Accommodation at Old Trafford

The Trafford Hall Hotel are keen to designate themselves a Sunderland Fans Only venue for the semi-final weekend.

The hotel is just 5 minutes walk from Old Trafford and five minutes from the city centre using the Metro Tram system which has a station next to the hotel.

Twin/Double rooms are available for £72.50 including full English breakfast for the night of Saturday April 3rd and family rooms are available at £105.

Please call 0161 848 7791 to book. It is essential that you mention you are a Sunderland supporter and heard about the hotel from RTG and the Greater Manchester Supporters Branch.

HACKWATCH: Lads 2 Hammers 0

OPPO: West Ham
VENUE: Stadium of Light
RESULT: Sunderland 2 (Kyle, Whitley) West Ham 0
TEAM: Poom, Breen, Babb, McCartney, Wright, Thornton (Williams 86), Thirlwell, Oster (Piper 79), Whitley, Kyle, Smith (Byfield 79).
SUBS NOT USED:.Ingham, K Cooper
BACK IN BLACK: Richard Beeby (Northants)
ATTENDANCE: 29,533

MCCARTHY’S COMMENTS

"It wasn't pretty but the two teams were desperate for the points. Goals change games and having got them I think we deserved the victory.

"I am delighted for Jeff Whitley. It was disappointing for all of us when he got sent off in midweek but he earned his goal and he showed his commitment by forcing the ball home with a block tackle on their goal-line.

"West Ham are in a play-off spot so it was important that we got a win, especially after Preston. It was nice to beat a team above us but I thought it was a game for us to win.

"I don't give a fiddle how we got the points. We've played teams off the park here and haven't won. There weren't many nice pretty patterns and there wasn't much flowing football but for me that's a great Saturday afternoon. It's a nicer place to come to work, that's for sure."

SAFC OFFICIAL SITE

The Wearsiders started the brighter with goalscorer Kyle giving his countryman Christian Dailly problems from the off.

Pardew's men went into it on the back of a 5-0 win over Wimbledon, but they were disappointing.

Sunderland's policy of looking for Kyle's head did not work in the first half as time after time the Scot's flick-ons landed no-where.

Kyle finally broke the deadlock in the 60th minute to bring the Stadium of Light to life. McCartney's free-kick from just inside the Hammers' half was helped on by Thirlwell and Smith before Kyle poked out a leg to steer it past Bywater.

Kyle turned goal saver in the 70th when Michael Carrick's shot looked to be going in until the tough Scot threw himself into a block.

This was not the Black Cats at their best.

THE INDEPENDENT

For an hour yesterday Sunderland were as clueless as West Ham in a contest of Inspector Clouseau-class incompetence.

At least Wright’s tackle on Etherington relieved the tedium.

It took 27 minutes for the first opening to materialise and, even then, Joel McAnuff's volley was comfortably gathered by Mart Poom.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

On the balmiest Wearside Saturday afternoon of 2004 it was possible to believe a corner has finally been turned.

On the first-half evidence at least, a casual spectator could have been forgiven for assuming this was a first division relegation scrap rather than a promotion tussle.

Badly missing Julio Arca, Sunderland were reliant on poorly executed set pieces and did not threaten until Jeff Whitley sent an opportunistic 45th-minute cross-shot across the face of goal.

Whitley was fortunate to still be involved after escaping with just a booking in the wake of a nasty challenge on Matthew Etherington.

Gary Breen proved similarly effective at the other end, generally rendering Bobby Zamora invisible.

Not for the first time, the pick of McCarthy's defence was George McCartney. The young left-back's pace and poise suggested that he is probably one of only a handful of Sunderland's current squad capable of cutting it at Premiership level.

It was McCartney's long free kick which prefaced Sunderland, evidently believers in economy of effort, scoring with their second attempt.

Dailly proved powerless to prevent Whitley scoring Sunderland's second.

THE OBSERVER

A play-off place is a more realistic ambition for two teams who, on this evidence, would have to make major changes to survive in the top flight.

The tedium of the first-half, in particular, provoked only bewilderment that this would have been a Premiership encounter just a year ago.

Sunderland were devoid of constructive ideas.

Sunderland's poor passing ensured they had to wait until stoppage time before carving out a clear opportunity.

The second-half was marginally better, although guile, invention and ingenuity were still rare commodities.

Paul Thirlwell illustrated why he is yet to score a league goal as he sliced a 52nd minute shot horribly wide.

A mistake by McCartney almost presented West Ham with an equaliser, but Wright's excellent clearance under the bar rescued the full-back.

Sunderland finally sealed their victory in the 75th minute through when Jeff Whitley began and ended one of the better moves of the game.

Reading FC: away supporters' guide

RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.

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THE OPPO – Reading FC
VENUE – The Madejski Stadium, Reading, Berkshire
DATE – Saturday 20th March
KO TIME – 3.00pm

THE GROUND – The Madejski Stadium – click here and here for maps of the area - the circle/arrow near the middle shows where the ground is.

The Madejski is about three miles south of Reading in Berkshire, close to jcn 11 of the M4 motorway and also the A4 with its links to both London and the south west. The stadium holds 24,200 (all seated).

A maximum of 4,300 visiting supporters can be accommodated in the south stand, accessible via gates 9 and 10.

Wheelchair spaces are available in all stands (128 in total), set well back from the pitch to give protection from bad weather, contact Reading FC direct to book one.

