LATE COLLAPSE SEES ROYALS TOPPLED AWAY AT BLACKPOOL
READING’S run of three unbeaten Championship games came to an end as they were dealt their first defeat under interim manager Paul Ince at Blackpool.
The Royals went ahead when Lucas Joao continued his excellent scoring form but goals from Marvin Ekpiteta, Gary Madine and Shane Lavery saw Blackpool come fighting back to take the points.
The result leaves Reading still one place outside the relegation zone with the gap being cut to six points by Barnsley, in 22nd place, after their win over Middlesbrough.
The Tykes also have a game in hand.
Paul Ince was forced into making changes in what was his first away trip as the Royals boss having made a winning start with a home victory over Birmingham City on Tuesday.
Goalkeeper Luke Southwood returned in goal in the absence of Karl Hein, while Tom Holmes also missed out with injury with meant a reshuffle at the back with Andy Rinomhota dropping in at rightback, and Andy Yiadom switched to left-back.
Ovie Ejaria also made a longanticipated return to the matchday squad and was also joined by Alen Halilovic after his spell on the treatment table.
The home side made a decent start in front of their fans when they won some early corners in the match but they weren’t able to capitalise after the first setpiece was well overhit and the second was headed out by Danny Drinkwater.
The first big opening of the match came for Blackpool in the eighth minute only to be prevented by a super stop from Southwood.
Tom McIntyre appealed for a foul when he was barged over by Gary Madine, but the referee waved play on and a chance presented itself for Gerry Yates whose shot was saved by a low reaction save from the Royals keeper.
Reading got onto the attack and looked to get ahead when Drinkwater fed the ball to Lucas Joao, however, Blackpool recovered in defence to thwart the Portuguese forward.
The ball dropped invitingly for Josh Bowler to strike in the box and he smacked an effort high over the top.
Against the run of play, the Royals seized their opportunity to open the scoring with 17 minutes on the clock.
Yiadom worked tenaciously to get down the left byline and placed the ball across goal to set up Joao for a tap in from eight yards out as the striker scored his sixth goal in eight matches.
Southwood came up with another terrific save to keep his team in front when he got across to keep out Madine’s close range header.
It didn’t take long for the Tangerines to respond and they were back on level terms 10 minutes after Joao’s opener.
Reading tried to beat the forwards with an offside trap, but Blackpool skipper Marvin Ekpiteta managed to hold his run and nod the ball past Southwood to equalise.
Blackpool gained confidence after their leveller and piled some pressure on Reading to try and edge themselves in front before the break.
Despite the home team’s efforts, Reading held firm to see themselves get to half-time on terms having scored with their only shot on target.
Reading had an early chance after the restart when Blackpool gifted the ball to Joao, he slipped the ball to John Swift who took one too many touches out wide and saw his opportunity disappear.
Swift’s eyes lit up when Reading were awarded a free-kick just outside of the area when Tom
Ince was bundled over. Reading’s top scorer struck at goal and was denied by Daniel Grimshaw who got fingertips to put the ball over the crossbar.
Reading were hurt once again after being unable to defend a corner.
Blackpool crowded several players inside the six-yard to cause chaos in the box and that allowed Madine to prod in a header from a few yards out.
Ince’s team fought to try and salvage something from the match which saw him bring Yakou Meite and Ovie Ejaria off the bench for the remaining 15 minutes in place of Tom Dele-Bashiru and Junior Hoilett.
Neil Critchley’s team had a chance to seal the points when the ball dropped for Hamilton but he fizzed his shot past the post.
The Tangerines did wrap up the game with their next break on goal when substitute Shane Lavery burst behind the Royals back line and applied the finishing touch to put the game to bed.
Just minutes later, Blackpool put more gloss on their victory when Bowler volleyed past Southwood with an exquisite finish.
Reading are back in action at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday when they host Millwall.