Football: Reading roar to victory

YOB-CULTURE is much in the thoughts of the great and good at present and it is earnestly hoped that they read the football summaries, where evidence of the success of Fifa's crackdown on the game's rogues continues. Five sent off in the Premiership, another five off in the Endsleigh and eight in Scotland. Here, surely, is the sort of strict regime, manned by enforcers the like of which has not been seen since the Peelers, that is needed.

Two of the clubs promoted to the Endsleigh First Division must be wondering what all the fuss is about. Reading did not need depletion of Oldham's forces at Boundary Park to go second, Stuart Lovell scoring twice in their 3-1 win, and Port Vale won at Portsmouth to move up to fourth.

Wolves have passed an unusually difficult week in which they mourned the death of their former captain Billy Wright and were shocked when their reserve midfielder James Kelly was charged with murder. 'Everybody knows the tremendous part Billy Wright played in this club's history,' their manager, Graham Taylor, said. 'Then we had the situation whereby a young man was given a weekend off and the next thing we hear is that he's facing a murder charge.' The week ended on a much happier note for the club when defeat of Tranmere lifted them into third place.

Managers? Who needs 'em? Not Stoke City who 'amicably parted company' with Joe Jordan in the week and, under the caretakership of Asa Hartford, thrashed Southend 4-1. But Heroic Deed of the Week surely was that of Bob Taylor who just days after emerging from hospital scored both West Brom's goals as the Throstles drew at Millwall.

Bob Taylor's manager, Keith Burkinshaw, said of his suffering striker, who'd been in for tests on a kidney complaint: 'We'll be waiting for a decision next week but he didn't do too badly today with two goals.'

Despite losing at Wrexham, Crewe stay top of the Second because at the Manor Ground Paul Moody's eighth League goal of the season for Oxford was cancelled out by Birmingham's Steve Claridge. At the bottom, neither Bournemouth nor Chester have won a point which is probably scant encouragement to Plymouth. After two successive 5-1 home defeats, Plymouth restricted Huddersfield to three goals. The bad news is they didn't score and had 'keeper Alan Nicholls sent off.