WHAT might have been a valuable away point for Norwich became a day of bitter recrimination. Glenn Roeder, the Canaries manager, accused Berkshire referee Trevor Kettle of awarding a late “homer’s penalty” to Reading, which Stephen Hunt converted before Shane Long put the result beyond doubt with a second goal two minutes later.

“As Mark Fotheringham jumped for the ball, he was pushed in the back. It was a foul,” Roeder protested after the official saw only Fotheringham strike the ball with his arm. “If that’s not a homer’s penalty, I’ve never seen one.”

Roeder had a strong case, though the game might have been so different if Darel Russell had not botched his chance to give the visitors an early lead from Jon Otsemobor’s cross. Despite the best efforts of Reading’s Hunt and Kevin Doyle, the game became entrenched in mud and mediocrity. Liam Rosenior fought hard on the right flank to penetrate the Norwich defence with a decisive cross but, apart from a single delivery to Doyle, which the Irishman failed to finish under pressure from Gary Doherty, the visitors were able to deal with the threat.

Hunt, whose brother Noel was largely anonymous, induced anxiety in the Norwich defence from the opposite flank and when John Kennedy made a bad mental error in dealing with one of Hunt’s crosses midway through the first half, only a shockingly poor shot by James Harper, which he fired wide, let Norwich survive.

By then, the visitors had spurned another chance to claim the lead when Lee Croft struck a sweet cross from the right that left the goal at Matty Pattison’s mercy but he contrived to head the ball wide.

Ivar Ingimarsson had an opportunity to drag the game out of the ditch when Hunt’s corner kick landed the ball at his feet early in the second half but he managed to shoot wide.Michael Duberry ought to have hit the target at least with a free header at the near post from another probing free kick by Hunt. There was plenty of honest graft but no sparkle.

Even the winning of the game was ugly. A headed clearance by Doherty in a crowded penalty area left Fotheringham tussling with substitute Long for possession and the Norwich skipper used an arm to control the ball after Long shoved him in the back. The referee pointed to the spot. Hunt squeezed his shot inside the post despite David Marshall getting one hand on the ball and Reading’s relief was palpable. Norwich were finished by this blow, a point made emphatically when Long headed the ball past Marshall two minutes later.

“The key for me was the freshness off the bench. Shane got the second goal and James was like a firework exploding when he came on,” Steve Coppell, the Reading coach, said.

Star man: Stephen Hunt

Yellow card: Norwich: Bertrand

Referee: T Kettle

Attendance: 19,382

READING: Federici 6, Rosenior 6, Duberry 6, Ingimarsson 5, Armstrong 6, Matejovsky 5, Harper 6 (Gunnarsson 74min 5), Cisse 4 (Henry 66min 7), Stephen Hunt 7, Noel Hunt 5 (Long 80min), Doyle 7

NORWICH CITY: Marshall 6, Otsemobor 5, Doherty 6, Kennedy 7, (Omozusi 89min), Bertrand 6, (Croft 54min 5) Clingan 6, Fotheringham 6, Bell 6, Pattison 5 (Cort 54min 5), Russell 5