Reading Town 3-0 Pegasus Juniors (6th December 08)

Should be an entertaining game this weekend (but I do say that about every match ) even so looking forward to it with special offer for kids to get in free who are aged 15 or below (sadly I am 16 so can't get the deal) hopefully this might lure some locals out and for them to join the Barmy Army .

1st half had plenty of chances but only managed to score one when Aaron Parfitt fired home in the 30th minute or so. Pegasus Juniors didn't trouble Chris Grace that much at all. 2nd half got a bit scrappy but this saw the Town net 2 more goals with Graham Lewis scoring the 2nd. There is a bit of a debate who scored the 3rd with Mr. Lewis claiming it came off some part of his body when Campo shot for goal. I have had a look at the footage several time and found it inconclusive so I would have to say Campo scored the 3rd. Funny at Half Time when we were told by a Pegasus fan that they are 15 miles away from Wales (He only told us this because we were singing: Your Welsh and you know you are) but 15 miles is not to far away so they have to be a part of Wales

He certainly did bleat on a bit didn't he?
But then so did the Reading Juniors LOL!!
I thought the team looked solid again yesterday in all areas.
So difficult to pick MOM these days - but a nice problem to have.
Roll on Fairford and another fun away day.

I think the goal was awarded to Graham lewis in the end, that's if you look on the Hellenic League Website. 5 cleansheets which is great and scoring plenty of goals. I might be able to get to the next game, probably know on Saturday if I can get a lift to Fairford.

Top work on the videos as usual, John. Always good to be able to get back from a game and have another look at the goals and so on, and always good to be able to watch some of the action when I've been unable to make the game. Keep up the good work with the videos, really great that they're done.

How did the kids in free offer go down? Attendance was 60 which isn't that different to gates at the start of the season, but a bit of a rise on recent gates. Certainly a good rise on the previous two Saturday home gates which were 33 (against Bicester on 1st November) and 43 (against Milton on 15th November).

Doubt I'll be able to make it to the Fairford match unfortunately, as there's no railway station in Fairford.

BenOBagels wrote:Top work on the videos as usual, John. Always good to be able to get back from a game and have another look at the goals and so on, and always good to be able to watch some of the action when I've been unable to make the game. Keep up the good work with the videos, really great that they're done.

How did the kids in free offer go down? Attendance was 60 which isn't that different to gates at the start of the season, but a bit of a rise on recent gates. Certainly a good rise on the previous two Saturday home gates which were 33 (against Bicester on 1st November) and 43 (against Milton on 15th November).

Doubt I'll be able to make it to the Fairford match unfortunately, as there's no railway station in Fairford.

It helps as I have a battery for my video camera which lasts up to 2 hours now, so don't have to worry about the battery life anymore and can video the whole of the game. I thought the offer was good which saw about 5 or 6 kids chanting with us for a bit and they did make a few sheep noises throughout the game which was quite amusing Hopefully they do Kids Offer again (especially for the Witney game) as it did work and over time the crowds should get bigger if they were to do it every home game with different offers like Kids for a quid etc. I might be able to get to the Fairford game, should know by Saturday morning.

Ben how was the Barnsely game? What was the atmosphere like?

I think the club should keep the 'kid in for free' deal for the rest of the season considering barring a major loss of form from Hungerford and Shortwood it's going to be hard for RT to win the title this season.It would also allow parents with a couple of kids who would normally may have stayed away from the game decide to come.... Also, by getting a few extra peeps to come along because of the free deal, and the team in good form it might actually get a few more people hooked to continue to come again and again.

Thought I'd heard a few more voices on the chanting video, is always good to have more numbers backing the boys in a vocal sense. Hopefully those kids enjoyed the game and can get their parents to bring them back to the Lane in the future. Economically speaking I wouldn't think that doing a kids in free offer for a lot of games would be good for the club, especially at this level where money is tight and every penny counts. However on the flipside if these offers do work then of course it does bring more paying adults (and boosts the attendances with is always good) through the gate, and looking at the attendances this match probably bought in the most in ticket money for a couple of months. So while these offers for spectators are always great to have, the financial side also would be considered by the club, perhaps offers such as buy a ticket for one kid, bring another in free (or effectively get the kids tickets half price) could also work.

RTFC Barmy Army wrote:Ben how was the Barnsely game? What was the atmosphere like?

It was a good trip, the quality of the game could have been better, the ref didn't exactly help by seemingly not understanding the rules very well. First half he was effectively another player for Barnsley (from where I was, Jimmy Kébé's sending off looked very non-violent) and the second half the ref was effectively another player for Reading. The atmosphere overall wasn't great, it didn't help that the Reading fans had half an end stand, and the side stand we were closest to was deserted from the end up to the halfway line. A number of the Reading fans (probably a bit less than half) sung for a lot of the match though. Definitely not the worst or best atmosphere I've ever seen, but with the Reading fans isolated so to speak it was never really going to be a great atmosphere. But the win and the overall trip (Barnsley's a nice town, with friendly locals and some decent pubs ) definitely made it worthwhile.

I think the 'kid in for free' is probably more to do with long term benefits than the short term ones. I've not been down to Scours Lane to see the demographics of the age of supporters, but if there is currently minimal support where they are kids, then the club wont be losing money with the scheme, but on the benefit side it might entice parents out with their kids who may not be able to afford to come normally....Afterall 2 supporters paying £3 each is more profitable than 1 supporter paying £5 and the dilemma may come if i had a kid do i come and pay for myself only, or decide i have to pay for myself and a child, or just forget it altogether and the club then loses my £5....it's a hard one to call really.