it was a piece of tissue to stop the bleeding - the smack in the mouth was for real. Given that we got a number of free kicks for elbows even after that I'm amazed no-one was carded.

[rotherwick_royal]

Kebe - 9 - the boy's a fooking genius. 10 if he'd got a hat-trick

'greed. Felt sorry for TGTIJK when McDermott subbed him within a minute of scoring his second - would have loved him to score a hat-trick.

Clever substitution by McD imo - think Jimmy's been feeling a bit unloved thanks to certain 'fan's' abuse. Taking him off was as much about him getting the applause as much as resting him for Villa.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Where did that 5-0 home win come from against the Owls?

Going to the game I thought I would be in for a tense 1-0 home win or a dull 0-0 draw how wrong I was.

Great performances from Tabb and Howard in the centre of midfield with a great strikes from Church and Kebe to close out the game.

[Wimb]

Was very strange walking around the concourse at half time being 2-0 up, but it felt awesome Also have to say the general buzz around the group before the game was refreshing and it's great to see the positivty spreading around the place with each good result.

Ratings:

Fed - 7 - Did what he had to do, made some decent stops though if I'm being picky could have caught one of them in the first half.
Griff - 8 - McGriff The Crime dog did all that was asked of him, got forward when he needed too and back when he was required.
Ivar - 7 - Steady but one or two headers sideways that could have left us in trouble. Never the less played well and made some decent challenges
Kish - 8 - Really like the look of the lad, first time I've seen him in person and he looks rock solid at the back would love to keep him but he's Premiership quality.
Berty - 7 - Again solid but once or twice I felt he could have got a better cross in, or got a cross in at all.
Kebe - 9 - Bloody hell Jimmy what we've seen in flashes against the likes of Norwich, Barnsley (A), Preston is now being produced on a regular basis, as others have said he just LOOKS like he's so full of confidence and feels he can beat the world. Still one or two touches that let him down but 2 goals and some fabulous runs and I welcome this new Kebe
Sig - 7 - Quiet game and didn't seem quite the same after he got that knock in the first half. Still looked good when he cut in but he does seem more comfortable in the middle
Tabb - 7 - Passing was a little wayward and he's never going to win much in the air but the guys works his socks off and seems a good replacement for Jem.
Howard - 7 - Again solid whilst unspectacular, got stuck in though and did some good things.
Church - 8 - Fantastic goal and worked hard
Rasiak - 8 - Actually seemed to cover a lot of ground and won his headers, well taken goals as well.

Bench
HRK - 6 - Game was dead and he tried to get in on the act when he should have crossed it. Still have reservations about him and would have preferred to see Bignall given a run.
Henry - 6 - Nice to see him back but felt he was wasted out on the left, struggled to get involved in a game that was winding down.
Marek - NA - Did he even touch the ball?