Wycombe Wanderers Fans Verdict: Reading Not Up To Scratch
How the Loyal Royals reacted to a poor result against the Chairboys.
After the high of Carlisle United last week, this performance and result brought us back down to reality with a comprehensive thud.
The performance in the first half in particular was really poor, and then, having bounced back through Sam Smith’s headed equaliser, to go and throw it away like we did is really, really frustrating. It was a stupid tackle from Clinton Mola and it cost us a crucial point.
It’s just annoying really, in a game where three points would’ve been absolutely huge. Here’s how the fans reacted to the key talking points...
The first half
I think the fans could tell from quite early on that Reading weren’t quite at the races on Saturday. They picked up in the second half, and created some good chances, but in the first half Wycombe were by far the better team and deservedly led at the interval.
The fans weren’t happy with what they saw in the opening 45...
@willow1871 did Paul Ince take over for the first half? Camped in our penalty box when we needed three points was embarrassing. Smith spent longer in our box than in theirs in the first half #readingfc
— Sean Mobsby (@SeanMobsby) March 9, 2024
Deserved to lose that after the first half performance, was the worst we played this season #readingfc
— Larkcomball23 (@TwoTeam_FC) March 9, 2024
Terrible first half, how disappointing after the week we've had. #readingfc
— Justin B (@beasers) March 9, 2024
As stupid as Mola's challenge was, we were absolutely dreadful in the first half and lucky to be only 1-0 at that point. That contributed as much to the loss as anything else. #readingfc
— Tim Patten (@TimRobinPatten) March 9, 2024
That was crap. The first half was abysmal. Aimless football played at a low tempo. The introduction of Savage made a big difference in the second half but we didn't make it count and then Mola gifted them a win. Their keeper should have been booked for time-wasting. #readingfc
— Mike (@MikePea73444529) March 9, 2024
A truly awful first half cost Reading today. How the Wycombe keeper didn’t get cautioned for time wasting I’ll never know #readingfc
— Stevie p (@stevie_p1871) March 9, 2024
Worst first half of football. Fans really tried to get as many as they could in the stadium and the players don’t show up. We didn’t deserve to win that we had a 25 min spell but overall looked average today #readingfc
— BerkshireBoys (@BerkshireBoys_) March 9, 2024
After that first half, I can’t see many of the newbies coming back or the returners falling in love again. 45 mins of dross. Whole club has been cursed for last 5 years.. Questioning my sanity again this evening. #readingfc
— Nick Knight (@NJK20171) March 9, 2024
Clinton Mola
After a really difficult start to his Reading career, Mola has slowly but surely started to find his feet in the last few games. You’d imagine Jeriel Dorsett comes back into the side when he’s fit again, but Mola has done pretty well in his absence.
He had a bittersweet afternoon on Saturday though. Of course the fans were not happy with his moment of madness giving away the penalty late on, but up until that point he was actually having one of his best games in a Reading shirt.
Here’s what the fans had to say about his showing...
mola apart from that stupid tackle for the winner was excellent but the tackle make a his performance average #readingfc
— Gavin Smith (@gavpsmith) March 9, 2024
Mola was actually having a good second half and creating a lot of chances down the left with Elliott. Obviously giving away the penalty was dumb, but it shouldn’t overshadow the rest of his performance… #readingfc pic.twitter.com/41VFvDUxyB
— harry⚡️ (@harryarthur10) March 9, 2024
Get Dorsett back asap Mola should never be doing tackles like that Jesus Christ #readingfc
— Gabrizio (@gyb_8) March 9, 2024
Mola would have been a good shout for motm, doing so well until the penalty #readingfc
— RoyalPain (@RoyalPainUTD) March 9, 2024
Mola going down like that in the box is just careless. What on earth is he thinking. Horrendous. #readingfc
— micah (@m1871e) March 9, 2024
Mola visibly distraught at giving away the penalty. Terrible decision to dive in, but it’s not all on him.
— Greg Double (@Dubstep1988) March 9, 2024
It’s a team game and the whole team forgot to turn up for the first 45mins.
Proper gut punch because we clearly had enough to win today. #readingfc
Feel a bit for Clinton Mola yesterday.
— RFC Latest (@RFCLatest) March 10, 2024
Up until that one very silly mistake he was arguably our MOTM, was great going forwards. Hopefully it doesn’t knock his confidence as he has been improving. #readingfc pic.twitter.com/39dvO2wIcz
Mola undoing all his hard work. #readingfc https://t.co/04XjhGakjf
— Luke (@Luke_Massey) March 9, 2024
Conclusion
A really frustrating afternoon. In the second half we were a lot better and had chances to not just draw but go on to win the game. For a moment of madness to undo that is really annoying.
However, as the fans observed, Mola was having a really good game up until that point - and I just hope he manages to take confidence from his overall performance. It’s a cliche but all we can do now is focus on the next one, a tough trip to Derby.