A goal of remarkable quality gave Reading an early lead, setting the tone for what turned out to be a highly entertaining match. A move involving literally half the team in and around the box in a series four exquisitely timed and weighted passes, ended with a slightly fortunate, but thoroughly deserved, own goal touch by Hughes before Campbell could apply the tap-in finish. Wing, Savage, Rushesha, Camara and Ehibhatiomhan combined to mesmerise the visitors defence with a move worthy of a much higher level than League One.

Before the kick-of I feared the worst when I noticed the absence of Garcia (injured) and Bindon (ill) from the starting eleven against a team scoring freely and climbing the table on a run of excellent results. Wing produced some outstanding moments on the ball and used his full passing repertoire, but what stood out today was the amazing energy levels throughout the team. This was exemplified by Campbell who sprinted the length of the pitch to produce a crucial defensive header when Borough made a swift break following a Reading corner.

The confidence in this squad of players has grown unbelievably and Noel Hunt must take a lot of the credit. The makeshift defence of Rushesha, Arbrefa, Stickland and Yiadom performed like a back four that had played together all season. The work rate of Savage, Knibbs and Wing was a joy to watch.

Knibbs fired home Reading’s second goal from close range after the interval when Camara won a header from Savage’s superb cross. The introduction of Wareham transformed the game for Reading. He won every ball in the air against two centre- backs who, until his introduction, had won just about everything in the air at the back. His first contribution a minute after his introduction replacing Camara was an assist for the third goal. Wing dropped a typically accurate ball beyond United’s defence, Wareham latched onto the pass and squared the ball for Savage to guide past Steer. Clinical came to mind. Borough fans started to leave.

The mood change three minutes later when Borough finally scored, as they had threatened to throughout the game, from a quick counter attack. Poku finished a sweeping move hammering home a rebound from inside the box. For the first time in the game Borough took control of the game and threatened to score a second to bring themselves back in contention after a quadruple substitution after sixty-nine minutes.

Reading survived a lucky escape when Savage carelessly gave the ball away just outside his own penalty area and then he looked to have conceded a penalty in an attempt to retrieve the situation with clumsy challenge from behind. Having got away with that, he nearly added a fourth for Reading with a perfectly executed volley which hit Steer full on the chest. Either side of the 'keeper it would have found the back of the net.

With seven minutes of stoppage time to play Noel Hunt flooded the midfield with fresh legs in the form of Carroll, Bodin and Holzman and Reading held on comfortably to their well deserved three points to climb into the top six.

John Wells