Watch: Reading City unleash ‘emergency’ Dave Tarpey

Having an emergency Dave Tarpey is not a bad situation to be in.

The former Maidenhead United striker, scorer of 44 Magpies goals and National League South winner, is the Cityzens Assistant Manager having hung up his boots in the summer.

That was until manager Simon Johnson broke the glass on the emergency Tarpey alarm when Reading were short on the bench for the 4-0 home FA Vase win over Baffins Milton Rovers.

Despite at the time saying Tarpey’s appearance off the bench for the final five minutes was a “one off,” the striker has now played three times for his side and scored Reading’s third goal in a 3-0 win at Holyport on Saturday. 

City suffered a heavy defeat in midweek to Virginia Water who subsequently saw manager Dan Bailey depart, but bounced back on Saturday at Holyport with goals from Joel Valentin, Stefan Brown and Tarpey.