Not between the lines...V Reading at home Monday Apr 1st 3-0;clock

[dave the minion]

Well that was quite a pleasant afternoon's business - and for once we kind of turned it on in front of the bumper crowd!!!
Thought the whole team played really well - shout out to Coleman for a few crucial (& unconventional) saves / Toal and Iredale for solid defensive displays / and the water pistols up front were excellent.

[TANGODANCER]

What we did today, was beat a team playing some decent football by playing a bit better then them . Reading were actually impressive in attack and you could never fully relax at any point. Collins and Bod showed real quality and also the harassing defensively by both was praiseworthy. Coleman has well earned his place for me and if we have two fit keepers some of our worries will disappear. We still have a few ooh and agh moments at times, but who doesn't. All in all the team could hardly do more than what was asked of it. So, a big well-done the lads....

[officer_dibble]

Fair to say Aaron Collins enjoyed the water pistol theme!

[irie Cee Bee]

We took care of business in impressive fashion against a team that play open football.. no high press...no defensive blocks. The type of game that suits us to the "tee", and we at times we played some lovely stuff. A shout out to Collins and his hatrick, I especially liked his 3rd where he spun on a penny and showed Thommo how to hit it with little back lift... A shout out to Coleman who has improved immensely since taking over from the injured Baxter... And a shout out to Toal who was really outstanding at RCB .. not so much when he went to LCB after Iredale's injury.

A shout out to the fans too.. 25K+ backing.. the team will need everyone for the playoffs.

[DJBlu]

The comments from Ian Evatt clearly did the job.

[truewhite15]

Tremendous win. Should have been out of sight by half time. We were really unlucky to not have scored at least four.

Disappointing to have conceded two, but that's a minor concern. Strikers put five away between them and linked up well - that's the headline.

Crowd was really quiet for most of the game. Even at 4-1 up there was no cauldron of noise. I'd put that down to it being a crowd full of day-trippers, if it hadn't been a theme throughout the season. Whenever I bring this up, I get told, "Well, the players have got to give us something to sing about". They did today. So where was the noise?

[BorsdaneWhite]

In terms of shooting and final balls, Thommo mostly had a rough one today, although really came into his own when it got stretched in the last 10. His decision to pass to Bod for the 5th—who looked marginally offside to me—was one of the strangest I’ve seen live, but fortunately paid off and actually looked like an incredible bit of vision. I was wishing for a Demps goal and he had two great opportunities—the latter gilt-edged. One mustn’t be greedy, I suppose.

Thought Morley was excellent when he came on as well. And some of Ashworth’s deliveries were crying out for finishing. Lots of positives.

I loved hearing Sheehan’s reception upon his substitution. Can’t remember a full stadium chanting a single name as loudly for a good while.

[Prufrock]

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Comes back to the we're third because of slip ups like the Reading away.

Well not really considering Derby also lost there

It's been a funny old season, because nobody's perfect.

We shouldn't have lost 3-1 at home to Carlisle.
(Posh did, but Derby/Pompey didn't.)

We shouldn't have dropped 6pts to our midtable neighbours.
(Although they also did the double on Posh and won at Derby.)

We shouldn't have lost to Bristol Rovers.
(Although they also beat Pompey.)

Looking over our season, perhaps the biggest hole is the away results - Lincoln is our only win away to any of the (current) top half. D4, L5, with one to go (total is 11 because we don't play ourselves away - we'd get hammered).

Not to be prematurely positive (because I know that won’t do in these parts) but if Portsmouth do beat Derby, then of course their goal difference reduces accordingly. Aaaaand we’d be back to a game in hand. That could easily cause quite a swing in the GD column in a short amount of time

Add in that Derby don't play next weekend because Wycombe are at Wembley. So
(if 1) if they lose to tomorrow and
(if 2) if we win at Bristol and
(if 3) the goal swing in those two games is 4 or more... then we're back in the autos. (Derby have a game in hand, which they'd play at Wycombe the following Wednesday, but it would still sting.)

