Moving in the wrong direction

Without a home goal in 2025, and with the last one scored being an exceptionally fortunate gift from the opposition, Town’s imploding season is beginning to limp well below acceptable levels.

A long overdue change in formation failed to provide any substantial answers as a promising opening 20 minutes faded into the usual miasma of mediocrity, particularly in the final third where decision making floundered as the grip of anxiety tightened.

The visitors looked as poor an opponent as any seen at the stadium in the first half, yet Town quickly ran out of ideas as the Royals found defending increasingly easy in the face of two small, energetic but barely threatening front men, despite some positive front foot play in build ups.

New loan man Chirewa had a promising debut despite fading quite a while before he was subbed after the hour mark and provided some much needed impetus on the left without finding the right final ball or shot.

The predictable return of Nicholls in place of Chapman, whose performances have slightly dipped, provided extra experience at the back but the number one keeper’s distribution was several notches below his young colleague’s usual quality.

He was barely called upon to thwart a Reading side, however, who took a long time to realise that their opponent was fragile, lacking in confidence and prone to anxious error. When they did, they looked the better side in a spell in the second half which could have been disastrous but for their finishing, which matched Town’s own profligacy.

An increasingly disillusioned home crowd could only look on in frustration as their injury ravaged team failed to turn their only period of superiority into a lead, with Charles firing wide on two occasions and other promising situations disintegrating on contact with a reasonably solid visiting defence, and with Sorensen consistently failing to find a man in the box.  

A first half of genuine endeavour was an improvement on recent outings, but at no point was there a hint that a moment of quality would lift it from the mundane. 

From the off in the second half, Reading finally took the game to Town and wasted several good opportunities without troubling Nicholls, though their first effort had him scrambling as it flashed by the far post.

Koroma replaced the spent Chirewa  on the left and added some spasmodic threat, including a reasonable drive kept out by a save which was parried to an offside Charles who, predictably, headed wide.

Kasumu also made a welcome return and looked reasonably sharp in a too often malfunctioning midfield but was unable to find a way through the visitor’s stubborn rearguard despite a couple of trademark bursts.

The crisis bubbling away at the club as injuries bite and disrupt was starkly illustrated by the late appearance of Ladapo, an alleged striker we thought had been consigned to either history or the B team over a month ago. 

Elevated to 6th choice striker with Radulovic’s welcome departure, and a rare source of entertainment of entirely the wrong sort for the dulled John Smith stands, he nevertheless came close to providing the winner when he shimmied in to the area following a defensive error but chose an unorthodox shot, easily saved, rather than squaring to the better placed Marshall.

He soon reverted back to his comedic role when he beat the keeper to a through ball, was pushed out too wide and decided to cross. His effort rocketed backwards at great speed and out for a throw. You had to laugh.

Two largely ineffectual, plodding teams who would barely break out of mid table if League One had any depth of quality fought out an entirely forgettable goalless draw featuring two saves in total, with one of those being more of a collection.

It would be unkind not to acknowledge just how debilitating an injury crisis of this depth and longevity has on performance and consistency, and Duff at least shifted away from, effectively, a 6 man defence at home and, however unsatisfactorily, the losing streak was halted.

It remains to be seen if Town can recover the confidence which carried them through a long unbeaten run, but in the absence of an upturn, and soon, the minimum objective of an immediate return to the Championship is looking increasingly unlikely.

It is difficult to make a case that promotion would be particularly beneficial in any case. 

Without momentum, a massive clear out of playing staff and with the fading goodwill of supporters, we look many, many miles off being able to compete at a higher level when we are barely hanging on to a play off place in a desperately poor quality division.

On to another mediocre opponent in Barnsley at Oakwell next week backed, remarkably, by over 4,000 for what promises to be another exercise in drudgery.

Oh, to be entertained