Young stars will have the chance to shine
WITHOUT the distraction of a crowd, entertainment on a matchday is entirely reliant on the football.
It is magnified, so high-quality performances like Reading’s 5-0 win at Luton sizzle, while low-quality goalless draws like Reading v Huddersfield on Tuesday are even more of a snooze than usual. Four days, four points, four goals for Yakou Meite, four games remaining. Most importantly, Reading have stretched further clear of the relegation zone.
A win at Charlton Athletic on Saturday could make it mathematically certain they will be playing in The Championship again next season.
There will be no last day nerves this season.
More significant than the results this week has been the emergence of a couple of stars of the future.
Tom McIntyre in central defence and Gabriel Osho at right back have been playing in Reading’s youth teams together since they were eight years old.
That’s since 2006, if you want to feel really old.
Both look likely to have bright futures at the Madejski Stadium, providing they keep their feet on the ground.
The timing of their emergence could not be better as there will be a mass exodus of senior players in August.
The need to reduce the wage bill and debt will be the primary concerns, so younger, cheaper players like Osho and McIntyre will become more prominent.
It is a good time to be a promising youngster at Reading FC. Equally, it is a bad time to be a senior pro.
The other major development for Reading fans this week is the guarantee of a local derby next season.
Much as we have tried to hype
Brentford and QPR games as derbies, that has always been a stretch.
With Oxford United and Wycombe Wanderers meeting in the League 1 play-off final on Monday we are now assured some local rivalry next season. The last proper local derby Reading had was way back in 2002 in the third tier. Which of these two would Reading fans prefer to see matches against next season?
The history and the true local rivalry points to Oxford.
Anyway, according to AA Route Planner Oxford’s Kassam Stadium is 0.1 mile closer to the Madejski Stadium than Wycombe’s Adams Park.
Access in and out the ground is better, parking is better and I’ve had this idea the two teams could pool their resources and become something like “Thames Valley Royals”.
Regardless of the result of the play-off final though, the big hope must be that fans will be allowed back into grounds to watch games by the time Reading have their local derby.
Without fans in the ground it will be just another game – fans will give it a sense of occasion.
What the Luton and Huddersfield games taught us this week was if you are going to play behind closed doors, it is better in a smaller stadium.
The cavernous Madejski Stadium, like other 20,000-plus capacity grounds, is eerie and soulless without a crowd.
The tighter and more intimate grounds like Kenilworth Road still have a little bit of atmosphere, even without a crowd.
With that in mind I’m anticipating Reading v Oxford at Didcot Town or maybe Reading v Wycombe at Maidenhead United, next season. 50 years ago July 9 1970
Irish delight at AWRE
THE Northern Ireland team of drivers who last year won the inter-area auto tests at AWRE Aldermaston faced disaster on Sunday when they returned to defend their title.
Halfway through the programme, and with their team leading the field, Harold Hagan, driving a 1275cc Midget, broke his half shaft. But with hurried repairs involving virtual rebuilding of the rear axle, he managed to get back into the competition and the team went on to win the trophy.
Second in the event, which attracted 13 teams from all over the country, were the Central Southern England reserves, who led after four tests and only conceded first place to the Ulster crews on the last part.
The event was organised by the AWRE Motor Club.
10 years ago July 8 2010
Second call-up for Katie
NEWBURY cyclist Katie Metalli will get the opportunity to pull on an England shirt for the second time as she has once again been selected for UK School Games.
The games are planned to introduce the best up-and-coming sports youngsters from across the UK and are billed as the next largest multisport competition after the Commonwealth Games and will this year cost more than £3 million to stage.
As well as the overall Home International where teams from England, Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland compete against each other, each of the sports will have their own Inter-Regional Championships.
More than 1,600 schoolchildren aged between 13 and 17 across 10 different sports are scheduled to make the journey to the North
East at the beginning of September where the cities of Newcastle, Gateshead and Middlesbrough will play host to the 167 different teams taking part.
Last year Katie became only the second Newbury athlete to attend the games after Helen Broadbridge competed in Bath in 2008 and was the youngest member of the England South cycling squad to take part in the track cycling events in Newport.
Despite this, she managed the fourth fastest time in the opening leg of the team pursuit event against girls who were mainly three years older.
The UK School Games is funded by the UK government via the Youth Sports Trust.
Further good news followed for the St Barts’ girl when she then heard that she has also been selected for this year’s Inter-Regional Track Championships as well.
Elsewhere, Joseph Linehan continued with his blistering form as he qualified for the National Track Champs with a fine fifth place in the Southern Regional Championships, while younger sister Anna looks good for a few years’ time as she finished sixth in the U10s non-qualifying event.