Against a crude and physical Stoke side lacking any attacking flair or imagination the Reading machine rolled on without half their first choice players. City were unable to prevent the Royals from passing the 100 points mark in spite of their negative approach. Experimenting with a 4-3-3 formation in which Hunt featured as a third forward alongside Long and Doyle, Reading dominated the first half but only had a single goal to show for their efforts. On twenty-five minutes Ingimarsson floated over an excellent free kick from the left, and with nobody interested in marking him, Sidwell nodded past Simonsen from close range. For all their dominance Reading made very few openings. Sidwell had a shot deflected wide on four minutes, Long made a good penetrating run which eventually came to nothing, and Hunt and Shorey whipped in a couple of good crosses. Stack had virtually nothing to do.

The second half was better. Stoke were more positive and Darel Russell was presented with a clear chance three minutes after the interval but Stack made a good save. Reading's second came when Doyle's pace and determination was again the key to success. As he broke through he was brought down. He still had a bit to do however. Having wrestled the ball away from Simonsen he had to fight off Makin for the opportunity to add to his season's haul. As the crowd pointed out, only Murty was perhaps more deserving of the opportunity but he wasn't even on the bench. He must have been kicking himself for not being out there!

That might have been the cue for another rout but City rallied briefly when Rooney pulled a goal back after Ingimarsson had headed against his own post in an attempt to deal with difficult cross. Any lingering hopes of getting back were completely extinguished a couple of minutes later as Reading provided yet another stylish goal. Shorey delivered an outstanding little pass down the left for Hunt who, not for the first time, delivered a superb cross. As Simonsen floundered, stranded by the quality of the cross Hall slid the ball in. I was pleased for him but in fact he had a poor game overall. It could be he needs more time to settle but he seemed to find even the basics difficult today. He did look a little more comfortable when moved out wide on the right late in the game. Long once again demonstrated how to get on the end of a cross with a powerful header which flew just over the bar. But in the end it was comfortable win for the Royals.

Hunt's work rate was outstanding throughout. For him there is no such thing as a lost cause. Goldbourne came on for brief spell and in my opinion looks to have all the qualities required to make a solid Premiership full back. As highly as I rate Shorey as a footballer I worry about his ability to cope with pacy, strong and skilful Premiership forwards. No doubt Shorey will be given ample time to prove himself, as will the rest of the squad, and deservedly so. Finally, just a word about the referee. Rubbish!
John Wells