Jones Joy
By: Soccernet.com.
Sunderland marked the passing of FA Cup hero Ian Porterfield in fitting style to end a run of four defeats with a confident 2-1 victory over Reading.
Eyebrows were raised when manager Roy Keane paid Southampton £6million for striker Kenwyne Jones, but he capped a fine home debut with a superb 29th-minute strike to set his side on their way, and then provided the cross from which Ross Wallace made it 2-0 two minutes after the break.
The margin of victory would have been more comfortable had either Jones or Wallace made the most of gilt-edged chances which came their way either side of half-time.
However, after going four games without a single goal, two were more than enough to kill off a poor Royals side on the day despite Dave Kitson's late consolation effort.
In the run-up to the game, Keane had insisted the best possible tribute his players could pay to Porterfield would be to secure three points, and they set about their task with relish.
The loss of wide men Kieran Richardson and Carlos Edwards through injury had robbed the Irishman of two of his most creative forces, but the men he selected to plug the gaps proved more than capable as Sunderland dominated the first half.
Local boy Grant Leadbitter lined up on the right, while Wallace added the width on the left and both were to be heavily involved.
Indeed, much of the Black Cats' better play was channelled through Leadbitter and it was he who forced a fine 13th-minute save from keeper Marcus Hahnemann with a swerving right-foot volley after Danny Higginbotham's cross had been only half-cleared.
However, if it was Leadbitter calling the shots in midfield, Jones was making a big impression ahead of him as he made life intensely difficult for Ivar Ingimarsson and Andre Bikey at the heart of the Reading defence.
He had already drilled in a long-range effort which caused Hahnemann some discomfort when he opened his Sunderland account with a superb 29th-minute strike.
Leadbitter was the architect as he served the ball up on the edge of the area for the former Saints hitman to smash a left-foot shot past the keeper and into the bottom corner.
Jones might have doubled his tally with a header which he directed just wide two minutes later, but should have done four minutes before the break.
Wallace twisted and turned his way into space on the left to pick out Jones at the far post, but with the goal at his mercy, he headed firmly into the ground and saw the ball rear up and over the bar.
Reading created little of any note during the opening 45 minutes, but were almost handed a way back into the game in injury time when Kitson just failed to get on the end of Andre Bikey's header back across goal.
Jones took little time to atone for his earlier miss when, less than two minutes after the restart, he danced into space on the right before drilling in a cross which eluded Michael Chopra, but arrived at Wallace's feet with perfect timing for the Scot to make it 2-0.
Wallace, who was twice booked for removing his shirt after scoring last season, risked the wrath of his manager for doing exactly the same once again.
However, Keane had more pressing concerns on 53 minutes when the Royals finally started to cause problems inside the home penalty area, debutant Leroy Rosenior and Stephen Hunt both having shots blocked in a real melee.
But Hahnemann continued to see more of the ball than he would have liked, and was a relieved man to see Chopra's right-foot shot fly past the post six minutes later.
The Reading keeper handed Wallace a glorious opportunity to collect his second goal of the afternoon on 61 minutes when he could only deflect another Jones cross to his feet, but Graeme Murty got in a vital block to keep his side's fading hopes alive.
The former Celtic midfielder was replaced by Anthony Stokes three minutes later and the Irishman might have cemented the victory instantly, only to shoot straight at Hahnemann after being picked out by Chopra.
Kitson saw an 80th-minute shot deflected over the bar as Reading sought consolation and that duly arrived five minutes later when he glanced home a Nicky Shorey cross to set up an anxious conclusion for the home side.
