Boro lost to championship side Reading today 1-0 in their first pre-season friendly on a baking hot afternoon at Rushmoor Stadium. 

The was an unwelcome debut in Rushmoor today for the infamous vuvuzelas which were hushed after only seconds by the Farnborough faithful. However the on field debut of the improved Farnborough side left the attendees of the match with a much more positive and welcoming feeling.

First Half

Reading attacked throughout the half down the flanks mainly utilising there energetic full backs whilst being anchored from being countered by their experienced centre backs.

Michael Jordan stood out in the Boro defense today with his first half goalkeeping performance managing to catch or parry each cross and corner which entered the area. The most excitable moment from the first half came from a deflected shot by Reading's Brian Howard. The ball seemed destined to go in and the crowd was already in a state of shock when Jordan some how managed to scramble back to the line and stop the ball on the goal line itself. The deflector of the shot Reading's Hal Robson-Kanu was already seconds into claiming the goal and his celebration when he looked back to see the ball in Jordan's safe hands.

Farnborough adjusted to the tempo of the game after the referee called a break in play for all players and officials to spend a few minutes to get some water into their systems in the sun with temperatures reaching 29 degrees.

In the 41st minute Dean McDonald skilled both Reading centre backs with one classy bit of play. Reading's recovery though lead to a wide shot from distance, but it was Boro's best piece of movement in the first half. 

The half ended with a great chance for Reading to go ahead. An unsuccessful clearance from a corner led to a goal line scramble which allowed Reading's Robson-Kanu to hit the bar from just outside the six yard box. 

Second Half

Both teams came out looking to go in front. There was a lot of classy build up play but the front men of each team couldn't get a chance of a shot on goal.

The Reading attacks became more centralised and there was a clear emphasis on keeping possession. The Reading boys were keeping pressure on the defense by playing the ball around just outside the Farnborough box. However the Boro defense played incredibly well during these periods of pressure, keeping their discipline and forcing Reading to shoot from distance unsuccessfully. 

The goal came in the 70th minute and it could have been credited to the Reading substitute keeper Simon Locke. His clearance from his area managed to evade the Boro centre backs and then bounce over our own substitute keeper Dominic Jean-Zephirin. As the ball was trickling in Noel Hunt ended up nicking the ball into the net and getting the goal for himself after a long nine month injury lay off.

Boro ended the game on a high and kept pushing to the final minutes. Jack King had two opportunities in the last 15 minutes, one from a free kick and the other from open play. Both shots from a similar position led to a large round of applause for the efforts of the Reading keeper as he managed to get something behind both of King's 20 yard plus smashes, although he may regret that later on this evening. 

Round-up

As the Reading team head to mainland Europe to continue preparations for next season, the Farnborough boys will be looking ahead to our next Championship opposition Southampton F.C. on Wednesday the 21st of July looking for another quality performance.

Also watch this space as we are looking to announce another home pre-season friendly on the website this Monday and of course enjoy the rest of your weekends the World Cup Final tomorrow.