Bristol City

Bristol City v Reading

Sky Bet Championship
Ashton Gate
Friday 19th April 2019

12pm

Journey Time to the ground: 2 hours 45 minutes.  The powers that be had decided in all their wisdom, that the game would be a midday kick-off on Good Friday.  With the weather being glorious, it felt like most of the country was heading towards the South West.  We left home at 9am and managed to get stuck behind a couple of accidents on the M4 meaning that my other half dropped us off outside the ground at 11:45am whilst he continued to drive round looking for a parking space.  He eventually parked up in Raleigh Road about a five minute walk from the ground, but didn't end up getting into the ground until half an hour into the first-half!

Ticket Price: £32

Programme Price: £3.50 

This was my fourth visit to Ashton Gate, but the first since the redevelopment of the ground.  We had tickets in the away end in the Atyeo Stand behind one goal, which is the opposite end to where the away fans used to be housed.  This is an all-seater single-tiered stand.  The leg room was a little tight but as we were stood for the whole game this wasn't an issue.  The stand is wholly given to away fans. 

To the left of the Atyeo Stand is the Dolman Stand, another single-tiered all-seater stand.  Opposite the Atyeo Stand is the South Stand, again a single-tiered all-seater.  To the right of the Atyeo Stand is the Lansdown Stand which is a large two-tiered stand.  This is the main stand at Ashton Gate and houses the team dug-out at it's front.  The only open corners are at either side of the Atyeo Stand as the redevelopment has seen the other two corners filled with seating. 

As this was a fairly local away game on a bank holiday and form had recently picked up, Reading travelled in good numbers for a change.  The first-half was played at typical Championship pace in the blazing sun, with both sides creating a number of good chances.  The closest either team came to scoring was when Matt Miazga headed Josh Brownhill's shot off the line. 

Reading broke the deadlock three minutes into the second-half with a well-executed free-kick routine.  Lewis Baker played the free-kick across the box to Ovie Ejaria, who played a diagonal ball out to Andy Rinomhota on the right-wing.  Rinomhota pulled the ball into the path of Yakou Meite, who stroked the ball underneath Max O'Leary and into the net.  If it had been scored by a top team, people would still be raving on about it now!  The Robins equalised in the 72nd minute when Brownhill nodded home Niclas Eliasson's left-wing cross.  Both sides pushed for a winner, but a point was probably a fair result in the end. 

Attendance: 23,309 with 2,017 Reading fans.

Atmosphere:  The atmosphere was pretty good.  A full away end always makes a difference and being sat quite close to the home fans in the Lansdown Stand meant there was a fair bit of banter flying between the two. 

Journey Time home: 2 hours.  We made the short walk back to the car and headed towards the M5 to head down to the beach.  Unfortunately it was chock-a-block so we decided to head to Severn Beach instead.  We had a walk along the estuary before heading home via Burger King at Severn View Services and Swindon Outlet.  We arrived home around 7pm.

I enjoyed my trip to Bristol City.  The traffic on the way was frustrating and having been 1-0 up it was slightly disappointing not to come away with the win.  It's always nice watching football in good weather, and despite the views of the Bristol City fans sitting closest to us, I have a feeling we'll be playing each other again next season.