Back from the Game - Villa

[Readingfanman]

Federici 7

Bertrand 4
Mills 5
Ivar 6
Griffin 6

Kebe 7
Howard 5
Tabb 8
Sigurdsson 6

Long 8
Church 6

Subs:

Rasiak 6
Gunarsson 5


Not much I can say right now except I am so gutted.

[FiNeRaIn]

Once again Ivar was our worst defender. Off in the summer please.

[The Cap]

in the second half Aston Villa outclassed us greatly

Not sure about that james me ol' mucker. They had a couple of spells where they took advantage of our errors but apart from that we were equal to the task.

Bring on the Derby. We didn't reach Wembley today but we may still do.....this season. What greater incentive.

[Royal Rother]

Your video shows Church clearly push him in the back, Warnocks throws himself a tiny bit, but Church still clearly pushes him.

Warnock clearly throws himself on the deck gaining the freekick. I must be blind as there is clearly no push, maybe contact but no push. He felt a hand touch his back and dived theatrically.

Balls. I was about 20 yards to the right of you, and it was a clear push from Church. No way was it a dive.

Can't be 100% sure but no real contact was evident from the TV replays. He seemed to misjudge the flight of the ball then chucked himself to the ground with great style when he realised he wasn't going to get it.

I suspect the ref got that one wrong but Villa were rather unfortunate to have Carew's effort disallowed for offside in the 1st half as he was not offside (albeit incredibly difficult for the lino to judge).

[The Cap]

Good luck to Villa now I hope they go on and win it.

Against Chelski Alan? Time for Villa to be the underdogs.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

2-0 up with Wembley in site at half time.

I thought Mcdermott would have changed the formation to 4-5-1 at the start of 2nd half as he would have known Villa would push for goals in the first 15 minutes. He did not with Villa striking quickly with 3 goals in a 10 minute spell that totally changed the outcome of the game.

Credit to Martin O'Neil for the Villa tactics in the second half....I would have liked to have heard what he said to his players at half time!!

Credit also to McDermott and his backroom staff for what they have achieved to date this season.. Taking Reading further in the FA Ccup than any other manager for 83 years is something the fans and he should be very proud of.

[Jerry St Clair]

Gutted but immensely proud. The difference in the second half was that Villa closed us down at every opportunity and moved the ball far better. End of!

Yes, I'd add that the second goal instilled a sense that we'd done it; certainly amongst the support and very likely amongst the players. I haven't heard the East Stand concourse singing like that at half time before. Incredible, but also inevitable, second half.

[rotherwick_royal]

Told you villa fans would be a bunch of muppets. Fairweather as well, no noise.

Hope chelsea pump them in the semi.

Nope, I'm an ABC - Anyone But Chelsea

[The Cap]

At the time i wasn't too upset about it, really enjoyed the first half, felt I had an enjoyable afternoon, now I feel gutted as a result of reading HobNob, makes me realise how big it actually was and makes me think about it more, maybe i'd be a happier person if i didnt read this site as often....

Jog on greatwestern. Derby next up.

[Medusa?]

I don't want to take anything away from our first half performance, but...Villa played the first half like they were too desperate to win, just trying too hard. Whatever MO'N said at halftime steadied and calmed them. After going ahead, they sat back - and we got back in the game.

However, I can't be too depressed after that performance (just driven home 2 hours with the roof down on the car - impossible to be depressed). If BM can get the team to focus on the how they played in the first half, not the result, it should be a great incentive for Wednesday's game.

As for Griffin in the second half, I just think he was knackered after running most of the way up the pitch. Kebe ditto.

[Sarah Star]

Couldn't believe we went 2-0 up. People near me were in tears at that point. At half-time, I was handing out the chocolate biscuits and our neighbours were asking if we'd like to sit near them if we got to Wembley and we nearly got as far as swapping numbers, but decided to do it after the match instead.

What a difference 15 minutes makes. Once we were 2-3 down, they were offering to stamp on my biscuits and we were saying it was our fault for even discussing Wembley.

Thought Tabb was outstanding today, but the team seemed to lose their nerve in the second half. Villa came at us and suddenly we were panicking, losing shape and misplacing passes. Kebe didn't seem as quick as before and Bertrand... well, enough said. He did try to make amends bombing down the wing, but they were all fired up by then. Would have liked to keep Howard and Church on the pitch despite that. I wish we could take passes like they could with one touch and turn and run, but then if we could I guess we'd be Premier League and paying our players millions to do it.

