BEERENS DELIVERS LATE JOY FOR STAM

A rEADiNG rescue job handed Jaap stam a brilliant victory in a game of two turnarounds. Goals from Jota and Lasse Vibe, in the space of four second-half minutes, looked to have flipped this one in Brentford’s favour after John swift had put reading ahead. But Danny Williams and roy Beerens struck for the hosts in five mad minutes of their own to turn the tables again. ‘The spirit in the team is very good,’ said stam, before admitting: ‘sometimes you need to have a bit of luck.’ reading took a deserved lead on 22 minutes when swift slotted in after Gareth McCleary’s cross was knocked on to the post by defender Maxime Colin. From there, though, stam’s side fell apart. Chance after chance went begging for Brentford. Tyler Blackett was caught short to allow sergi Canos in and when his pass was cycled through to Vibe, the Danish striker really should have scored. he was similarly guilty as a cross flashed across his forehead and wide. But Brentford’s profligacy would not continue for ever. Florian Jozefzoon came on as a substitute and made an instant impact, laying a ball on a plate for Jota to find the top corner. Moments later, Jota played Vibe in one-on-one and his blasted finish flew in off Chris Gunter. But reading were keen on a turnaround themselves. Williams netted from McCleary’s cross with 13 minutes left and then substitute Beerens took advantage of an error from goalkeeper Daniel Bentley to sweep in the winner. Finally, a Jozefzoon strike somehow stayed out and Ali Al-habsi clawed away from Vibe. in a crazy second half, this was anyone’s game. stam was just relieved it ended up reading’s.