The Coca-Cola Championship game between Reading and Middlesbrough at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday, Oct 3 2009.
The Riverside has been an unforgiving arena for Gareth Southgate and his players this season but Reading provided them with a setting of solace.
Euphoria for Middlesbrough has been rare during a campaign where ! only victories, and ultimately promotion back to the top flight, can assuage the insane pressure already bearing down on the manager's shoulders.
Southgate, wrestling with intense expectancy and the grudges of a section of supporters unconvinced by his ability to resuscitate their fortunes, watched with glee as his side eased past tenacious opponents. If those dissenters were among the 1,518-strong travelling support, they were awfully quiet.
"We knew there's a hangover from last year and I have to accept the backlash of that but I can guide this young group through difficult times and hopefully, more afternoons like this," Southgate said. His side are third in the Championship and clinging to the coat-tails of Newcastle and West Brom.
Reading were disfigured by the past. Leroy Lita, once a symbol of youthful promise at the Madejski, struck the second goal after half time, racing away from Dar! ren O'Dea on the halfway line and beating Adam Federici with a! low shot.
Lita was given warm applause by the Reading crowd before kick-off and upon his late departure for Marvin Emnes but fans have short memories. They cheered in scornful delight when he cut inside in the 28th minute and lashed a shot wide.
Soon after Lita spurned a clear sight of goal having been released by Adam Johnson's sublime pass which dissected Reading. Fleeting Royals satisfaction, though, was slashed to pieces.
Reading manager, Brendan Rodgers, suggested his team is "an ongoing project" and they were far from accomplished collectively. Bristling with confidence in spurts, they were again crippled by immaturity, the lack of a final ball and poor decision-making in possession.
Slackness riddles their play at the back too. Sean St Ledger escaped lax marking and headed in Adam Johnson's corner in the first half.
In Jobi McAnuff, Reading boasted the game's premier barnstormer down the left ! in the first half. His energy was uncontainable. Gliding past two tackles, he played in Brian Howard, whose shot was blocked.
McAnuff was the antithesis of Jimmy Kebe on the opposite flank. Inspired one game, insipid the next, the Malian was woeful and replaced at the break by Noel Hunt. In their current predicament, Reading cannot afford passengers.
Southgate, basking in satisfaction, may well cock an ear towards his detractors as if to say: "Well? How was that?"
