Sadly Saints did what they have done so many times this season, blotted their copybook by conceding a poorly defended goal.
If ever a game emphasised what i have been saying all season it was this one, even in the build up to the match I spoke of the need to keep a clean sheet and not to have any lapses in concentration that could cost us dearly, so what do we go and do, we do exactly that.
My gripe all season hasnt been about the defending in general its been about the way we can defend well for large percentages of games then throw away points in one moment of poor play or individual lapse of concentration that sees the other 89 minutes all go to waste, of course we cant win every game and stop every goal, but even Nigel Adkins himself has admitted that it seems that we concede very few good goals from the opposition and too many soft ones, off the top of my head on top of last night there was Pompey's equaliser, Doncasters winner, at least two of the goals at Leicester, both goals at Cardiff, thats just the tip of the iceberg and in those five games there is anything between six and ten points thrown away and that is far too many games to have defensive errors in.
Im sure some people will come back on me at this and tell me to look at the goal difference column and how many we have conceded, yes we havent conceded that many when put against most of the teams in this division, but its not just about how many you concede its about being tight in the right areas at the right time, keeping it tight when the scores are tight, too many of our clean sheets have been when the scoreline hasnt been close ie in the 3-0 win at Watford, not enough of them have been in games like last night, when we have scored only once and need to see the game out.
To be fair to Ipswich although they had been lively for most of the game, we had coped well and barring one great save from Kelvin Davis they hadnt troubled the keeper too much as we came into the last five minutes, indeed they had had only had two chances on target at that point. A hopeful punt up field looked simple for Hooiveld to deal with but Jason Scotland didnt give it up and got to the ball first, at this point there looked to be no danger whatsover the Ipswich man was hemmed in near the touchline in the corner, all we had to do was hold him up, how we allowed him not just to turn, but to cut across the edge of the penalty area with three defenders not getting anywhere near him to close him down and get in a shot is appalling, end result a goal, two points dropped and psycological advantage to Reading.
The goal apart Saints didnt play too badly and created a host of chances that they should have done better with at times, Nigel Adkins played tinkerman again which as i have said above at times worked and we created chances, but at other times we looked disjointed and struggling to get width, the crtical moment came when Adkins brought on De Ridder, this is the type of situation De Ridder should be used in, before the Town defence had got used to his pace, he beat his man and got in a decisive cross for Lambert's goal on 74 minutes, in truth De Ridder did little else of note afterwards, but at this point it looked as if we had got the breakthrough, but then it went wrong, taking off Lallana was a mistake, in that although he needed a rest as he had worked hard, we had no natural replacement on the bench with Cork certainly no left midfield player, its no coincidence that the goal came from this area, add a player out of position to a left back who was not having the best of games and you are inviting trouble and Ipswich accepted the invitation.
This report might be doom and gloom, but i do feel it reflects the mood of the supporters afterwards, everyone i spoke to said it felt like a defeat, there will be those that have a go at me telling me I am wrong and what a tight defence Saints have got, but again I reiterate, its no use being tight in a game that you win 3-0, you have to do it in games last night when it counts, the run in will be about who can hold their nerve, it will be about keeping clean sheets and waiting for our opportunities to come and taking them, think Bristol Rovers at home last April for instance, last night we should have done the same, but our defensive frailties were once again exposed, one lapse of concentration costs us two points and this is far from the first time it has happened, unless we do something and to be blunt playing the same players will only have the same results, I fear Reading who are doing exactly what i have just advocated, will be the team that keeps it tight and does to us what we did to uddersfield last year.