The stadium was opened in August 1998 and is built on the site of a former household waste dump – the cylindrical metallic posts surrounding the stadium are actually methane gas vents, to prevent the build up of gases underground from the buried waste. It was named ‘Europe’s Best Mid-Size Arena’ by American sports TV channel ESPN. Club chairman John Madejski earned his fortune by founding ‘Autotrader’ magazine. Reading FC ground-share with London Irish rugby club.

Tickets are now on general sale, priced £18 for adults, £10 concessions.

GOING BY CAR?

Travelling from the north east, get yourself onto the A1/A1M southbound; just after you pass junction 45 (for the A64 Leeds/York road) you’ll see signs for the M1 – so take the M1 southbound.
You join the M1 at jcn 48 and you need to stay on it until you reach jcn 15A.
Then leave the M1 and at the roundabout take the second exit for the A43 under the motorway bridge, then at the next roundabout straight forward – you want to be on the A43 westbound.
Stay on the A43 for about 24 miles until you reach the junction with the M40. At the roundabout take the second exit signposted ‘London’ – you’re on the M40.
Leave the M40 at jcn 4 – at the roundabout take the 5th exit signposted ‘Marlow, Maidenhead’
After 5 miles take the A404(M), signposted ‘Reading’.
Leave at jcn 9A – at the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto the M4, signposted ‘The West’.
Leave at jcn 11, at the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto the A33
At Worton Grange Business Park (on the right) take the 2nd exit off the roundabout.
You’ll see the stadium on your left.

PARKING

Free park at Shinfield Park then a shuttle bus to the stadium (£1.50 adults/75p kids). To get to Shinfield Park, leave the M4 at jcn 11 and go onto the B3270 signposted for Earley, follow signs to ‘Football Car Park C’. Reading FC recommend this option for away supporters.

Or for £4 per car, park at the Greyhound Stadium and it’s only a short walk to the stadium (from M4 jcn 11 head up the A33 towards Reading, follow signs for Football Car Park A but get there early, it’s usually full about an hour before kickoff.

GOING BY TRAIN?

The 8.32 GNER from Newcastle will get you to London King’s Cross just after midday – get the tube across London (or a cab) to Paddington Station and catch the 12.45 First Great Western service to Reading, arriving 25 minutes later.
Or The 8.57 GNER gets you to King’s Cross at 12.23, get across town to London Paddington and catch the 1.15pm Great Western service to Reading, arriving at 140pm.
At Reading station, catch bus no 79 at stop ‘SQ’ which runs between the station and the stadium, leaving every 5 minutes between 1pm and 2.40pm.
Going home, service 79 bus leaves the stadium (stop ‘MA’) heading to the station every 5 minutes between 4.45 and 5.35.

The 5.57pm service from Reading gets you to Paddington about 6.30pm; get yourself across town to King’s Cross then catch the 7.15pm GNER heading north. You’ll arrive at Darlington at 10.05pm where because of engineering work you’ll need to get on the bus transfer (provided) which gets into Newcastle at 11.15. It’ll cost you a minimum £44 (standard class off peak return), rising to £93 for a ‘Saver Return’, depending upon seat/ticket availability - for all train times for that day and online booking, check the National Rail website.

OR EVEN…….

Not so flush?
Take the ALS coach and tell them mine’s a red wine.

STOPPING OVER?

The Millennium Madejski hotel is attached to the stadium. If yer feeling flush, for £47.50 a head you get a 7 course meal in the hotel restaurant AND a room for the night. The price includes use of the hotel’s leisure facilities and free parking on site. Tel 0118 925 3500.

Travelodge Reading Central/Whitley/M4 jcn 11-12 – tel 08700 850950.
Travel Inn Bracknell (10 miles) – tel 08701 977036
Express by Holiday Inn, Reading – tel 0118 958 2558.
Comfort Inn Reading – tel 0118 971 3282

SCRAN AND BOOZE

Bad news – there are no pubs near the ground. Your best bet is either to drink in Reading town centre (Friar Street recommended) or there are bars at the back of the stands where you can get a pint. But apparently many of the pubs in town don’t allow fans in who are wearing colours, although most establishments are friendly.
There’s a pub called The Three Guineas close to Reading Station or close by on Forbury Road, the Corn Exchange – upstairs is an Italian Restaurant.
If you want a pie to go with your pint, head for the Sweeney And Todd in Reading town centre: go in and buy a pint at the counter upstairs then take a seat and order a pie. It came highly recommended by a London-based Burnley fan who reckons no visit to Reading is complete without a pie and pint from this place.

LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH

If you’re going by train, there are cash machines at both Paddington train station and Paddington Underground station.
Closer to the stadium there’s a Halifax cash machine at Reading Gate Retail Park, a stone’s throw from the stadium and an Abbey cash machine just along the road.

THEM AND US

Sunderland P33 W15 D10 L8 Pts 55 GD +12
Reading P36 W15 D9 L12 Pts 54 GD -3

HEAD TO HEAD

Last four games between Reading and Sunderland

27.09.03 Sunderland 2 Reading 0 (Arca, Oster)
17.02.98 Sunderland 4 Reading 1 (Quinn, Rae, Phillips x 2)
04.10.97 Reading 4 Sunderland 0
16.12.95 Reading 1 Sunderland 1 (Martin Smith)

FEELING RIGHT AT HOME?

This is what the Lads are up against - Reading’s home form this season is as follows:

P18 W9 D5 L4 F25 A21 Pts 32 GD 4

Credits: Reading FC, Link, Soccerbase, London Clarets, Yellow Pages, The AA, Streetmap, Multimap, National Rail.

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