Brian McDermott’s second game back in charge of Reading was a Boxing Day trip to Wolves, and he was looking to end Reading’s dire run of 5 straight away losses.
Wolves had also been struggling of late, especially at home, as their last home win came on the 3rd October.
Reading made a good start to the game as Vydra and McCleary had early chances blocked and they had a very good case for a penalty as McCleary’s cross seemed to strike the arm of Dominic Iorfa, however the referee waved the appeals away.
Before the game, McDermott had spoken about coming up against some familiar faces at the Molineux and it was one of those who put Wolves 1-0 halfway through the first half. James Henry headed home from 6 yards to strike the first blow against the run of play.
Throughout the rest of the first half, it was end to end stuff as Afobe hit the post and Norwood scewed a glorious chance wide, but at the break, Henry’s goal seperated the two teams.
The second half was dominated by the visitors as they had 13 shots and Wolves only managed 1. Early in the second half, Oli Norwood came close to leveling as his strike hit the post and Blackman also came close as his shot squirmed underneath Ikeme and trickled inches wide of the post.
Oli Norwood was awarded Man of the Match and he was pulling the strings once again as he slipped in Gunter down the right hand side who went down under a challenge in the box, but again the referee waved away the protests.
In a rare second half venture forward for Wolves, Afobe weaved his way through the Royals defence but blasted over into the stands.
It finished 1-0 to Wolves which lengthened Reading’s away losing streak to 6 games, and got Wolves their first home win since the beginning of August.
In a post-match interview, match winner James Henry said that he thought Wolves defended “excellently” and Man of the Match winner, Oliver Norwood played down the fact that Reading dominated the ball claiming that “if you don’t take your chances you’re not going to win football matches”.
Next up for Reading is Brentford at home as the Royals will be hoping to get their promotion push back on track and Wolves face a trip to struggling Charlton as they will be hoping to peel away from the bottom pack and make their own play off bid.
