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Doyle goal punishes Derby

Doyle goal punishes Derby


Doyle goal punishes Derby

Kevin Doyle eased Reading's relegation fears by heading a second-half winner as the Royals edged out Derby 1-0 at the Madejski. The battle between the two relegation candidates was tense, but Reading came up trumps thanks to Doyle.

Royals boss Steve Coppell had warned on the eve of the match that he may have to bolster his squad in January, only for Doyle to grab his first of the season and offer a reminder of his match-winning capabilities.

With less than three minutes gone, Dave Kitson latched onto a Doyle flick after an intelligent dummy, the ball cannoned towards Stephen Hunt and the Irishman lifted the ball over the crossbar with just Bywater to beat.

Hunt and Doyle both went close later on, bundling onto passes from Rosenior and just missing the goal on a couple of occasions.

Kenny Miller was Derby's attacking outlet but he was treading a fine line as he hovered near the last defender and was flagged twice for tight offsides in the first half.

Andy Griffin almost surprised the hosts when he cut in from the right and curled a long-range effort just wide, with Derby getting a little confidence from the first half-hour going scoreless.

Derby fell behind in the 63rd minute as Kevin Doyle steered home with his head after Murty's cross had been flicked to the back post by Derby striker Steven Howard.

The result takes a bit of pressure off Steve Coppell, but Derby's Premiership nightmare shows no signs of easing up.