It's even better than that I think. If they lose tomorrow it's back "in our hands" pending GD etc.

We've played the same now, so we'll have a game in hand from tomorrow. We then play Sat, they play that midweek we don't, but then we have Shrewsbury (H) when they don't play.

So if your 1) and 2) happen we'll be 2nd having played the same number of games. Squeaky.

[Mar]

Little bit crazy to think that it could go down to the final game of the season where we could once again get promoted against Peterborough.

[KeyserSoze]

Good value for a tenner, that.

Resounding win that could have been more. Front two excellent (with five goals between them, sort of obvious). Collins with a worldie, a well-won penalty (which looked a bit 'bought' on first look but having seen the TV replay, lmao that defender) and a finish for the hattrick which seemed to have disdain for the poking and prodding in the box that preceded it. JDB my MOM though. Ran himself into a pit, linked up superbly and took his goals well. Talk about firing at the right time...

Maghoma is a wonderful footballer who plays at his own pace, no matter the situation. I'm glad he's on my team, even if he frustrates on occasion.

Coleman did well though after my dad said he hadn't put a foot wrong all game seemed to make a bit of a pig's ear of their second (please correct if wrong, was in the god's) and then slipped when smacking one long. Still, much more ups than downs. Toal was excellent, Santos did well (that ball to cogley that set up four, woof) though wonder if he's carrying something. Midfield did their part if no one really stood out. Good day, all in all.

Special shout out to Evatt for running down the touchline after Collins scored his third, I assume bollocking him for doing a somersault celebration funny that.

No looking back, control what we can control and then accept what may be. COYWM.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

It's even better than that I think. If they lose tomorrow it's back "in our hands" pending GD etc.

We've played the same now, so we'll have a game in hand from tomorrow. We then play Sat, they play that midweek we don't, but then we have Shrewsbury (H) when they don't play.

So if your 1) and 2) happen we'll be 2nd having played the same number of games. Squeaky.

I sit corrected, and I thank you for it.

Aye, all good - "if" we keep winning. Into the last month of the season now.... hopefully.

[DJBlu]

Aaron Collins is now getting the nickname,

The Pistol from Bristol.

I like that one.

[officer_dibble]

As said - control what we can control. Played with more freedom today so maybe taking the presssure off (if that was the intention pre match) worked. Hope Portsmouth get a result but acknowledge we’ll have a job on when we play them.

Really pleased to see a hat trick! Always feels like they are miles apart with us but BOD has one already this season! And yeah there was something in thay third - stop fecking about and do THIS! Wonder what he made of thomasons assist for the fifth…

[KeyserSoze]

Aaron Collins is now getting the nickname,

The Pistol from Bristol.

I like that one.

Certainly beats gas water pump

[DJBlu]

Once in, never out.

[DJBlu]

Did the couch settle down?

Wasn't able to monitor as I was fortunate to attend today.

[TonyDomingos]

Is Collins the real deal? I must admit, I was completely oblivious to him before he signed. But, he seems to have settled and is now knocking 'em in.

[TANGODANCER]

Did the couch settle down?

Wasn't able to monitor as I was fortunate to attend today.

It just had bad night. Que Sera. Cheers for what we had.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Did the couch settle down?

Wasn't able to monitor as I was fortunate to attend today.

Nope. I’ll DM you.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Is Collins the real deal? I must admit, I was completely oblivious to him before he signed. But, he seems to have settled and is now knocking 'em in.

He’s still a real mix. Clearly has talent, to score and assist; and yet frequently during a game will shank a pass, make the wrong choice or similar surprisingly duff touch. Also looks a bit languid so I can imagine people thinking he’s lazy. But he’s very obviously got a lot of talent. Evatt’s postmatch quote acknowledges that many of his January signings really improve after their first preseason with us; I hope his is with Evatt and preparing for a higher division.