This was a very convincing win for the Royals. For the first time this season, Reading’s defence looked secure, and with Cox and Mackie sharing three extremely well taken goals, Reading claimed all three points and a clean sheet for the second home game in succession. Reading may have played better football this season but today they looked completely in control of the game from start to finish. Adkins had taken a lot of flak for dropping Mackie for the Blackburn game, and rightly so as today’s performance demonstrated. Once again Mackie was inspirational. He scored a superb individual goal and created one for Cox.

The opening twenty five minutes were fairly uneventful, but with Anton Ferdinand making his debut and Stephen Kelly returning to the defence Reading dealt comfortably with anything Rotherham had to offer in attack. The energy of Cox, Mackie, Murray and the return of Williams gave Reading an edge over their opponents. It took half an hour for Reading to take the lead. Mackie picked up a loose ball in the box and turned sharply to curl a left footed strike inside the far post.

Reading were now in the ascendency and Norwood found Cox at the far post with deep cross. Cox’s shot was deflected for a corner by ‘keeper Collin. Gunter burst through the Rotherham defence but with a clear sight of goal he lost his nerve and slipped an unnecessary pass to Murray. Between them they contrived to lose the scoring opportunity. Just before half time Mackie again made room for shot which was well saved by Collin at full stretch low to his right. Murray turned the Rotherham centre back Morgan and was clean through before he was hauled down. Morgan received a yellow card but it could easily have been red but for the proximity of covering defenders.

Norwood struck the underside of the bar with the resulting free kick. Rotherham were lucky to only be one goal behind. Ferdinand had made an impressive start. He won the ball in the air consistently and cleanly, was always in the right place, and made good use of the ball when in possession. His presence, alongside Kelly, seemed to have a calming influence on the back four. Unfortunately he picked up another injury and although he struggled on until the interval he had to be replaced by Hector.

Mackie continued to use his strength and skill to hold of defenders and control long passes which kept the pressure on the visitors defence. Cox had a half chance to make it two just after half time but was unable to get his shot away quickly enough. He did not have long to wait for his next chance. Mackie’s persistence carried him to the edge of the box where he slipped a delightful pass to Cox who timed his run behind the defence perfectly and hammered the ball past Collin. Murray took a cross on his chest and controlled it well but although his control was good he was unable to set himself to get his shot away and the chance was lost. With little over fifteen minutes left, Cox received a Norwood pass and took a touch before smashing his second goal past Collin.

Rotherham knew they were beaten. Mackie came close to adding a fourth which Reading probably deserved but his shot flashed just wide. The referee, who had a poor game decided it was time to flash his yellow card unnecessarily as the game drew to a close. He had clearly begun to lose the plot. At one point Reading were awarded a direct free kick outside the box. He allowed the Rotherham wall to line up about seven yards from the ball and did not bother to pace out the customary ten yards or move the wall back. It was all irrelevant, Rotherham had thrown in the towel.

The return of experienced players gave Reading a very different look today. Hopefully Ferdinand’s injury is not too serious because he could make a big difference, not only for his defensive qualities, but also his leadership. With Murray, Mackie and Cox firing on all cylinders, a sold back four and Norwood and Williams prompting in midfield Reading looked a decent team again.
John Wells

Well that was a much better performance. Adkins changed the defence with Ferdinand actually looking OK and winning headers, not sure why he came off at half time but they were going to bring him off just at the end of the half. Kelly had a solid game, and Gunter looked much better with Obita in front of him helping him out.

For the first half hour things were pretty tight with the Millers looking quite tidy in possession but creating nothing. Then we scored and could have had 2 more if it wasn't for two fine saves from their keeper.

Second half was more of the same with us occasionally playing some nice stuff and their defence giving us time in the box to score two more. All 3 goals were pretty decent strikes.

Cox played pretty well, he always looked hungry for the ball scored 2 great goals. He seems to link well with Murray and there's a good understanding hatching. At one up I don't know why we slow it down, almost waiting for the inevitable defensive cock up, but you could see the confidence going forward after the second and on occasions we played some really nice stuff.
PieEater

I've been pretty critical of Mackie this season, I was delighted when he signed as like a lot of posters he is a player I have wanted at Reading for years but for all his effort there never seemed much end product so far... Tonight he was a different animal, the same old brilliant work rate and effort as usual but he actually beat his man with skill and intelligent running tonight rather than just harassing a fullback into a mistake. Last home game he got MOTM for his effort this one was all about his quality and hopefully its start of more end product rather than a flash in the pan.
JordCot

We played alright I thought, certainly one of our best performances of the season. Having Williams back in the team will really benefit us for the run in up until Christmas as long as he doesn't break down again.

Murray, Mackie, Cox and Norwood also played very well. Cox scored 2 excellent finishes and shows what a good signing he has been. Certainly a better all round striker than ALF was. Feds didn't have much to do. I won't judge Ferdinand on 45 minutes, once he faces teams with better strikers than Rotherham then I will judge him.

I won't get too excited about this result though, I thought Rotherham were really poor, just as poor as their fans and as poor as the referee. I will be delighted if we can pick up another 4 points this month as we have some hard away games coming up.
Royal_jimmy

ROTHERHAM United were comprehensively beaten by a Reading side who had been in a desperate run of form. Jamie Mackie gave Reading the lead midway through the first half with a precise finish and a second-half brace from top scorer Simon Cox finished off Rotherham.

Reading had won only once in eight league matches and taken five points from a possible 24. Rotherham, meanwhile, were able to field Jordan Bowery after his red card for an apparent kick at Middlesbrough’s George Friend was rescinded.

Steve Evans’s side, beaten 3-0 at home by Boro in that match, probed early on last night, but without any serious threat. Reading went ahead in the 29th minute. Stephen Kelly crossed from the right and Mackie, after a heavy first touch, recovered well to turn smartly and curve a fine shot past Rotherham goalkeeper Adam Collin. The hosts settled the game with two goals in nine minutes.

Mackie ran through the tiring Rotherham defence to set up Cox, who finished precisely in the 55th minute. Then Mackie again played the provider, in the 64th minute, for Cox to swivel and fire home a clever cross-shot for his seventh goal of the season.
Yorkshire Post

Simon Cox scored two second-half goals as Reading secured their second win in nine Championship matches. Jamie Mackie put the Royals in front by curling in a shot to score his first goal for the club since arriving on a season's loan from Nottingham Forest.

Oliver Norwood hit the bar for Reading with a free-kick before half-time. But Cox ran on to Mackie's pass to score their second in the 55th minute, before wrapping up victory with a clever cross-shot on the turn. Reading manager Nigel Adkins, who gave a debut to former QPR centre-back Anton Ferdinand, was able to enjoy a comfortable victory that lifted his side to 13th place, six points from a play-off spot.

Reading manager Nigel Adkins, who recalled Jamie Mackie and Simon Cox after dropping them for Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Blackburn: "I hope Jamie and Simon have got the bit between their teeth now. Jamie's been top drawer for us and he's done tonight exactly what I told him last Friday he was going to do. In fact, we should have scored some more goals. Their keeper's made some great saves. We created some great opportunities."
BBC Sport