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Reading travelled the short distance to Adams Park in huge numbers, and we topped the away attendance of the day list - I can’t say that’s happened too many times. Local derbies are always good fun and the travelling Royals attended in decent numbers, topping the away attendance chart on the night with 2,041. That probably wasn’t far off matching the home fans.
Credit has to be given to the Wycombe team for putting up a decent fight and the club as a whole to be fair; decent food at a decent price, beer that’s not £6 a bottle and sensible stewarding should always be applauded.
The game itself was a decent one with chances at both ends and some individually good performances from the Reading side including Rafael (who basically turned into a god in 90 minutes plus penalties), Ovie Ejaria and George Puscas who took his goal well. John Swift also came off the bench and made a huge difference, while Omar Richards had his best game for a while.
All in all it was a decent night’s football, rewarded with a horrible journey to Plymouth Argyle in the next round.
Tweets
Home fans seeing the positives
Can't fault wycombe Tonight
— Owen Reeman (@Owen_B_Reeman) August 13, 2019
Brilliant game, felt we were unlucky not to get the win, especially with Bayo hitting the bar in the final second but we move on to Saturday#Chairboys
He really is a decent bloke
Reaction from a proud Gareth Ainsworth after the #Chairboys took #readingfc all the way to penalties. #WYCvREA pic.twitter.com/Vt9cz3sYjD
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) August 13, 2019
Shows the reason why you need an academy
Danny Loader, who scored the decisive pen for Reading in the shoot out was released from the @wwfcofficial academy when it was shut down #Chairboys
— Phil Catchpole (@bluntphil) August 13, 2019
Oh joy...
Reading’s prize for beating us tonight is a trip to Plymouth Argyle. Every cloud.. #Chairboys
— Chairboy84 (@chairboy84) August 13, 2019
Wouldn’t say outplayed...
Bottom line is, we've largely outplayed a Championship side and drawn with them over 90 minutes. They've beaten us with four class penalties and a bonkers keeper. #Chairboys
— The Wycombe Way (@theWycombeWay) August 13, 2019
Would agree with this!
I can't help but feel that Adams Park is something of a culture shock for Reading's 'keeper, who used to play for Napoli. #Chairboys #ReadingFC #WYCvREA
— Chairboys Central (@chairboyscentrl) August 13, 2019
Media
As you can imagine there isn’t much. However, what there is, is as follows.
The video from Sky Sports is in this link, and to be fair I am a little bit disappointed as Sky would have had more content than this. Just showing the goals and the penalties is a little frustrating - it’s hardly highlights. Their match report is non-existent, going to show the value they place on the game.
The BBC hardly fare any better, giving us a “Reading survived a scare and now place Plymouth”, which is 60% of their report.
To wrap this section up as, yes, it is bordering on wasting your time, Get Reading have a decent interview around George Puscas and Rafael with Jose Gomes talking about their full debuts for the team. There are other copies of this floating around which do bump up the “coverage” but are largely repeats of the Get Reading Story.
To be honest your best off just following The Tilehurst End.
Closing thoughts
This could have been a banana skin but wasn’t. There were some good performances and ones where you can see potential, but they’re not quite yet at the required standard - also some blossoming partnerships and composure at the back.
All in all it wasn’t a bad night out - it could have been a lot worse - but there are massive positives. Rafael should be the signing of the season, Puscas shows that his workrate is exceptional - and he got a goal as well so that’s a big tick. Ejaria showed why we wanted him back and a massive well done to Tom McIntyre who is probably the calmest youngster on the planet.
Cardiff will be a difficult game, but momentum is king. We need those three league points to start climbing up the table and, you know what, I reckon we’ve got a good chance against them.