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  • Date: 2008-09-20
  • Kick-off: 15:00
  • Attendance: 14761
  • Referee: Attwell, S

Live Commentary

90mins

The ref has blown his whistle for full time.

87mins

Stephen Hunt takes a penalty for Reading and scores!.

84mins

Andre Bikey is booked for dissent.

83mins

Jon Harley goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour.

78mins

Watford are replacing John-Joe O'Toole with Alhassan Bangura.

65mins

The referee has booked Shane Long.

65mins

John-Joe O'Toole goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour.

64mins

Goal!! John-Joe O'Toole scores for Watford.

57mins

Goal!! Watford have scored with Tommy Smith putting it in the back of the net.

56mins

Noel Hunt is being taken off, Shane Long has come on in his place.

56mins

Chris Armstrong is booked for unsporting behaviour.

46mins

The second half is under way with the score currently at 0 v 1.

45mins

Half time whistle is blown by S Attwell

34mins

Jobi McAnuff is being taken off, Lionel Ainsworth has come on in his place.

33mins

Jem Karacan is booked for unsporting behaviour.

13mins

Jobi McAnuff is booked for unsporting behaviour.

13mins

The referee has booked Will Hoskins.

13mins

Own goal, John Eustace has put it in his own net.

4mins

Mart Poom is being taken off, Scott Loach has come on in his place.

0mins

It's 3pm on Saturday, September 20th, the match has kicked off.

Match Report

A late penalty from Stephen Hunt enabled Reading to snatch a 2-2 draw at Watford , but this game will be remembered for a mistake of truly unbelievable proportions by the officials.

An already injury-ravaged Hornets side had suffered another blow when they lost Mart Poom to a dislocated shoulder after barely 90 seconds, before an astonishing sequence of events started to unfold in the 13th minute.

It initially looked like Andre Bikey had been unfortunate not to score with a header that cracked back off the crossbar after Stephen Hunt's corner had been chested back towards his own goal-line by John Eustace and Noel Hunt had hooked the ball back across the target.

By that stage though, linesman Nigel Bannister was already flagging and, following a conversation with referee Stuart Attwell, a goal was awarded, much to the disbelief of players and fans alike.

However, a video replay subsequently showed what a shocking mistake the officials had made because after Eustace chested the ball down it did not bisect the goalposts, but went two to three yards past substitute keeper Scott Loach's left-hand post and was then hooked back across the six-yard box by Noel Hunt.

Watford were understandably rocked by the setback and it took a terrific save from Loach to stop Jimmy Kebe from making it two soon after.

To make matters worse, the home side then lost Jobi McAnuff through injury, but their response after the break was terrific.

They were back on terms after 57 minutes when a John-Joe O'Toole shot broke for Tommy Smith in the penalty area and he spun to slam his fourth goal of the season past Marcus Hahnemann.

It got even better for the home side seven minutes later when Loach's long clearance was chested down by Will Hoskins and O'Toole joined Smith on four for the season with a low strike beyond the Reading keeper.

However, Watford's second came after yet more controversy when Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd was sent to the stands by Attwell after protesting a decision too much.

It looked like the home side would hold on for the win, but four minutes from time Lee Williamson felled Stephen Hunt in the area and the Reading wideman confidently despatched the penalty.

Watford

Reading

Corners

510

Fouls

1414

Goal attempts

78

Shots off target

23

Offsides

32

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