Butchers' boys Royaly beaten 6-1

The bees were taken to the cleaners by a classy Reading side.

Reading fielded a strong side containing new signing Kalifa Cisse and Brentford old boy Steve Hunt and it was he who would cause the home side most problems throughout the match.

The bees fielded triallist Ben Starosa at right back and the ex Tamworth and Sheffield United man acquitted himself well putting in a few decent crosses during the game.

The opening five minutes of the match were quiet. Though Reading enjoyed the lion's share of the possession with Hunt looking busy as ever on the left wing and it was his centre in the 6^th minute that was to give the visitors their first glimpse of a goal when Seol Hi-Kyeon headed just wide of Simon Brown's near post from 10 yards out.

In the 9^th minute the Premiership side got a real scare when Paul Brooker's centre was met by the head of Cisse whose misguided header struck the bar much to the relief of his defence. A couple of minutes later and the visitors again had a chance to take the lead when a clumsy Connell challenge on Nicky Shorey led to a free kick which found Kitson but, he miscued his shot behind and into the traveling Reading fans in Brook Road.

The bees themselves started to come into the game and on the quarter hour mark Brooker and Gary Smith linked up well on the left wing and the latter centered for Sammy Moore who saw his effort go wide. Seconds later and the visitors again came close when Cisse headed just over from a Hi-Kyeon cross and at this juncture in the game, Reading were coasting with the bees looking totally out of their depth.

In the 18^th minute John Mousinho gave the ball away on the edge of the area but, he recovered and dispossessed Dave Kitson to win Reading their first corner of the match which Hunt took short to Shorey but Basey snuffed out the danger and cleared upfield to no one in particular. In the 22^nd minute a Hunt centre caused all sorts of problems for Brown who failed to take the ball but, luckily for the bees skipper John Mackie was there to clear the danger.

The visitors had looked a real threat going forward without really threatening a goal but just past the halfway stage in the first half they took the lead when a Shorey through ball found Long who ran into the box and pulled the trigger only to see it saved but he made no mistake with the rebound to put Reading 1-0 up.

Just past the half hour and the bees best chance saw Connell pick up a Lee Thorpe through ball and he raced into the area but, his curling effort curled over the bar. In the 37^th minute Starosta was caught in possession by Long and he found Kitson who danced into the area past the motionless Karleigh Osborne and unleashed a shot which was saved by Brown and Kitson again fired a shot in but Mousinho was there with an unorthodox header to clear the ball to Hi-Kyeon who blazed the ball over from the edge of the area.

Five minutes before the break and Starosta was given a real let off when he was dispossessed by Hunt on the edge of the area but, the referee harshly judged that Hunt had unlawfully won the ball and awarded the bees a free kick. Little else of note happened after that and the referee blew his whistle to bring to an end a half of missed chances for Reading but, with nice link up play from Kitson, Shorey, Long and Hunt, it would surely only be a case of when and not if they were going to score again.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first half until it was brought to life by Sammy Moore. Thorpe picked up the ball and released it to Moore who was in space, albeit with little else on. He picked the ball up and unleashed a rocket 30 yard shot into the left hand corner beating Graham Stack all ends up and gave the bees a lifeline in the game.

However Reading stepped up their pedestrian pace a notch and just 90 seconds they had regained the lead. A foul on Shorey won the visitors a free kick on the edge of the area and Shorey picked himself up and curled in an unstoppable shot to restore Reading's advantage and that seemed to open the floodgates.

In the 55^th minute a cross from Hi-Kyeon almost found its way into Brown's net but, the bees custodian tipped it aside for a corner which Long headed just wide. A minute later and the Reading danger man should have had his second of the night when Hi-Kyeon's superbly executed centre was completely fluffed by Long from all of 8 yards out. From Brown's resultant kick Thorpe's flicked on header found Brooker who in turn found Connell but, Bikey nodded the ball out for a corner which is taken by Brooker but, the former Reading mans centre is easily dealt with by Bennett.

On the hour a cross field Osborne ball finds Moore on the left and he tees up Connell for a shot but, the bees number 10 fires just over Stack's goal. A couple of minutes later and Hunt intercepted a loose Moore pass and ran half the length of the pitch unchallenged before curling wide of Brown's left hand post.

Finally in the 66^th minute the visitors scored their third goal. Hunt picked the ball up from midfield and offloaded it to an unmarked Hi-Kyeon who has options in the box but, with Osborne and Basey motionless takes it on himself and rolls the ball past Brown. Almost instantly the bees had a chance to get a way back into the game when Thorpe's pass finds Ryan Peters who had been on a matter of seconds but he blasts his shot well wide.

Twenty minutes from time a Long effort was cut out by triallist Justin Cochrane and from the resulting corner, Brown again made a mess of things and dropped the ball but, luckily for him an off key Kitson once again scuffed his shot wide and the danger was over.

Reading had hardly over extended themselves and the bees were now being run ragged and a smart passage of play involving Long and Kitson resulted in the latter driving the ball over the bar.

15 minutes from time and the bees alleviated a bit of pressure and won themselves a corner which the on-loan Charlton man Basey takes and his precision centre found Cochrane whose deflected header was well held by Stack. That was the last chance the bees had and a minute later Reading put the game to bed when a through ball finds youngster Simon Church who ran through the static bees defence and picked his spot and smashed the ball past the hapless Brown.

Three minutes later and more weak defending, this time from Mackie allowed Long to finish nicely and grab his second goal of the night and with two minutes later, from Hi-Kyeon's corner Bikey rises and heads home past the defected Brown for the Premiership sides sixth of the night. Uleses De La Cruz almost embarrassed the bees further but Brown prevented himself having to pick the ball out of the net for a seventh time with a good save.

And that was that.

Of course we all knew the bees were unlikely to win this but, it was some individual performances that were disappointing. Karleigh Osborne doesn't really look up to this standard and is certainly not a natural central defender and his partner for the night, bees captain John Mackie also was found wanting on occasions. Alan Connell and Lee Thorpe linked up well and are best judged against a lower standard of defence while Sammy Moore and ex-Crewe and Rotherham man Justin Cochrane did enough to suggest he warrants a second look.

Overall though I felt the bees never really put a lot into this match and seemed to throw the towel in very easily and one can only hope that this was simply a case of being beaten by a better team. However it is now three defeats and one draw and with some tricky games ahead the confidence levels may not be high going into the league season and Butcher will need them to lift their game significantly.