Match Report: Reading 7 v 1 Bolton

shit

noun
Slang. something inferior or worthless.

Let's face it, this was an utter humiliation, nothing less.

Former manager Sammy Lee was fond of finding positives even in the most seemingly-ridiculous situations, but even he might have struggled to find anything positive to come out of a 7-1 defeat.

A hat-trick from Adam Le Fondre, a penalty from Pavel Pogrebnyak and goals from Kaspars Gorkss, Hope Akpan & Nick Blackman condemned Bolton Wanderers to their heaviest defeat in 32 years at the (modestly-named) Madejski Stadium.

Wanderers went into this game having suffered just one defeat in their last six games, whilst Reading had won just one of their last six matches, and had a raft of injuries to key men going into the game.

So it came as no surprise to anyone who has watched Bolton over the last twenty odd years to hear that we struggled from the first minute to the last, despite Samni Odelusi's first league goal for the club.

It took just 12 minutes for the hosts to get off the mark as Le Fondre pounced on a loose ball to rifle home.

That was Le Fondre's eighth goal of the season and it did not take long for him to add his ninth and 10 goals as he first latched on to Pogrebnyak's smart flick before firing beyond keeper Andy Lonergan and then tapped in from Garath McCleary's pass following a horrific mistake from Tim Ream who miscontrolled a Spearing backpass and allowed the Reading attack to bear down on Lonergan's goal.

More pathetic Bolton defending led to the concession of a fourth just before the break when Alex Baptiste handled in the area and Pogrebnyak converted the penalty. It seemed a harsh decision, but such has been our luck lately.

The half-time interval offered only brief respite for Bolton, as at yet it is impossible for teams to concede during the half-time break - though I'm sure Bolton will find a way.

The second half began much as the first did, with the fifth goal came after 60 minutes when McCleary knocked the ball into the area and Gorkss stabbed in.

Soon Akpan fired into the roof of the net to make it six, before Blackman hit the seventh with help from the hapless Zat Knight.

Bag o'shite.

Defeat left Dougie Freedman's team just four points from the relegation zone as the disastrous season continued.

We currently sit in 18th having won just twice in 10 games.

The Teams

Reading

• McCarthy
• Gunter
• Obita
• Williams
• Pearce
• Gorkss (Hector - 80' )
• McCleary (Blackman - 66' )
• Akpan
• Le Fondre (Taylor - 76' )
• Pogrebnyak
• McAnuff

Substitutes

• Federici
• Kelly
• Drenthe
• Blackman
• Cummings
• Taylor
• Hector

Bolton Wanderers

• Andy Lonergan
• Alex Baptiste
• Tim Ream
• Mark Davies (Odelusi - 67' )
• Matt Mills
• Zat Knight
• Neil Danns
• Jay Spearing
• David Ngog
• Darren Pratley (Kamara - 62' )
• Chung-Yong Lee

Substitutes

• Adam Bogdan
• Chris Eagles
• Rob Hall
• Craig Davies
• Hayden White
• Samni Odelusi
• Medo Kamara

Ref: Andy Davies

Att: 18,629