What a game of two halves this was! Spurs totally dominant in the first, Reading right back into it in the second - well, maybe for the second half of the second half.

Anyway. An unusual one-nil scoreline in our favour sees us through to a fourth round tie at OT against a very much in-form ManUre.

So, how did yesterday's goings on unfold? Well, as seems customary I found myself in the company of Patrick and his mate Hammy again. Third time in five games against Reading that we've been to see the game. I took the train up from Southampton and was pleased to see a decent number of fellow Spurs fans on their way to the game as well. Even with the horrible weather it looked like we would probably put in a decent attendance.

In the car on the way to the ground it was surprising to hear some of the team news. King rested - probably no great surprise. Gunter getting his debut. Jenas back - thank God! Berbatov not even on the bench. Mind you, Reading were effectively playing their second string again. Although given we couldn't put them away in the first match at the Lane that didn't do anything to inspire any greater confidence!

In the ground, while there were a few empty seats in the Spurs end, the travelling support was sizeable and in good voice. The Reading fans had put in a decent show too, but there were plenty of seats unoccupied.

When the game got underway we went forward with regularity, attacking the end where the Spurs fans were located. Our possession throughout the first half was far superior and our passing was fairly slick. Still not quite at the level where we were providing a couple of options every time to the player in possession, but pretty good, particularly given the conditions. Reading's attacking threat was limited and although Lita gave them an outlet up front they were second best in the centre of midfield.

Jenas was doing what we missed so much on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Being a lot more solid in the middle than either O'Hara or Boateng were able to, and running aggressively into attacking positions. He made one great run with the ball from the midfield, bursting past a couple of Reading players, but just lacking the pace to allow him to get a shot off as he approached the box.

Unfortunately the same could not be said about Boateng and his level of effort or performance. Moved to the right side of midfield he was at least less in the line of fire than he'd been on Saturday, but Patrick and I were still scratching our heads about what exactly he was doing. He didn't offer sufficient width to be a real winger, and he didn't come central enough to help in the middle of the pitch. He also couldn't get near enough the Reading players on the wing to challenge. A very strange performance.

Reading's attacks, when they did come, tended to be on the wings or high balls through the middle. The latter were very capably dealt with by Dawson and Kaboul. Kaboul in particular did well with heading clear. I think he pretty much won everything thrown high towards him and generally had a decent first half. A pleasant surprise.

The goal actually came pretty early, from..... shocker..... a corner! Jenas swung it in, Kaboul headed powerfully towards goal, and Federici's save came back off the bar, straight to Keane who made no mistake!

We had the chances in the first half to extend the lead. Jenas's run that I've already mentioned, and a cracking Defoe volley from a cross on the left that Federici did well to save. We probably created as many chances in the first half as we had at Chelsea on Saturday. The difference was that last night we found a way to score from one! That coupled with the fact that Reading looked unlikely to score looked certain to send us in at half-time in a pretty comfortable position.

With Spurs though, its never quite like that, is it? Right at the end of the half we allowed Reading to advance and win two or three late corners that put us under pressure when we really didn't need it. We dealt with them well enough, and Cerny continued his decent run by claiming when called upon to do so.

The second half started where the first had left off. Reading attacking and winning corners. In the first half we had played a long way up the pitch. So far, in fact, that I don't think I've ever seen Dawson in the opposition half as often as he was in open play. Our defensive line was playing almost on the halfway line for much of the first half which had allowed us to maintain possession deep in Reading territory. In the second half that all changed as we dropped deeper and invited Reading onto us.

It took them about fifteen or twenty minutes to really get going, but they probably sensed there was a sniff of a result if they pushed forward. Hunt was thrown on to add more impetus for Reading and took up a more central role than he had at the Lane. His introduction, while not match changing, encouraged Reading to attack more frequently, and as we sat further and further back the threat seemed to loom ever larger.

The possession and attacking that we'd enjoyed in the first half simply wasn't there. The more Reading went forward the more it looked like we could concede. Thankfully their long range shooting last night was way off target. When they did get into good positions they weren't able to convert. Prime examples were a couple of headers directed straight at Cerny from about eight yards.

The closest Reading came to scoring was through - I think - Hunt. The ball fell just right for him on the edge of the box and he struck it well on the half volley. With Cerny unable to do anything other than watch the shot, it crashed back off the crossbar!

That wasn't the only effort to hit the woodwork in the second half. One of our rare attacks very late on led to Malbranque smashing a volley goalward, and Federici did brilliantly, again, to tip it onto the bar.

The game finished one-nil and the large and vocal Spurs support departed happy.

There was some good work to be commended last night, especially in the first half. Overall, Cerny had a good enough game again. He came to claim when he had to, both from set pieces and when Reading attempted to play the ball through on the ground. The centre half pairing of Dawson and Kaboul also did well. They played a long, long way forward in the first half, and Kaboul won pretty much everything that came at him in the air throughout the game. Dawson too snuffed out a few of Reading's attacking options with the high ball late on. Interestingly, the pattern of our centre half pairing playing a long way apart seems to have been continued. Not sure whether this is a standard Ramos tactic. Its worked well enough so far, but I worry that a team like ManUre could really get at us through the middle, particularly if Jenas or Zokora are missing.

At full back, Gunter had a good debut. Not quite with the pace of the game early on, he came into it well, got forward when it was needed, and certainly wasn't averse to tracking back to help defend. The fact that he appears stronger on his right foot than his left leaves a little niggle, but he can use his left. Chimbonda had a very indifferent game. He looked off the pace, much as he did in the opening game of the season against Sunderland when I said it looked like he had his eye on a transfer. Vancouver reckoned the same judging by his comments in the thread on the Reading match in the Players Lounge. When Stalteri came on late in the half, with Chimbonda switched to centre half to replace Kaboul after injury, we actually looked more solid down that flank.

In midfield, Jenas and Tainio both played well. Tainio cut out a fair few balls and the running from the middle that had been so severely lacking on Saturday was restored with Jenas back in the side. Malbranque was OK on the left wing, but Boateng had a shocker, again. As already stated, playing on the right side he was less in the line of fire so there were less opportunities to make mistakes, but we just couldn't work out what he was doing. Much like Lennon on Saturday he failed to push forward to offer an attacking option to Chimbonda (or Stalteri late on), preferring instead to be pretty static on the wing and wait to receive. It took until the last minute for him to actually swap passes with Stalteri and get forward!

Keane and Defoe did well enough up front, and but for a really good Federici save, Defoe would've scored a cracking goal.

Let's not be under any illusions though. This was a well below par Reading side. Its not the side we'd face in the Premiership and there should be cause for concern at the fact that we failed to put them away in the first tie and nudged through the replay. While it was a comfortable enough win, it would've been easy to see Reading taking it to extra time last night with the way we sat back in the second half. With all that in mind, there were also a lot of changes to the Spurs side, and we'd certainly expect Berbatov to be playing when fit. Evidently he was laid low with 'flu. No doubt some of the rags will speculate he was at OT negotiating a transfer!

Our next three matches in January promise to be quite telling in how the season goes. Sunderland at home in the Premiership on Saturday can only be contemplated as a home win. Anything less would be failure. Then a really defining moment as we have Arsehole in the return leg of the League Cup semi-final with a place at Wembley only ninety minutes away. And at the end of the month, ManUre at OT in the FA Cup. Better get those train tickets for Manchester booked early. Experience suggests the trains from Euston will be packed with Southern Reds!