Peterborough Fans Verdict: Royals Seal Vital Three Points

Tuesday was a huge game - one that, just seven matches into the season, had already been teed up as a relegation six-pointer as fellow struggles Peterborough United came to town.

After the shambles of recent weeks - particularly in a defensive capacity - we needed to see a reaction. And, all in all, I think we got that, albeit with a few bumps along the way, in traditional Reading Football Club style.

The performance in the first half wasn’t great, as yet again we struggled to break down a low defensive block. However, thanks to three moments of individual quality and some handy interventions from Luke Southwood between the sticks, we managed to hold on to all three points - which could be a massive mental boost for us going forward.

It was Tom Dele-Bashiru who ended up stealing the show - bagging his first two goals for the club - with Swifty chipping in with his customary piece of magic too.

The fans were in a good mood after the game - well, certainly a better mood than they have been in recent weeks. Here’s what they had to say...

Tom Dele-Bashiru

In his limited appearances so far, TDB has looked exciting without doing anything of real note. However, in the second half of Tuesday night’s game (after a particularly poor first-half performance I must say) he clicked into gear and showed us a taster of what could be to come.

His first goal - Reading’s second - was a beautifully taken touch and finish after some good work down the right hand side from Puski. And then the Watford loanee sealed all three points with an absolute peach.

The fans were certainly impressed with his performance, and are eager to see more from him...

John Swift

You’d think the amount I’ve talked about him so far in these pieces this season, I’d be getting a bit bored. I’m not.

I am so, so happy for this bloke. I don’t want to take any credit for anything but I have been in this man’s corner ever since he joined, while he’s received more than his fair share of criticism. Now he is silencing all those haters, and showing why he is our most important player.

He continued his fine form on Tuesday night with a worldie of a free kick - which went down very well with the fans, who again showed their adoration after the game...

A vital win

Let’s be honest, the overall performance wasn’t the greatest. The fans’ reaction on Twitter after the game seemed to back that up. But what the fans also appeared to agree on is that the only thing that mattered is we ended the night with three more points than we started it.

And the fact that it was almost de ja vu to Saturday, but we managed to hold on and even go and score again, *should* do the players the world of good and settle some nerves.

This team needs confidence, because when the play with it, we can match anyone in this league. And wins like Tuesday will give them more confidence.

It will also keep the fans in a good mood...

Conclusion

A really, really important win and one that should boost the players’ confidence and settle some nerves among the fans.

We’re by no means out of the woods though. We all know the biggest word in this league is momentum, and you can only build that by putting together a run of good results - and that will be next on Pauno’s agenda.

It may not happen straightaway though with a tough trip to Fulham coming up on Saturday. I don’t know about you lot, but I'm making sure I visit a few pubs before kick off...

URZ