I actually feel more gutted now than at the end of the game, thinking of what might have been.

[The Cap]

I haven't heard the East Stand concourse singing like that at half time before. Incredible, but also inevitable, second half.

Yeah it's been there before Jerry. Back in the day of the play off game against Wigan when Fozzy did his stuff and that nutter from Y25 ran on the pitch in the first half to have a go at one of their players. Memories.

[Winchester Royal]

The atmosphere at the Wigan game was perhaps the best atmosphere the Madejski has seen.

[79Royal]

We made a side full of internationals look poor first half and matched them for 30 minutes of the second half. Had shots cleared off the line, kept going at them despite having the stuffing knocked out of us. Great opportunity to make Wembley, but not to be. Great cup run, great fun today, made a lot of friends as a club. Can't ask for much more given our form at the turn of the year.

Gutted but proud to be a Royal today.

[PEARCEY]

Couldn't believe we went 2-0 up. People near me were in tears at that point. At half-time, I was handing out the chocolate biscuits and our neighbours were asking if we'd like to sit near them if we got to Wembley and we nearly got as far as swapping numbers, but decided to do it after the match instead.

What a difference 15 minutes makes. Once we were 2-3 down, they were offering to stamp on my biscuits and we were saying it was our fault for even discussing Wembley.

Thought Tabb was outstanding today, but the team seemed to lose their nerve in the second half. Villa came at us and suddenly we were panicking, losing shape and misplacing passes. Kebe didn't seem as quick as before and Bertrand... well, enough said. He did try to make amends bombing down the wing, but they were all fired up by then. Would have liked to keep Howard and Church on the pitch despite that. I wish we could take passes like they could with one touch and turn and run, but then if we could I guess we'd be Premier League and paying our players millions to do it.

I actually feel more gutted now than at the end of the game, thinking of what might have been.

Never mind Sarah. We were part of a brilliant Cup-tie today that will inspire more youngsters to support our club. We will have won plaudits for the way we played. Some of our football was terrific today and even Bertrand tried to make amends with that terrific run in the second-hlaf..but he was our weak-link today.

[Victor Meldrew]

Agree with those earlier that said this felt very much like the Wembley game v Bolton.
In that game we physically tired whereas in this game we went to sleep mentally.
At half-time my brother said that as long as we kept tight on the two wingers he couldn't see too much danger and I agreed with him especially with Milner and Petrov ponderous through the middle where Tabb in particular outplayed them.
I do sit with some very wise people-my mate John,an ex-full-back-has been banging on about Bertrand being a poor defender and today not only did he casually whack the ball across field but also didn't get back to cover his man and then ,just as with Chris Brunt in the WBA home game,he let the winger get a free cross into the box so it was 2-2 in the blink of an eye.
There is no way Chelsea will be wanting him in the future and although he has other commendable attributes I would prefer a fit Armstrong to deal with the basics better just like Griffin has done in his fairly short time with us.

I feel so sorry for the likes of Mills,Tabb,Long and (in the first half)Kebe who all played way above themselves but regrettably Bertrand,Church,Howard and Ivar didn't.
We needed everybody to be on top of their game but unfortunately that is why we lost on a day when we had a fantastic chance to reach the semi-final.

Having said all that,thanks to the manager and players for giving us plenty of excitement with this cup run during a 15-month period when our league performances have so often been dire.

[Sarah Star]

Never mind Sarah. We were part of a brilliant Cup-tie today that will inspire more youngsters to support our club. We will have won plaudits for the way we played.

I hope that's true... if we can keep our winning form in the league.

WNG!

[2.8 lita injection]

Superb in the first half but in the 2nd half our centre backs couldn't handle Carew or Heskey, easily out muscled and even villa goal kicks were going straight to the feet of Carew. Every goal our centre backs had a chance to win their tackle, Betrand did make a mistake for the first but their chances for others to clear the ball.

[Zammo]

The only thing we did wrong all game was not hold on to our lead until at least the 50th minute. Otherwise, it was a flawless performance from a team facing relegation from the Championship against a side 'fresh' from a major Cup final and lookng to finish in the Champions League placings in the Premiership.

Oh, and Long & Tabb were utterly outstanding.

[URZZZZZZZZ]

Its an odd one. The one thing I dread from Reading, odd that it seems, is mid table mediocrity in any league. Obviously, I would be distraught if we go down but a slow canter towards the end of the season fills me with a horrible feeling of boredom. Cannot remember the last time we were going into the end of the season with nothing to play for.