Brimming with possibility

 It feels different.

Last season’s attempt at revitalisation crashed against the rocks of years of mostly bad — and far too numerous — managerial choices, a naïve new owner compounding those errors, and the legacy of a rancid, decaying squad reeking of failure.

Vestiges remain, with one or two subtle reminders in a hard-earned win over another club desperately searching for a momentum change, but in just two games Town have the look of a club that may — just may — have found a path to redemption.

It wasn’t a pretty win and hinged on moments going in the visitors’ favour, but Reading is never an easy place to go and gain points, even if the Royals are only just starting their own rebuild under new American (of course) ownership.

For the most part, Town were the better footballing side in a feisty and committed encounter, but too little of their play created threat and, one glorious chance for Joe Taylor aside, an open-play goal seemed elusive throughout.

The appearance of Sorensen in a defensive role on the right caused some alarm to those of us with even minimal exposure to the Dane’s body of work, and rather smacked of a manager believing he could unlock the player who shone at Sincil Bank, in contrast to our amateur scepticism. He did a reasonable, if not entirely flawless, job of containing the dangerous Kyerewaa.

His forays forward flattered to deceive, particularly in the first half, and he became the latest in a sad list of Town would-be long-throwers with an embarrassing effort that barely reached the penalty area.

After a promising opening 20 minutes, where the Terriers’ passing and movement looked sharp and crisp, the performance dipped and became a little ragged despite occasional threat down the left, with Reading disrupting their opponents’ flow more effectively.

That nullification by the home side came, ironically, after their best player, Wing, departed injured. What they lost in potential creativity, they seemed to gain in tighter aggression, and the increased attrition severely restricted the quality of entertainment as both sides played out a largely forgettable first half.

Other than an early effort from Kyerewaa, following the Royals’ best move of the half, Town’s defence contained them with some comfort as Low and Whatmough impressed both with and without the ball, physically dominating their somewhat lightweight opponents and winning the vast majority of their battles.

Typically of lunchtime kick-offs, the entertainment was at a premium, and though Town strived for combinations, breaking the hosts’ back line proved too difficult, with minimal threat from either side.

The visitors had the first opportunity of the second half when a smart ball from Ledson sent Taylor bursting through against a back-pedalling defence, but he hit a tame shot rather than squaring to the better-placed Wiles.

Reading, who were a little more threatening in the second half, created a chance at the far post with a teasing cross that was headed well over by Lane, who had to make contact with a ball that had bounced up, determining its trajectory.

This heralded the home side’s best spell of the match, culminating in Goodman having to make one of only two challenging saves of the contest to smartly keep out a deflected effort. The other, more routine, came at his near post and led to the pivotal moment of the game, when an unmarked Burns glanced well wide from the subsequent corner.

Immediately after the miss, the same home player gave away a cheap corner for Town, which Miller swung in. Whatmough competed for the ball and, as it dropped off a home body, managed to poke in the opener.

The goal came as something of a surprise given the lack of opportunities for the visitors, but it spurred them on against a visibly demoralised Reading, and the lead never looked like being relinquished.

Before the goal, and on the hour, Grant made three changes — the impressive Low making way for Feeney to make his debut — while changes to both flanks added more impetus as Gooch and Roughan, surely the first-choice options, replaced Sorensen and Roosken.

With a spring in their step, the rejuvenated visitors dominated the final 15 minutes, epitomised by the outstanding work rate of May, who is quickly establishing himself as the stark contrast to some of last year’s employees, despite a bout of cramp.

Town squeezed any ambition from their opponents with a smothering blanket in the increasing heat. The quietly impressive Ledson marshalled the team to a victory that had never looked glaringly obvious from a committed but rather average first 75 minutes, but once in front the depth and quality of the squad shone through.

Worryingly, Miller went down clutching his hamstring after attempting to push and run past an opponent, and could play no further part. Having used all their allowed substitutes, Town had to see out injury time with 10 men — and not only did so with ease, but also conjured up a second goal to seal the win.

With Dion Charles having replaced Taylor, Cameron Aisha made his debut, replacing Wiles (who rather disappeared again after a bright start) to provide some energy in the closing stages.

Charles won a free kick in a good position with some clever play, and Kane curled in a decent ball into the box that was half-cleared to Aisha, who stroked the ball into the far corner of the net with a perfect first-time strike. He was quite pleased with it, on the evidence of his ecstatic celebrations — as were his delighted team-mates.

Town’s record in lunchtime kick-offs has been abysmal of late, though that is probably more down to the abysmal part than the hour of day, and a solid win at a historically tough venue provides Grant and the squad a great foundation upon which to build.

The manager’s predecessor also had good results to start with last year, but Duff still had a squad of losers and could only construct the flimsiest of foundations, as it turned out.

What has happened — probably more quickly than expected, and obviously helped by winning — is regaining the trust of a support who were thoroughly sickened by last season’s shambolic events. Even with six starters who were part of that horror show, and only two games in, solid progress has been made.

It is possible that the first two opponents have been played at the right time — Reading now have a chance to build under new ownership, and Orient’s play-off hangover didn’t last long, judging by their good win yesterday.

However, with new players yet to play, old players looking more comfortable with a better squad around them, and plenty of headroom to grow, an encouraging start shouldn’t be sniffed at — and if it were, it would likely smell far sweeter than in recent years.