Derby downed by Doyle

Kevin Doyle scored his first goal of the season as Reading put their 7-4 humbling at Portsmouth behind them.

Royals striker opens account for season

Kevin Doyle scored his first goal of the season as Reading put their 7-4 humbling at Portsmouth behind them. The Republic of Ireland international headed home the only goal of the game in the 63rd minute to leave Derby still searching for a first away point and first away goal in the Premier League. The Royals missed a number of chances before the interval and Derby started the second half brightly as they looked to take advantage. But Billy Davies' men were caught out when Graeme Murty swung a deep cross into the box and Doyle steadied himself at the far post before heading back across Stephen Bywater and into the corner of the net.

Early chances

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 got even closer in the 21st minute, heading just wide after Doyle found a yard of room on the touchline and whipped in a cross from the right. Doyle headed just off-target himself from a similar position after Liam Rosenior bundled his way through a Jay McEveley tackle, getting off the floor and putting his cross in. 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. Miller almost got behind the Reading defence but Ivar Ingimarsson clipped him deliberately and earned a booking from referee Lee Mason. Mason then turned down two penalty appeals for Reading, both for handball. McEveley blocked a Graeme Murty effort for the first, Dean Leacock tussled with Kitson for the second. The referee then booked Claude Davis for a foul on Doyle, with Brynjar Gunnarsson getting his header tipped over from the set-piece. It was Benny Feilhaber's first start for Derby since his move from Hamburg in the summer, but the Brazil-born player had to curb his attacking instincts in central midfield.

Oakley volley

At the start of the second half, it was Feilhaber's midfield team-mates who were causing Reading problems. Skipper Matt Oakley tried his luck from long range, his volley flying wide with Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann at full stretch. Stephen Pearson also fired wide after Tyrone Mears made progress down the right before pulling the ball back. Despite a little bit of pressure, Derby fell behind in the 63rd minute. Doyle steered home with his head after Murty's cross had been flicked to the back post by Derby striker Steven Howard. The response of Derby boss Davies was to bring on Giles Barnes for Howard, while Feilhaber was replaced by Eddie Lewis. Rob Earnshaw was brought on for Griffin and curled an effort just wide, while at the other end McEveley was fortunate to get away with handling on the edge of the area as last defender. He also smacked the ball against John Oster but escaped sanction.

Reading	Team Statistics	Derby County
1	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
3	Shots on Target	0
6	Shots off Target	8
5	Blocked Shots	1
3	Corners	3
13	Fouls	18
3	Offsides	10
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
61	Passing Success	70
20	Tackles	24
70	Tackles Success	83.3
41.7	Possession	58.3
59	Territorial Advantage	41