Exeter City

Exeter City v Reading

Sky Bet League One

St James Park

Saturday 26^th August 2023

3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 4 hours 40 minutes.  We left home at 9:05pm and arrived in Exeter at 1:45pm after a short stop at Taunton Deane Services to get some petrol, as traffic was very heavy on the M5 due to the bank holiday weekend.  We managed to park up in Union Road which is about a ten-minute walk from the ground.

Ticket Price: £20

Programme Price: £3.50

Attendance: 7,956 with 1,261 Reading fans.

This was my first visit to St James Park and Reading's first visit in over thirty years after relegation to League One last season.  As we arrived a bit later than anticipated we decided to have a look in the club shop before heading into the ground.  We had tickets in the Tracks Suzuki St James Road Stand.  This is a single-tiered covered terrace which is split into two separate stands.  As we had sold out the away end we decided to find a space on the terrace as soon as we could and ended up in the smaller of the two stands, next to a wall.  The view from here was good although we were pretty much in line with the corner flag.  

To the left of the Tracks Suzuki St James Road Stand is the Optimising IT Adam Stansfield Stand, which is a single-tiered all-seater stand which runs about half the length of the pitch closest to the away end.  Opposite the Tracks Suzuki St James Road Stand is the Thatchers' Cider Big Bank which is a single-tiered covered terrace where the most vociferous Exeter fans seemed to congregate.  This is the largest standing terrace left in the football league and was an impressive sight.  To the right of the Tracks Suzuki St James Road Stand is the Nevada Construction Main Stand, a single-tiered all-seater stand which houses the teams dug-outs at it's front.

Reading were coming into this game on the back of successive home wins and having a point deducted for failing to pay player's wages on time so were sat in mid-table.  Exeter had made a decent start to the season and were sat just outside the top six.  Reading started the game brightly but were quickly on the back-foot against a slick Exeter side.  The home side came close to breaking the deadlock through Tom Carroll's long-range effort which hit the foot of the post.  The Royals goal was living a charmed life as Exeter struck the woodwork for the second time with Jack Aitchison's left-footed shot cannoning off the upright into David Button's arms.  The Grecians finally took the lead in the 34^th minute with Will Aimson heading home from a corner.  Reading had been on the rack for most of the first-half but grabbed an equaliser against the run of play in first-half stoppage time with Harvey Knibbs neat finish from Femi Azeez left-wing pull-back.

The Royals came out in the second-half galvanised from the late equaliser and could have taken the lead as Azeez saw his effort strike the post before being cleared away to safety.  Both teams continued to press for a winner and it looked like the game would finish in a draw before second-half sub Reece Cole unleashed an unstoppable half-volley from the edge of the area in the 93^rd minute to give the home side all three points.  This was quite harsh on a young Reading side who had done enough to earn a point.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was pretty good with the Exeter fans on the Big Bank providing noise throughout the game.  The atmosphere in the away end was pretty muted for most of the game despite a sold out away end and a pretty solid performance from the team.

Journey Time home: 3 hours 30 minutes.  We decided to walk into Exeter after the game to grab some food and have a look at the city.  We had dinner at The Chevalier Inn and then walked to George's Meeting House for pudding to tick off a couple of Wetherspoons.  We had a look at the cathedral before getting back to the car at 7:40pm.  We arrived home at 11:10pm after a short stop at Taunton Deane Services for some fuel, in time to hear the end of The Killers set at Reading Festival from our home.

I really enjoyed my trip to Exeter.  The ground is smart and a good size for the club, the locals are extremely friendly and Exeter is a beautiful city.  The only bad point was conceding a late goal as a draw would have been a fair result, however I was pleased that I actually got to see us score a goal!

Port Vale

Port Vale v Reading

Sky Bet League One
Vale Park

Saturday 12^th August 2023

3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 3 hours 55 minutes.  We left home at 9:25pm and arrived in Stoke at 1:20pm after a short stop at Warwick Services to get some petrol and despite the M42 being completely closed between two junctions for roadworks .  We managed to park up in Louise Street which is about a five-minute walk from the ground.

Ticket Price: £25

Programme Price: £3

Attendance: 8,789 with 1,132 Reading fans.

This was my first visit to Vale Park and Reading's first visit in over twenty years after relegation to League One last season.  Although we arrived early we decided to stay close to the ground.  We walked around the ground and bumped in to Robbie Savage who was at the game to watch his son Charlie.  We had a look in the club shop and the fan zone then made our way to the away end.  We had tickets in the Bycars Stand which was previously the main home end.  The Bycars Stand is a single-tiered all-seater stand.  The view from close to the front of the middle of the stand was very good and leg room was good although we stood for the whole game.

To the left of the Bycars Stand is the Lorne Street Stand.  This two-tiered all-seater stand is the main stand at Vale Park and houses the team dug-outs at its front.  Opposite the Bycars Stand is the Hamil Road Stand, which is a single-tiered all-seater stand and was where the most vociferous Port Vale fans seemed to congregate.  To the right of the Bycars Stand is the Railway Stand, a two-tiered all-seater stand.

This was Reading's first away game in the third tier for over twenty years and followed a tumuluous summer with various transfer embargoes and struggles to build a squad capable of competing at this level.  As such I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a team composed of a few first-teamers from last season mixed with a number of academy graduates and free signings.  Reading started the first-half on the front foot and were awarded a penalty in the 12^th minute when Nesta Guiness-Walker's mazy run was ended by Dan Jones.  Up stepped Andy Carroll who's effort was saved by Connor Ripley in the Vale goal.   Vale had the ball in the net against the run of play just after the half-hour mark but Alex Iacovitti's half-volley was ruled out for offside.

Into the second-half and Port Vale came into the game more, creating more chances with Reading struggling to get a foothold in the game.  The deadlock was broken in the 72^nd minute when Ben Garrity capitalised on pinball inside the Reading box and saw his deflected effort loop over debutant David Button in the Reading goal.  Things could have got worse for Reading with Button tipping Funso Ojo's effort onto the crossbar after Ojo had been played in by Mitch Clark.  Despite being second best for most of the second period Reading came agonisingly close to an equaliser in stoppage time as Lewis Wing's cross-shot hit the bar and Vale held on for the win.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere in the away end was very good until Port Vale scored, at which point it became quite toxic.  The Port Vale fans were very quiet, only really making any noise for about five minutes after they opened the scoring and at full-time.

Journey Time home: 3 hours 30 minutes.  We arrived back at the car at 5:15pm and drove to Hanley to get some dinner at The Reginald Mitchell Wetherspoons.  We left Stoke at 6:35pm and after stopping for an hour at Hilton Park Services for a hot chocolate and some fuel arrived home just after 10:35pm.

I enjoyed my trip to Port Vale despite the result.  The ground was relatively simple to find and parking close to the ground was easy.  Vale Park is a pretty good ground and the atmosphere in the away end more than made up for the poor performance on the pitch.  Having said that, I feel if Carroll had converted the early penalty it would have been a comfortable victory for the Royals.