English nPower Championship Playoff Final 2011: Swansea Lead 3-0 At Halftime

What a strange half of football. Reading find themselves 3-0 behind Swansea in the nPower Championship playoff final despite arguably being the better team. Considering how the game has gone, this is a completely implausible scoreline, but a Scott Sinclair brace (the first a penalty and the second a tap-in thirty-eight seconds later) and a classy finish by Stephen Dobbie have more or less assured the Welsh side of a place in the top flight next season.

Reading have had their fair share of close chances - they might have gone ahead in the second minute after Dorus de Vries made a complete hash of a cross and the ball ended up pinballing around the Swansea area and they’ve had several chances to get themselves back into the game that somehow haven’t gone it. Phil Dowd hasn’t done the Royals and favours either, denying them a possible penalty and handing out yellow cards like they’re going out of fashion. So, disaster for Reading, rapture for Swansea. Forty-five minutes left to play at Wembley.