Souness fumes as Southampton exist in disgrace

READING were prepared to battle on a hard but playable pitch while Southampton were disinclined to do so

READING were prepared to battle on a hard but playable pitch while Southampton were disinclined to do so. That, in a nutshell, was the reason for the first division side's convincing success against a team whose Premiership season has slid from bad to worse.

Southampton's manager Graeme Souness had every reason to be disappointed, but instead of criticising the referee Graham Poll so vehemently for allowing the match to go ahead he should have concentrated his anger on his ill disciplined players, two of whom, Francis Benali and Robbie Slater, got themselves sent off.

Souness, however, partly linked the surface and Mr Poll to his side's defeat and will surely be censured by the Football Association for his attack on the official.

"Mr Poll has a reputation among the professionals in the game as a man who wants to make a name for himself," he said. "That is the second time in a week he has made teams play on pitches which were less than perfect."

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Once he had simmered down, Souness said of his side's latest embarrassment: "We were always, chasing the tie and never had time to settle. They fought like lions but some stupid defending made it easy for them. We should have asserted ourselves but we were slack in every department."

Reading's joint manager Jimmy Quinn rubbed it in. "The sendings off showed how they lost their discipline," he said. "We broke their spirit, out played them, and they lost hope. We showed them blood and guts and could have had five or six."

That was no exaggeration, but after Trevor Morley - fouled by Benali - had put Reading 3-1 ahead from the penalty spot, the former West Ham striker and the impressive Martin Williams spurned chances to increase the home side's lead.

Benali earned a red card tore his foul on Morley and Slater joined, him in the early bath near the end for alleged abuse of a linesman. By then the match was settled and only for short spells either side of the break and in a confident period at the start had the Premiership side been in it.

Klaus Lundekvam's dithering lead to Reading's first goal in the 19th minute. Williams, having shrugged off the much heavier Dutchman Ulrik Van Gobbel on the left, appeared to have lost the ball to the Norwegian, but won it back to set up a clear cut opportunity gleefully accepted by James Lambert.

Southampton, however, equalised in the 49th minute when Eyal Berkovic threaded the ball through for Egil Ostenstad to score. This should have provided the impetus they needed, but instead Reading regrouped and went ahead again when Lambert, a constant threat, crossed from the left for Morley to head back across goal and Darren Caskey to wallop a volley past David Beasant. Morley's spot kick merely emphasised the superiority of Reading, for whom every man played his part.

Souness had no sympathy for Benali, sent off for the third time this season, but claimed that Slater did not swear at a linesman. If Souness used a few choice words of his own in the dressing room, he could be forgiven for that at least.