Birmingham 0
Reading 6 (Bozanic 11, Church 42, 61, Henry 53, 65, 90)

Our reserves earning a resounding victory away to Birmingham tonight.

James Henry helped himself to a second half hat-trick, while Simon Church (2) and Oliver Bozanic were also on target.

Three goals in the space of 12 minutes really put the game out of sight, and, in the second half in particular, City just had no answer for us.

Widemen Henry and Bozanic were a constant threat, while Church was at the heart of much of our best play, scoring one lovely lob and also releasing Henry for one of his goals after a 30-yard run.

Skipper Alex Pearce marshalled the backline very well alongside Patrick Cox, who performed admirably in his first start at this level.

Keeper Mikkel Andersen was rarely threatened, but still pulled off a couple of cracking stops to maintain his clean sheet and cap off a very good night for Nigel Gibbs' men.

The Royals were full of incisive play, energy and ruthlessness in front of goal. You can see the action for yourself in Reading World's video highlights now.

Reading: Andersen; Kelly, Golbourne (Spence 79), P Cox, Pearce (c); Karacan, Sigurdsson, Henry, Bozanic; Church (Bignall 80), S Cox (Illugason 79)
Subs: McCarthy, Kamdjo, Bryant

Birmingham: Krysiak; Howland, Joyce, Hall, Wilson; Green, Burge, Mutch (Sammons 57), Milojevic; Aluko, McPike
Subs: Timmins, Lea, Gradwell, Sheldon

Ref: D Mohareb

First half
City's James McPike had a great chance in the first minute as he found himself free in the centre of the goal, but he snatched at it and could only shoot straight at Mikkel Andersen.

Two minutes later Simon Church did well to attack a bouncing ball in the box, seeing his volley go a yard or so wide.

With eleven minutes on the clock Reading took the lead with a nicely constructed goal. Gylfi Sigurdsson took possession and slid a good weighted pass into the onrushing Oliver Bozanic.

Bozanic shot low, and although Artur Krysiak got a hand on it, it was too powerful and it nestled into the net.

City tried to get back into it, and McPike shot a yard wide from 20 yards.

Simon Cox almost made it 2-0 with glancing header but it was just off target.

Midway through the half Cox stole in on a loose pass, and played in Church one-on-one with the keeper. The Welsh under 21 international took it round the onrushing Krysiak expertly, and his effort was goalbound but David Howland scrambled back to clear off the line.

James Henry created a half chance for Cox, but the striker didn't get a true contact on his volley as it bounced down then over the bar.

With 35 gone Henry was the architect of another half chance, this time for Bozanic, but his effort was blocked on the edge of the six yard box.

Just before half time it was 2-0 and again the move was well put together, starting when Henry was released down the right, cutting inside to feed Sigurdsson.

The Icelander then found Church on the edge of the area. The striker did well to cultivate some space, and shot left footed into the bottom corner to double the lead.

Reading had the ascendancy in the last couple of minutes, and pressed for another, but City kept them at bay.

Second half
Nigel Gibbs' side were quickly looking for a third after the break, and Jem Karacan had a couple of chances from the edge of the area but dragged wide on both occasions.

Reading did soon have another goal, and it was a classic counter attack. A wide City free kick was blocked on the edge of our box, and Church was released well by Simon Cox.

He ran 30 yards with possession, and made a great decision on the edge of City's box to play in Henry, who turned home a very neat side-footed finish into the bottom corner.

The Royals had started the second period very much on top, and soon they had a fourth.

City's centre half undercooked his header back to goal, and Church was straight onto the loose ball. It was bouncing some 20 yards out, and he still had a lot to do before producing a lovely chip over the keeper and into the net.

Reading were rampant, and Bozanic did brilliantly to harness a difficult ball in his own half. He looked to switch play immediately, and City's David Joyce looked to have it under control, only for Henry to pressure him on the edge of the 18-yard box.

Henry still had a fair bit to do with the keeper advancing, but gave him no chance as he struck home off the far post.

City then found an attacking spurt, but on both occasions Andersen was equal to it in the Reading goal. First he stood up well to deny Stefan Milojevic after a long run, then he pulled off a great low stop to his right to keep out Ryan Burge's effort.

It was only a brief foray for the home side though, and Bozanic did well to prompt another break for Church, but when it came back to him he couldn't find the finish to match the move.

We continued to press late on, with sub Viktor Illugason getting a half chance but seeing it saved.

Then, in injury time, it was 6-0 and Henry had his hat-trick.

Henry took a free kick wide on the left, and Alex Pearce did well to attack it, causing confusion in front of the keeper and the cross went all the way in to seal the victory.

It was a cracking victory for Nigel Gibbs' young side, with good performances all over the park.

Our crisp, high-energy passing style was too much for a youthful City outfit, and we started the season in some style.