Reading 2

Bristol Rovers 1

Our reserve side were beaten 2-1 by what was virtually a full strength Reading reserve side this afternoon.

After conceding twice in the opening ten minutes Darren Patterson's side gradually got themselves back in the game and Ben Swallow pulled a goal back, from a free kick, after 15 minutes.

A very competitive second half saw Rovers put in a much improved performance but failed to bring any more goals, and although the home side looked dangerous on the break, on the occasions they got through a well organised Rovers defence, they found goalkeeper Rhys Evans in outstanding form.

Six of the substitutes on duty at Charlton last night were in the starting lineup, the only exception being Carl Regan.

One of the six, Evans, was called into action early on, when he saved a shot from O'Dea at his near post. However he was beaten on five minutes after he had done well to palm away a close range effort from Long, only for Gunnar Thordvalsson to snap up the rebound and slot the ball home from close range.

He was beaten again by the same player three minutes later, having no chance of saving the strikers long range effort.

Rovers pulled a goal back with a quarter of an hour on the clock when Swallow curled a 20 yard free kick just inside the near post.

Cisse hit a shot wide for the homes side, while Ben Hunt saw a shot deflected for a corner at the other end and Joe White hit a shot straight at goalkeeper Hamer when well placed.

Alex Kite denied Thordvalsson when he cleared the striker's shot off the line in the closing stages of the half that saw Rovers finish strongly.

There were few goalscoring opportunities for neither side in the second period, but Evans had to be alert on four separate occasions to keep out close range efforts from the home side,

Rovers didn't really trouble Hamer in the home goal and were restricted to long range efforts that were either high or wide of the target. However there were encouraging performances from a number of players, not least that of second half substitute Ollie Clarke, whose determination in the tackle and the ability to get forward at every opportunity caught the eye.

Rovers: Evans, Cayford, Kite, Elliott, Tyrell, Wright, Reece, Clough (Clarke 46), Swallow, White, Hunt.

Substitutes (not used): Richards, Holmes, Clarke, Booth, Cooper, Kingdon, McKenna, Plumer

Reading: Hamer, Cummings, Armstrong, Ciss (Bel-Baggie), Mills (M), O'Dea, Robson-Kanu (MacDonald), Gunnarsen (Vanislev), Long, Gunnar Thordvalsson (Taylor), Bozanic,

Substitute (not used): Locke