4:57pm Saturday 29th March 2008
BLACKBURN Rovers were forced to settle for a point against the 10-men of Reading on a frustrating afternoon at the Madejski Stadium.
Desperate for a victory to boost their hopes of securing an Intertoto place, Rovers failed to capitalise on the second half dismissal of Marek Matejovsky, who was sent off with 18 minutes to go.
In fairness, though, Reading put a spirited fightback and might even have nicked an unlikely victory at the death had Stephen Warnock not got back to head an Andre Bikey effort off the goal-line during a dramatic finale.
Reading's best opportunity of the first half came after just six minutes, when former Burnley midfielder John Oster fired in a dangerous low cross from the right which struck Ryan Nelsen at the near post, and Stephen Hunt stabbed the loose ball wide from six yards out under pressure from Andre Ooijer.
Rovers enjoyed the lion's share of possession but little was seen of Mark Hughes' side as an attacking force until eight minutes before the break.
An electric run from Jason Roberts took the striker deep into enemy territory, before a defender crudely chopped him down in full flight.
From the resulting free-kick, Morten Gamst Pedersen then forced Marcus Hahnemann into his only meaningful save of the half, the American tipping the winger's rising drive over his crossbar.
Shortly after that, Hahnemann and Ryan Nelsen both entered the referee's notebook after a spot of handbags on the edge of the area.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with clear-cut goalscoring opportunities still at a premium.
Hunt should have done better than blaze wastefully over the crossbar after Liam Rosenior had brilliantly picked him out with a raking cross.
Then Hunt stabbed another effort wide following a lay-off from Dave Kitson.
At the opposite end, David Bentley looked the man most likely to make things happen for Rovers.
The England international went close with a dipping volley that brought the best out of Hahnemann.
Then a Bentley free kick found Zurab Khizanishvili, who was completely unmarked and looking suspiciously offside, but the Georgian's header was superbly kept out by Hahnemann.
Reading were reduced to 10-men in the 72nd minute when Matejovsky was red-carded for a second bookable offence on Roberts.
After that, either side could have snatched a winner.
Hunt completely mis-kicked in the area with the goal at his mercy, and Bikey was then denied by Warnock, who cleared his header off the line.
The closest Rovers came was an effort from Santa Cruz that was smothered by Hahnemann.
Reading: Hahnemann, Rosenior, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Oster, Harper, Hunt, Matejovsky, Kitson, Doyle. Subs: Cisse (for Kitson, 76), Long (for Oster, 76), Not used: Convey, Duberry, Federici Rovers: Friedel, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Warnock, Bentley, Reid, Dunn, Pedersen, Roberts, Santa Cruz. Subs: McCarthy (for Ooijer, 82), Derbyshire,(for Dunn, 86) Not used: Mokoena, Vogel, Brown Referee: Mr M Clattenburg
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