Paddy Lane swept home the only goal of a scrappy game to secure Reading's first league victory of the season against a Vale side also seeking their first win of the season. Lane had a steady game playing wide on the right, but mid-way through the second half produced a moment of true quality. Drifting inside, he found the top corner with his left foot from the edge of the box leaving Vale 'keeper Gauci rooted to the spot. It was a superb strike by the Royals new signing, which demonstrated he possesses a valuable asset, particularly for a wide player, the ability to strike the ball well with either foot.

The opening phase of the game was particularly scrappy, littered with misplaced passes by two sides still struggling to embrace the challenge of adjusting to an influx of new signings. Ahmed was getting forward to good effect. His persistence and direct running were causing the Vale defence problems. He delivered a couple of good crosses which might have produced an early goal. The first fizzed across the six-yard box eluding outstretched legs, and the second was wasted when O'Mahony tried to hit across the line of flight of the ball and missed the ball completely. A better option would have been, given the distance from goal and the pace of the cross, to attempt to deflect the ball past Gauci.

On the other wing Kyerewaa was exploiting acres of space against an isolated full back, but in spite of his pace and excellent ball control, could neither find a telling pass or an accurate strike on goal. However, in the second half he rolled a perfect ball across the box to provide the assist for Lane's winner.

Most disappointing performance of the day came from Elliot who gave the ball away too often, missed tackles, and lacked the energy to find spaces to receive the ball. He is a very talented player and Reading need his qualities in midfield. Today was for some reason he was not in the right frame of mind, and well below his best. Justifiably substituted on the hour.

Vale brought on Brown around the same time, clearly a popular choice with their fans, and posed a threat especially as they went looking for an equaliser. Fortunately for Reading, he failed to convert his best chance, putting the ball over the bar with only Pereira to beat. Pereira once again proved his value to the team in the second half getting down quickly to make smart saves and coming off his line to collect dangerous high balls into the box. He not only demonstrates leadership, he is also almost certainly the best 'keeper in this league by some distance.

We were given a first glimpse of new signing Marriot, replacing O'Mahony, who had played well overall, for the last half an hour. Marriott is clearly an experienced player with some nice touches but probably lacks the pace required to unsettle defences. Doyle had a good game in the Cup earlier in the week and again injected what a below par Elliot had been lacking in terms of energy and creativity.

Overall Noel Hunt will be content with the progress this squad is making, as well as the three points. He might also be wondering why an innocuous flick at a ball out of play on the halfway line which wasted a few seconds resulted in a red card. To his credit he didn't hang around to express any justifiable grievance. It was one of many decisions which referee Parsons had everyone feeling puzzled and angry.

Most notable was his decision NOT to apply the Laws of the game in first half stoppage time when Vale's Jess Debrah received treatment and remained on the pitch. The Laws of the Game states when a player receives treatment, they need to leave the field and re-enter with the permission of the referee. The only exception to this, as it clearly states in the Laws of the Game, is the goalkeeper who does not need to leave the field of play. What made it particularly puzzling was Parsons had already applied that Law to the three other particularly lengthy stoppages for treatment involving Vale players earlier in the half. Thankfully none of this affected the result.

John Wells