YOKEL DERBY Swindon Town 1-1 Reading

The latest installment in the pre-season programme took Reading down the M4 to freshly relegated Swindon Down where another less than full strength line-up earned a 1-1 draw. Floyd on Football's spies at the game reported that Leroy Lita spun and finished impressively for the opening goal which was cancelled out before half time with a twice taken penalty from Christian Roberts. Once again Reading ended the game with a youthful looking line-up which must surely be seen as a positive. The next phase of the pre-season build up will be the usual tour of Sweden, commencing with a fixture against the might of Gallstads FK on Thursday.

CHAV-ARMY Millwall 0-1 Reading

Reading made it five wins from five pre-season warm up games with another straight forward victory over Millwall and their retarded followers. On a night on which a pathetically small home crowd disgraced themselves with racist chants directed at Reading supporters and Seol Ki Hyeon, it was the Korean who had the last laugh in deciding this game shortly before half time. Intercepting a poor back pass from Derek McInnes, Seol advanced on goal, rounded Pidgeley and stroked the ball home deftly from a tight angle.

At the other end, Federici was rarely tested although a poor looking Millwall side had a couple of half decent chances to equalise against an experimental Reading side, only to blaze their chances high, wide and - much like the gurning teenage home support who spent 90 minutes attempting to provoke a reaction with their pathetic behvaiour - not very handsome. As the game drew to a close, and following the usual rash of substitutions, Reading had 6 teenagers on the field by full time who looked more than comfortable against the best a League One side could muster, so for that reason alone this drab fixture was worthwhile.

FOUR-KING HELL Northampton Town 1-4 Reading

The weather was Cobblers. As Floyd on Football left the public house after the traditional pre-match Cinzano & Lemonade, the heavens opened and kick-off at Sixfields was delayed by 10 minutes. The gathered crowd were entertained in the meantime with a stunning light and sound show as a thunderstorm struck Northamptonshire and just as play resumed there was a gasp from the spectators, as if impressed by a firework display as a spectacular electrical fork formed in the sky.

Another bolt from the blue came with barely fifteen minutes of this latest pre-season match played. A strong Reading side had started brightly on a sodden surface but a shanked clearance from Graham Stack gifted Northampton a throw-in which was defended atrociously and presented Scott McLeish with a simple goal which left Floyd on Football with a face like thunder. It was a mere blip however as Reading led within ten minutes of conceding; the electrically charged Leroy Lita first sprinted clear to bury an equaliser before turning supporting actor for a Doyle tap-in. Storm clouds must have gathered in the home dressing room as home 'keeper Harper flapped under pressure right on half time, gifting Gunnarsson a chance to rifle home. Reading never looked remotely like relinquishing this lead and despite the usual array of substitutions they kept a good tempo throughout; Simon Cox rounded off a useful work-out against League One opposition by bamboozling the hapless Harper with his finish after being fed by John Halls meant that we had struck four times.

TOO HOT TO RUSH Rushden & Diamonds 2-3 Reading

A gridlocked M40 and temperatures approaching 100 degrees fahrenheit were not enough to prevent Floyd on Football making the trip to Nene Park last night as Reading triumphed 3-2 in their third pre-season friendly. A small crowd gathered inside Rushden's tidily impressive little ground saw the locals take a first half lead courtesy of Jon Ashton who fired accurately into the far corner from the edge of the box, giving third choice goalkeeper and goal hero Federici no chance.

A Reading team missing the likes of Hahnemann, Convey, Harper, Kitson and Lita were level on the stroke of half time as Seol Ki-Hyeon opened his RFC goalscoring account with a rasping finish into the roof of the net from the edge of the box. Reading took control of affairs after half time and moved ahead with a typically forceful Sonko header from a corner. Simon Cox showed all his strength and guile to muscle his way towards goal and finished with aplomb via the far post. A late Ashton penalty gave Rushden a goal back on an evening where John Oster impressed in an unfamiliar central-midfield role and John Halls suffered a lazy-looking stinker of a performance at right back and was withdrawn at half time. Reading will return to the Rose of the Shires on Saturday for an assignment at League 1 Northampton Town.

JEEPERS KEEPERS Non-league friendly fun

Reading began their preparations for the Premiership on Friday night with a comprehensive swatting of Southern League Didcot Town which felt a little like jogging to the corner shop to get your newspaper in readiness for tackling the London Marathon.

A strong side triumphed 9-1 in South Oxfordshire having actually fallen behind. With tricky winger Seol Ki-Hyeon debutising down the left flank Reading led 3-1 by half time with Gunnarsson turning in Seol's centre for the equaliser and strike partners Kitson and Doyle getting into the groove with a goal apiece. There were more changes to the Reading team at half time than the Seria A fixture list with an entirely different outfield line-up forcing in another 6 goals to complete a satisfactory evening's work; Lita back from his ankle injury looked lively and greedily gobbled up 4 goals with young livewire Shane Long helping himself to a couple.

A somewhat weaker and less experienced squad travelled to Bromley and ground out a 1-0 win with a goal courtesy of 3rd choice goalkeeper Adam Federici. Following an injury to Aaron Brown and with all the outfield subs having been used, Federici was thrown up front and (according to Floyd on Football's man at the game) beat his man to finish tidily into the corner for our solitary score. The warm-up matches come thick and fast now with a visit to Rushden & Diamonds on Wednesday and fixtures with Northampton, Millwall and Swindon within the next fortnight.

FRIENDLY FIRE Pre-season 2006

For our athletes to be finely tuned in good time for the rigours of a Premiership campaign which begins next month, the usual array of warm-up matches have been arranged starting tomorrow night with the traditional summer trip up the A4074 to face Hellenic League champions Didcot Town. In an act of shameless schadenfreude, we are also pencilled in to play former league rivals Northampton Town (22/7), Millwall (26/7) and Swindon Town (29/7) which gives the travelling support an opportunity to remind former peers of our newly found status.

There will also be fixtures at Kent-based nonentites Bromley on July 15th, a visit to Rushden & Diamonds (a club which Floyd on Football had always assumed to be fictitious) on Wednesday 19th and the visit of Dutch cloggers Feyenoord to the MadStad on August 12th. There will also be the usual tour of Sweden in early August with fixtures against such unpronounceables as Gallstads, Lanna GoIF and Orgryte. Floyd on Football's travel budget does not stretch to Scandanavian trips but there will be the usual full coverage of fixtures this side of the North Sea. Probably.

KOREA MOVE Seol has heart

Spendthrift Reading FC have broken their transfer record for the second time in twelve months with the signing of South Korean internationalist Seol Ki-Hyeon from plucky West Midlands minnows Wolverhampton Wanderers. The fee could eventually rise to £1.5 million depending on appearances. The world cup ace (copyright Reading Evening Post) was part of the Korean side which reached the semi-finals of the 2002 tournament and most recently he layed on the late equaliser against France in the group stages in Germany. Seol is likely to be joined very soon by Brentford collusus Sam Sodje, the Titus Bramble of League 1. Reading have agreed a fee with the West London giants for the chunky hatchet man, a signing which is sure to send shockwaves through the Premiership.