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Wycombe slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Reading in a spineless and disjointed display that saw Gavin Holligan sent off on the hour mark for a second bookable offence.Both goals came in a mad two minute spell in the first half. First in the 17th minute Adie Williams tucked the ball in from close range after Wanderers had failed to clear a corner from the Reading left. Then 78 seconds later Darius Henderson placed a header past Martin Taylor after The Royals had pierced The Wanderers defence again, allowing Graeme Murty to float in a cross from the left flank. It was always going to be an uphill task after such a set-back and apart from the occasional huff and puff effort going forward, it was the home side who looked more likely to add to the scoreline. Once again Martin Taylor had to be in top form to keep the scoreline respectable and there was very little for the Wycombe following to cheer about. Wycombe started with one change from the side that had beaten Wigan seven days previous, Keith Ryan replacing Steve Brown in midfield. 'Brownie' was on the bench after being declared fit following a groin strain against Wigan but Paul McCarthy was kept under wraps as he prepares for his comeback against his former club, Brighton, on Tuesday (25th September). Backed by close to 2,500 fans, Wycombe started well enough and could have had a penalty when Darren Currie was buddled off the ball by Keith Jones as he cut in from the right. By then match referee Chris Foy had already booked two players but he wasn't interested in Wycombe's claims. Reading responded to Wycombe's ambitious start and it immediately became obvious that Wanderers' makeshift defence were going to be in for arduous afternoon. The Royals two goal salvo was just the start of several assaults on the Wycombe goal and Taylor had to be on his toes to pick out Henderson's 36th minute header and Nicky Forster's deflected stoppage time effort. Half-time Reading 2 Wycombe 0 Lawrie Sanchez changed things immediately after the break. First he replaced Ryan with Brown to try and liven up a lacklustre midfield and Michael Simpson's shot three minutes into the half from Rammell's knock down gave a brief glimmer of hope. Thirteen minutes into the second-half Darren Currie was replaced with Jermaine McSporran but two minutes later Holligan clashed with Adie Whitbread and having already seen yellow, it was the walk of shame for the ex-Hammer. That was effectively 'game over' for Wycombe. Dave Carroll replaced Andy Rammell, with Carroll dropping into the right-back spot and Danny Senda converting to striker. It was now damage limitation but it should have been 3-0 on 78 minutes when Jamie Cureton wanted one touch too many and allowed Taylor to collect. Three minutes later Taylor fisted away a Martin Butler drive from the right as The Royals attacked at their leisure. Wycombe's best effort at goal during the entire ninety minutes came with seven minutes remaining when Senda headed on Taylor's long clearance only for McSporran's efforts from the right to be twice blocked by Phil Whitehead in the Reading goal. A very disappointing display from Wycombe even taking into account the spending power and obvious strength in depth of the opposition. It would be easy to cheap shots at the match officials for disrupting the day but it was clear that on this day Wycombe lacked the necessary passion to even challenge for a result. Final Score Reading 2 Wycombe 0
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