Reading 4 (N Hunt 19, Doyle 26, 90, S Hunt 40)
Swansea 0

The Royals cruised to another comfortable home victory with a 4-0 success over Swansea City - thanks mainly to a blistering first half performance from Steve Coppell's men.

Noel Hunt opened the scoring with a header from his brother Stephen's inswinging corner, and the Swans were simply swept away in a deluge of powerful attacking play that followed.

The second goal soon arrived when Chris Armstrong's cross was nodded down by Jimmy Kebe and Kevin Doyle fired home.

Kebe was brilliantly denied by Dorus De Vries before the trio of Irish goalscorers was completed when Stephen Hunt slotted home after excellent play by Armstrong and then Kebe.

The second half was a more sedate affair, and although Swansea struck the bar through Jordi Gomez and enjoyed good possession, they never looked like getting back into the game.

The game was nicely rounded off in the last minute, when Doyle scored his eighth goal in three home games, slotting past De Vries after being expertly played in by Stephen Hunt.

Reading: Hahnemann; Rosenior, Armstrong, Bikey, Ingimarsson (c); Karacan, Gunnarsson (Cisse 60), Kebe (Henry 81), S Hunt; Doyle, N Hunt (Long 76)
Subs: Andersen, Kelly
Booked: Gunnarsson (foul 28)

Swansea: De Vries; Rangel, Bessone, Williams, Monk (c), Rangel; Bodde, Gomez, Britton, Butler (Gower HT); Pintado, Scotland (Brandy HT)
Subs: Tate, Orlandi, Tudor-Jones
Booked: Bodde (foul)

Ref: S W Mathieson

Attendance: 20,093

World TV: Coppell's Swans delight

First half
Reading started strongly with some good early possession, but Jem Karacan and Chris Armstrong both attempted speculative long range shots when passing might have been a better option.

Swansea tried to move the ball around in their usual fluent style, but Jordi Gomez curled an ambitious effort well over the bar with their first effort on goal after seven minutes.

Then Karacan lofted a good ball down the right wing for Noel Hunt to chase, and the Irish striker drilled a low cross into the path of Brynjar Gunnarsson who came close to a dream return to the team with a near-post shot into the side-netting.

Jimmy Kebe bamboozled his marker Fede Bessone to win a corner after 18 minutes, and after Stephen Hunt's initial delivery was cleared for another corner, the Hunt sibling pairing again proved fruitful as the second near post inswinger was met at the near post by Noel Hunt, who thundered his header home.

Visiting keeper Dorus De Vries plucked a low cross by Kevin Doyle off Kebe's toes as Reading threatened to hammer home their advantage, and then another delicious Hunt delivery from a free kick was stabbed narrowly over the bar by Ivar Ingimarsson.

Swansea were under increasing pressure as Doyle volleyed a 25-yard left footer over the bar, before Stephen Hunt's surging run was ended with a foul just outside the box, allowing the same player to demand a diving stop from De Vries with a curling free kick.

The pressure was bound to tell, and the second goal duly arrived after 26 minutes - the Hunts again combined brilliantly to allow Armstrong to cross to the far post, where Kebe nodded down and Doyle fired home on the turn.

It was a highly entertaining affair with both sides looking good in possession, and the Swans nearly grabbed one back immediately when Gomez - who had earned the wrath of the home fans with a couple of theatrical tumbles - volleyed inches wide of the post.

After 30 minutes a superb move nearly led to a third when Rosenior, Noel Hunt and Doyle combined for the latter to cross into the middle where Kebe controlled with his head but saw his close range effort brilliantly parried by the overworked De Vries.

The rout continued with another superb goal five minutes before the break - quick feet from Armstrong on the edge released Kebe, who surged down the left and cut back a low cross for the oncoming Stephen Hunt, who netted a richly deserved goal with a simple tap-in.

Second half
It had been a magnificent first half performance, with the Royals simply overpowering their bewildered opponents, but perhaps unsurprisingly after that exhilarating opening 45, there was a lacklustre start to the second period with Gomez's deflected shot over the top the only incident of note in the opening ten minutes.

Then Kebe lit the fuse again with another brilliant piece of trickery to win a right sided corner, which was played short to Rosenior whose deep cross was headed just over the bar by Doyle, and the pressure began to grow as Rosenior had a long range drive deflected wide and the Swans made a series of last ditch clearances and challenges as a fourth goal began to look imminent.

But it was at the other end that a goal nearly arrived, Gomez curling a 30-yard free kick beautifully over the wall midway through the period only for the crossbar to deny the Swans a consolation goal.

There was an understandable drop in intensity in the second period, and Steve Coppell was able to give Gunnarsson a rest after a more than satisfactory return to league action; his first game since January following his lengthy injury absence.

The Swans never looked capable of getting back into the game, and Coppell inside the last ten minutes Coppell gave rising star James Henry his league debut in place of the excellent Kebe.

As the remaining minutes ebbed away it seemed that our entertainment for the afternoon was complete, but Stephen Hunt had other ideas as he broke through the middle and superbly released Doyle who comfortably did the rest with a flicked finish.

The only sour note of the afternoon came in the final seconds, when Doyle seemed to injure himself in the process of chasing down a loose ball as he went in search of his third consecutive home hat-trick, denied by the diving De Vries inside the box.

Look for full video highlights on Reading World from 5pm on Sunday afternoon.