Championship: Reading 3-1 Coventry City
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/74291?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Hunt+double+puts+revived+Royals+back+in+hunt+for+instant+returnch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Championship+%28Football%29%2CReading+%28Football%29%2CCoventry+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Paul+Doylec7=2008_12_01c8=1127237c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Championshipc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FChampionship” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpAfter a two-game winless run Reading reasserted their right to be considered as contenders for automatic promotion, a couple of strikes by Noel Hunt helping them recover from a goal down to beat their valiant but limited visitors./ppCoventry arrived having collected seven points from their last three away trips but a clutch of injuries to full-backs forced manager Chris Coleman to field an improvised 3-5-2 formation. /ppThere were early signs the switch would bear fruit as Coventry enjoyed the best of a scrappy opening. They frequently found a free man in midfield, though slack passing foiled their attempts to make the most of it and the only real pressure on Reading came from a series of huge throw-ins by Aron Gunnarsson. /ppEventually the home side flashed the class that has fuelled their chase for promotion straight back to the Premier League, a sumptuous cross by Stephen Hunt in the 13th minute leading to the game’s first true chance. Alas, Noel Hunt undid his older brother’s fine work by heading over the bar from 10 yards. /ppRather than build on that, Reading reverted to toiling and the next moment of excellence, in the 26th minute, brought a goal for the visitors. After Michael Duberry fouled Clinton Morrison 25 yards out, Danny Fox served up a repeat of his winner against Swansea last week, curling the free-kick into the top corner. /ppSix minutes later Fox’s grin turned to a grimace. Noel Hunt met Liam Rosenior’s cross at the near post and Fox inadvertently helped the Irishman’s header into his own goal. /ppThat was Reading’s cue to take control of the game. Moments after Stephen Hunt had stabbed wide from close range, James Harper cut a clever ball back from the by-line and Kalifa Cisseacute; arrived at the edge of the box to bang it beneath Keiren Westwood and into the net./ppThe quality, which had never been especially high, dipped in the second period. Coventry’s greater numbers in midfield meant Reading tended to bypass the centre by going long but not particularly precise, while Coventry were uninspired. /ppReading’s decisive third goal on 62 minutes had a suitably messy birth. Stephen Hunt raced down the left and fired the ball across the face of goal, where Marcus Hall arrived first on the scene but managed to get the ball caught between his legs, allowing Noel Hunt to pounce and poke it into the net from three yards./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championship”Championship/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/reading”Reading/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/coventry”Coventry City/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
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Original post by Paul Doyle
Tags: Automatic Promotion, Chase, Chris Coleman, Clutch, Contenders, Coventry City, Danny Fox, Free Kick, Free Man, Grimace, Gunnarsson, Ins, Liam Rosenior, Michael Duberry, Midfield, Moment Of Excellence, premier league, Seven Points, Slack, Stephen Hunt