Reading 0
Burnley 2 (Paterson 51, Thompson 58)
Reading's dreams of a quick return to the Premier League were dashed as two terrific Burnley goals knocked them out of the Coca-Cola Championship play-off semi-finals.
Up until the first goal, the Royals were the better side, and came close through debutant Simon Church, while visiting 'keeper Brian Jensen was very lucky not to be sent off after handling Shane Long's goalbound effort outside the area.
We went in at half time with confidence that we could turn our dominance into the goals we so craved, but our defenders backed off too far to allow Martin Paterson to score with a superb strike six minutes into the second half.
Steve Coppell quickly made a triple substitution in a bid to get back on terms, but Steven Thompson scored within minutes, his brilliant volley crashing in off the bar to break our hearts and put the tie completely out of sight.
The last half an hour was frankly hard to watch and hardly a single ball ran our way as the frustrations of the season all came to a head; the match completely dead.
Credit must go to our supporters for their continued backing despite the scoreline, but we now have no choice other than to rue a bid for promotion that has somehow slipped through our fingers despite so many golden opportunities.
Reading (4-3-3): Hahnemann; Rosenior, Harding, Duberry (c), Pearce; Gunnarsson, Matejovsky (S Hunt 53), Tabb; Church (Little 53), Kebe (Kitson 53), Long
Subs: Federici, Cisse
Booked: Duberry (foul 35), Kitson (dissent 56), Long (foul 57)
Burnley (4-1-4-1): Jensen; Duff, Kalvenes, Caldwell (c), Carlisle; Alexander; McCann, Elliott (Eagles 84), Thompson (Rodriguez 80), Blake; Paterson (Gudjonsson 71)
Subs: Penny, McDonald
Booked: Kalvenes (foul 14), Elliott (foul 61)
Ref: M Riley
Attendance: 19,909
Full report
Reading were looking positive from the off, and debutant Simon Church did well to win a free kick out wide with 15 minutes gone. Shane Long pulled off to the back post to get on the end of Marek Matejovsky's delivery, and forced Brian Jensen into a good save by unleashing a stinging drive from 10 yards. The ball fell loose to Michael Duberry, and the defender was a little off target with a dinked volley.
Burnley were second best, and Clarke Carlisle's header from a corner was easily saved by Marcus Hahnemann.
Church then tried his luck from 20 yards, but couldn't quite connect properly on his left foot and Jensen easily saved.
Reading were enjoying plenty of ball, but Wade Elliott had Marcus Hahnemann scrambling when his volley deflected off the head of a Royals defender and just over.
Steve Coppell's side were desperately looking for a goal, and Matejovsky slipped in Brynjar Gunnarsson with a lovely ball to set him clear down the right. The Icelander whipped in a low ball, and Church was desperately close to tapping home but just couldn't get the all-important touch.
Then a key refereeing decision went against us; a moment that could really have turned the game in our favour. Long rushed toward a pass down the right channel, and Jensen flew out of his area. Long got there first, and the ball was smashed goalwards, onto Jensen's arm and well outside the area. Referee Mike Riley gave the free kick, but incredibly did not show a card of any colour when a sending off would not have been a surprise to any spectator.
As we protested, Riley seemed to be mouthing to our players that it was a case of ball to hand, but after giving the free kick surely the official was duty bound to issue a yellow card at the very, very least.
From the resulting free kick Dan Harding curled in a low effort, but it was straight at Jensen, and although the 'keeper almost fumbled, he just about held on.
The pressure had been building, and Reading were without question the better side but again with nothing to show for it.
Second half
Against all the odds, Burnley scored with their first meaningful effort on goal, and it was some goal.
Wideman Martin Paterson was allowed to run with the ball all too easily, and Harding & Jay Tabb failed to deal with the advancing threat. The Clarets' number 10 unleashed a thunderous drive on his supposedly weaker left foot from fully 25 yards, and Hahnemann just could not get across in time as it nestled right in the corner of the net.
It was a great strike, but a blow to the heart of every Royals fan as we had once again been the better team.
We made an immediate triple substitution to get back into the game, but sadly matters just went from bad to worse.
A Burnley free kick was punted forward from the back, and Steven Thompson outmuscled Liam Rosenior to win possession. The ball bounced up for the striker right on the edge of the box, and he hit a brilliant dipping left-footed volley in off the bar, giving Hahnemann absolutely no chance.
It was clearly game over at that point, and a series of frustrating decisions by referee Riley did nothing for the atmosphere. Long kicked over a corner flag in a fit of pique and that just summed up the mood.
The rest of the game seemed to take an eternity, and every touch from a Reading man somehow managed to run away from us - it was now that kind of night.
Long smashed one miles over after the ball bounced to him, then Kitson volleyed over on the turn with 16 minutes left and any vain hope was completely dashed at that point.
Riley continued to frustrate the home supporters with every shrill blow of his whistle, but in reality a wasted opportunity of a season saw our emotions get the better of us.
To their credit, the fans tried their utmost to get behind the team as choruses of 'Reading 'til I die' drowned out any songs from the Burnley end in the last minutes.
Burnley went close to a third in the last stages, but in truth the game had been over for the last half an hour.
It was a deeply frustrating end to what will ultimately be seen as a season in which we simply should have done better.
