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GAME DETAILS
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Premier League
Attendance: 16,711
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Reading
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Rotherham United
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1 |
 Lewis Grabban (66), John Swift (79) |
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Tom Adeyemi (19) |
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 Will Vaulks (17), Joe Mattock (85) |
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| Managers |
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Players
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| League Stats |
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DT92 Members at this game: (you can click here to load your profile picture) |
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Armour316
92 |
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Royaljock
92 |
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Simon Smith
91 |
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Easypeersy
90 |
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Ground number 85 in the Football League.
We set off for a London at 0735 and the traffic was nice and clear all the way down.
Heather and Jessica had a hash brown at McDonalds as I nipped in to the toilet at the Black Cat Services near Saint Neots.
We arrived at Cockfosters at about 1015 and what a surprise to meet Dan Greenwood from Forest Pines.
We got on to the tube and were soon walking towards our hotel. Heather guided us by using her phone map. The hotel was overlooking the Shard.
Next thing was to get a Kentucky Fried Chicken meal for lunch and we did this at The Tower of London Kentucky which was in a cavern. There was much discussion about what drinks to get because the Pepsi was not available. Eventually it was decided to go for tango. I was longer eating my meal so the others decided to go off on their shopping spree. I stayed in the restaurant for quite some time musing over my day out and relaxing.
Then I suddenly discovered I might have left it a bit late for getting to Paddington station in time for my train. I dashed outside and ran to the nearest tube station Tower Hill.
At Monument I decided to change to the Bakerloo line. Big mistake, the tunnel to the bakerloo line was packed and about half a mile long. After several swerves and speed walking I got to the Bakerloo line just as the train was arriving. The most frustrating part was deciding to run up some stairs instead of using the escalator and then getting stuck behind an woman who refused to budge. It was annoying watching the escalator going faster than me!
Once on the Bakerloo line I realised I was going to be on time. I shed two layers to stop myself from sweating and got ready for Paddington station. Getting my Rail ticket was straightforward and once on the train with 15 minutes spare I sat down and reflected on my rush. Thinking what all the fuss!
Wi-fi was available but it was not good news at Cheltenham where Grimsby had gone 2 nil down by half time. It was only a thirty minute train journey to Reading. I got off the train and bumped into a station master who happened to be a Cheltenham fan. We had a little chat. He was pleased that Cheltenham might just about avoid the relegation into none league.
I got out of the station and quickly found the busses that were specifically for the match. In the queue I got talking to two men who were very friendly. We spoke about Grimsby, Reading, old matches, selling players, the state of football and other things. They also told me all about how best to negotiate getting back to the railway station after the match.
I set about getting my ticket. In the queue I asked a stewardess if there was any wi-if available. I wanted to know how much worse it had got for Grimsby. Kindly the lady looked up the score for me on her phone and surprisingly Grimsby had pulled it back to 2-1 but it was already in the 91st minute. I went into the ground hoping that an equaliser might have come in those dying minutes at Cheltenham! I had noticed via Lee Blease''s photograph on Facebook that Grimsby were playing in their ridiculous grey strip. I do not remember any match having been won whilst wearing that!
Once inside I found my seat. I looked around and decided that this is a very fine stadium. There were hardly any Rotherham supporters in the Away end. Not surprising considering the season they had been enduring! Reading had got their three stands relatively well filled. I decided to try on my new glasses and was excited to see that they made everything a lot crisper to see. They are definately not for use for reading though! Reading started brightly but against the run of play Rotherham suddenly scored! What a surprise that was. I noticed a huge wind turbine outside the ground, it was the one that the man I''d met earlier had mentioned. It was quite a distraction! Reading had a huge amount of possession, I think there was even a six minute spell where Rotherham did not even touch the ball. However, by half time it was still one nil to the underdogs.
I got chatting to the man next to me and he was hoping Reading would make more of their possession in the second half. He thought I was a football blogger.
In the second half I was anticipating more goals and this time Reading were kicking towards our home end. It took a while but the persistent pressure and domination exhibited by Reading finally lead to two goals and both very good ones.
I left the ground on the 88th minute and was able to get on to the first bus in a queue heading back towards the Railway station. It had been an entertaining match in what I think is a great stadium. Just a pity that the ample crowd was very quiet. No chanting, singing or cheering apart from when the goals were scored.
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ROYALS21TONY
78 |
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miller jan
65 |
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millerz19
44 |
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Andrew2000
0 |
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Charlottethomas7887
0 |
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