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Another late comeback wins it for Reading

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A superb late comeback from the Royals for the second time in a week gave them a fantastic 3-2 over Peterborough United at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night. Late goals from Adam Le Fondre and Hal Robson-Kanu gave the Royals their third victory in four after Tommy Rowe put the visitors ahead.

Reading boss Brian McDermott decided to stick with the same team that beat Ipswich 3-2 on Tuesday night, surprisingly leaving top scorer Adam Le Fondre on the bench again despite his impact on the game against the East-Anglian side.

Peterborough started the game the better, passing the ball about well, keeping the home side on the back foot. Good play on the left from the visitors caused confusion between Alex Pearce and Adam Federici in the six-yard box but the defence eventually dealt with the danger.

The away side continued to push. In-form Posh striker Paul Taylor then had 20-yard drive which just went wide of Federici`s post. The only decent effort the Royals had was from a Harte corner as Ipswich match winner Noel Hunt headed over.

However, Darren Ferguson`s team continued to control the game as Emile Sinclair cut in and had an effort which Federici has to palm away. From the resulting corner, Posh took the lead as a cleverly worked set-piece was headed home well by midfielder Tommy Rowe.

A response from the home side was minimal, as the experienced Ian Harte almost gifted the visitors a second as his poor back pass was picked up by striker Sinclair but luckily scuffed with effort wide. The Royals were looking extremely rattled.

This miss seemed to bring the home side to life, as Hunt almost turned in a decent cross from Simon Church. Reading`s set-pieces were causing Peterborough problems with a Posh defender almost putting it into his own net from McAnuff`s dangerous ball.

On 27 minutes, Reading did equalise through striker Simon Church. A dangerous corner from Harte was whipped to the back post and wasn`t cleared by the Peterborough defence, allowing the Welshman to tap in for his fourth goal of the season.

Despite the goal, the Royals still failed to gain a passing flow to their game, with the visitors pushing again. Lee Tomlin had two efforts which Federici saw wide but gave warning signs to Brian McDermott`s side who could see themselves as lucky to be on level terms.

The second half started off very slow for both sides, with Noel Hunt`s blocked effort inside the box the only half chance for either side in the first 10 minutes. Cummings and Kebe started to link up well down the right side, putting balls into the box but Church or Hunt failing to profit from them.

With half an hour remaining Brian McDermott decided to bring on the duo of Adam Le Fondre and Hal Robson-Kanu, with both players making an immediate impact as Kanu`s ball was flashed across the box with Le Fondre inches away from making contact to put the Royals ahead.

The home side started to find their stride for the first time in the match and it eventually paid off. Ian Harte found himself swung a good cross in from the right which was kept alive by Kebe, which allowed Adam Le Fondre to place the ball perfectly into the top corner to give his side the lead at the Madejski Stadium.

Just minutes later the Royals gave themselves a two-goal cushion, thanks to a superb goal from other substitute Hal Robson-Kanu. The forward picked the ball up in midfield and drove at the Posh defence, curling a sublime effort from the outside of his boot into the bottom corner.

Peterborough would have felt aggrieved to be two goals down considering they were on top for most of the match but gave themselves a glimmer of hope as a mix up between Federici and Kaspars Gorkss allowed Emile Sinclair to tap into an empty net with added time still to play.

Reading did see the game out after a nervy ending, getting their third win in four games and a fitting tribute for two Welshman to get on the scoresheet in the light of the tragic death of Welsh footballing legend Gary Speed, where a fantastic applause was observed by both fans before the game.

Reading: Federici, Cummings, Pearce, Gorkss, Harte, Kebe, Leigertwood, Karacan, McAnuff, Hunt, Church

ubs: Andersen, Tabb, Robson-Kanu, Manset, Le Fondre

Peterborough: Jones, Alcock, Bennett, Zukani, Kennedy, Boyd, Rowe, McCann, Tomlin, Sinclair, Taylor

ubs: Lewis, Little, Thompson, Tunnicliffe, Kearns

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