The Royals reserves produced an excellent performance to defeat Basingstoke Town 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.

A youthful team performed with fluidity and style against the Conference South opponents in front of a healthy crowd who were celebrating the testimonial of former Reading full back Steve Richardson.

Nigel Gibbs' side raced into a three-goal lead by the interval through striker Nicholas Bignall (2) and winger Gary Frewen

Forward Simon Church added a fourth after the break before substitute Kelvin Bossman completed the scoring.

Coach Gibbs said, "I was really pleased with the boys, especially in the first half when we deservedly went 3-0 up.

"We'd had a couple of hard days training beforehand and Basingstoke are a good side in the Conference South, so it was an excellent performance."

The reserves are next in action on Tuesday evening with a friendly at Maidenhead United.

Team: McCarthy, Spence, Kelly, Kamdjo, Bennett, Joyce (Bozanic), Sigurdsson, Bryant (Bossman), Frewen, Church, Bignall (Vasilev)