View From The Dolan: Reading End Pre-Season On A High

Goals from Ben Elliott and Sam Smith on a sunny day at the SCL meant the Royals will head into next Saturday’s game at Birmingham City in confident spirits.

Three games in a week! It’s like we’ve never been away for goodness sake! I can’t wait until the season actually starts so that the other idiots at TTE Towers can start doing some heavy lifting here…

[Editor’s note: I fixed four typos in that intro, Ben...]

I didn’t expect there to be a massive crowd for this game, given the opposition and the fact there are beer gardens open, but a few thousand made their way into the seated bowl. I saw even more people purchasing the new away kit and it grows on me the more I view it.

I realised in the week I’d lost my season ticket. It’s very unlike me to lose things (except my hairline!) but lose it I did and so a visit to the ticket office was required. Have a guess how much the reprinting of a season-ticket card costs. Go on, guess…

...£5. Five actual pounds. Moral of the story: don’t lose your season ticket card. Promise? Good. Now we can continue.

What I love about pre-season friendlies is that you can sit anywhere; the fluidity of moving seats without anyone moaning is delicious. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Dolan chap through and through, but I do have a soft spot for that north-east corner, I have to say.

It catches the sunlight, the walk round to the gate isn’t bad and the toilets, despite being run down, are spacious. They even had a water tank thing (you know, those big canister things with the nozzle that releases water) for free, and cups which were allowed to be taken into the seated bowl. Progress.

At around the 30-minute mark, I texted Simeon and Ross and literally said “I have no thoughts on this game” and, as if by magic, the game kicked into life. Michael Daniel Craig made a searing run from right-back, played a nice give-and-go and the ball found its way into the box.

We recycled it well and Ben Elliott knocked it in. On the replay, the goal was even better than I remember it. A special move that involved all three departments which resulted in us taking the lead against a handy Hull City side. Good stuff.

After the break, we started in a similar vein to where we left off. Aggressive, consistent, disciplined, patient. Sam Smith bundled home the second on the 52nd minute, but that doesn’t do it justice.

The build-up play, the use of the ball, the patience and the directness of the work before the goals were exceptional. Genuinely exceptional. We pulled Hull around like they were non-league. The finish was irrelevant: the work to get there wasn’t. Sublime.

After that, we locked down a bit. We did the hard stuff off the ball, didn’t panic and generally made Hull look pretty average. They weren’t, but we made them appear so.

And here’s the rub: after the pre-season we’ve had, which is effectively a continuation of the back end of last season, hopes are getting higher. It’s not so much expectation - it’s pointless expecting anything from this team and club, but hope.

Hope that they do themselves justice this year, get in the faces of those big spenders and show off to everyone outside of Berkshire that we are a bloody good team managed by a bloody manager, coached by bloody good coaches and backed by some of the most loyal fans around.

We’re small, we’re mighty, we’re Reading FC… and we’re on our way back.

Until next time.