Reading FC 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers: FLW reports as Royals win Berks and Bucks battle | OneFootball

Berks vs Bucks in the early kick-off in League One, as Reading hosted Wycombe Wanderers.

Reading FC won the bragging rights of Berks and Bucks, beating Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 thanks to a late Harvey Knibbs penalty.

The first half started well for Wycombe, who were well on top, but couldn't finish any of the chances they created.

Around the half-hour mark, the game became very bitty, and both sides were unable to get a foothold in the game. This meant the score remained at 0-0 heading into the break.

It took a penalty to break the deadlock in the 77th minute. Cameron Humphreys' late lunge was a stonewall spot-kick. Knibbs stepped up to send Will Norris the wrong way, giving the play-off chasers the lead.

It would stay that way, as the Berkshire side beat their neighbours 1-0, to boost their play-off hopes.

Reading FC 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers

The game almost got off to the perfect start for the visitors, with Adam Reach pouncing on a loose ball which fell awkwardly to him. The winger managed to steer a shot on target, which was saved well by Joel Pereira. The resulting corner was headed in by Caleb Taylor, but the defender was well offside.

Wycombe were the dominant force in the opening 20 minutes, forcing multiple corners and keeping sustained pressure on the Royals' back line, which held firm. Former Manchester United stopper Pereira produced some good stops to keep the scores level.

Things threatened to boil over with ten minutes of the first-half remaining. Xavier Simons was scythed down by Amadou Mbengue, but the advantage was played because Richard Kone was through on goal. However, the Hull City loanee squared up to his opposite number, leaving referee Thomas Kirk no choice but to pull it back. Both players were shown a yellow card.

The consistency of the referee was called into question by both sets of fans, with some rather dubious decisions being made by Kirk. This led to the game becoming rather scrappy as the half petered out.

After a very stop-start half of football, the teams went into the interval as they started. Wycombe were the better side in the opening 30 minutes, but once again struggled to get that key final touch. The Royals hadn't threatened Norris in the Chairboys' net much, but grew into the game towards the end of the half.

The Royals came out for the second half with a spring in their step, knocking the ball around nicely and trying to use their pace to punish Wycombe.

Shortly after, Kone had a great chance to give Wanderers the lead after breaking free on the left-hand side. Some nice interchange between Garath McCleary and the Ivorian allowed him to fashion a shooting opportunity, which Pereira was once again equal to.

On the 60-minute mark, the Reading hero almost came back to haunt his former employers, but the Portuguese stopper in the home net pulled out a stunning save to deny McCleary's point-blank header.

With ten minutes left, Reading were awarded a penalty, which looked like the correct decision. Humphreys lunged in late and got none of the ball. Knibbs sent Norris the wrong way, giving the hosts the advantage as the game headed towards its conclusion.

Wycombe threw everyone forward in the last ten minutes, but just like Tuesday night against Shrewsbury Town, nothing came of anything the Blues created, seeing Reading ride out 1–0 winners.

Wrexham's victory over Burton Albion saw Wycombe drop even further out of automatic promotion contention, whilst Reading's play-off hopes took a massive boost. The victory over their local rivals was a big morale lift, in what's been a pretty awful week off the pitch for the Berkshire side.

Reading FC player ratings

J. Pereira - 8

K. Abrefa - 6

A. Mbengue - 7

T. Bindon - 7

A. Garcia - 6 (T. Rushesha 62'(6))

L. Wing - 6

H. Knibbs - 7

C. Savage - 6

M. Camara - 6 (B. Bodin 83'(6))

K. Ehibhatiomhan - 6 (J. Wareham 62'(6))

C. Campbell - 5 (A. Yiadom 89'(6))

Unused substitutes: D. Button, T. Carroll, M. Stickland

Wycombe Wanderers player ratings

W. Norris - 6

J. Grimmer - 6

C. Taylor - 6

S. Bradley - 6

L. Leahy - 5 (F. Onyedinma 82'(5))

J. Scowen - 6

X. Simons - 5 (A. Lowry 67'(5))

G. McCleary - 6 (G. Kodua 67'(5))

C. Humphreys - 3

A. Reach - 6 (D. Udoh 67'(6))

R. Kone - 6

Unused substitutes: F. Ravizzoli, J. Pattenden, J. Berry

Match attendance

There were 15,228 fans at the Select Car Leasing Stadium with 1,672 making the short trip from Wycombe.

Noel Hunt reacts as Reading beat play-off rivals

Speaking to The Bucks Free Press, a jubilant Noel Hunt said: "To limit them, with the quality they have, to one shot on target where Joel makes the save, we were very pleased.

"These games are never easy. They are tight. I’ve never seen a good footballing derby. It was tenacious, there were tackles and hits, moaning, counter-attacks. It had everything today. I’m just happy we came out on the right side of it.

"It was bouncing like the old days. Look where we are, sixth in the league and fighting for every ball. We have to stay focused and hopefully they stick with us, come to the next games and give us all the support they can."

Mike Dodds reacts as Wycombe fail to make chances count again

Speaking to the press after the game, a disappointed Mike Dodds said: “I think it’s a really harsh week if I’m being really honest.

“The fans, everyone behind the scenes, the players - they didn’t deserve what’s happened this week when you created over 50 shots on goal in two games, [and] the opposition had three shots on goal. Will Norris went in there [changing room] and said I haven’t had a save to make.

“It’s a harsh week - we should have six points and we’ve got one.”