By FBFR
Just a few days after being on the receiving end of a coshing from bigger, stronger, better opponents, it was our turn to do the same to a smaller, weaker team.
Reading working hard and came up against our goalkeeper Bunny trying to make amends for our cup exit. And boy, oh boy did he do that! If he felt he let the team down at Bolton - and he probably did - then he more than made up for it at home against the Royals.
A penalty save and five headline-grabbing, man of match, super, last-gasp interventions cleared the account and helped us to a comfy home win and back into the play-offs.
The chairman’s time at the helm of United could not be more clearly demonstrated than in what we saw and heard. Reading, a shadow of their former selves, and Palace losing all hope, for me shows what a superb job both Kevins have done in keeping us where we are now.
One of the comments/questions asked at foot of one these recent ramblings was how is Harper doing? Well, the answer is okay and slowly getting better, but on the evidence of the game against Reading and the disappointment of Wembley, he is always going to be preferable to Howard!
Fortune, who by all accounts should not be playing (for medical reasons) is class in a glass and, fully fit, would, to say to the least, be very much in demand. I’m not sure he will make it to the Hawthorns on Saturday, though.
Bunny may well be very busy again on Saturday, but if he plays like he did in this 3-0 win for the rest of the season, then it will be play-off hell again for the long-suffering Blades faithful; something our Berkshire rivals in their second parachute-payment year can only dream of, as they fear going the same way as Charlton, Southampton and Leeds.
As for us, a centre-half and left-back will be drafted into the ranks sooner rather than later, and that will be us ready for our tilt at the top six. With the team arguably just a little stronger than this time last season, we have to think there is much more drama and excitement to come.
I am not quite sure how Kevin Blackwell does it, but for the third time he is putting together a team competitive enough to have us at the right end of the table and, dare I say it after the boring wash/fog-out at Bolton, this was very entertaining to watch, albeit made more so as we were at times guilty of switching off... no room for that on Saturday!
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