Halmstads 1 (Prent 79)
Reading 3 (Doyle 72, N Hunt 74, 86)

The Royals' pre-season tour of Sweden ended with a good 3-1 win over Halmstads tonight, new signing Noel Hunt scoring two after coming on as a half time substitute.

It was 0-0 at the interval but Kevin Doyle broke the deadlock on 72 with a tap-in and Hunt doubled the advantage just a minute later for his first Reading goal.

Alexander Prent made it 2-1 on 79 but Hunt headed home a nice third in the dying stages to round off the win.

It was a good performance from Steve Coppell's men in the toughest game of this tour against the top-flight Swedes.

The Royals go back to England happy with their work in games and on the training pitch, and it has also been a great bonding exercise.

James Harper was named skipper for the game, and in typical fashion decided to turn the armband into a legband and placed it around his left leg.

Reading: Hahnemann (Andersen 76); Pearce (Rosenior HT), Shorey, Duberry (Ingimarsson HT), Sonko; Cisse (Matejovsky HT), Harper (c) (Karacan 69), Kebe (N Hunt HT), S Hunt (Convey HT); Lita (Henry 69), Long (Doyle HT)
Unused subs: None
Booked: S Hunt (encroachment 12)

Attendance: 552

First half
Reading had a good chance inside the very first minute, and Jimmy Kebe forced the home keeper into a decent save, blocking his shot from inside the box.

On 11 minutes the lively Kebe was involved again and Stephen Hunt saw his downward header saved by the goalkeeper low to his right.

Halmstads were finding their feet though, and giving us a run for our money. With a little more than 20 gone a nice team move gave them a shooting chance, but it was comfortably saved. Three minutes later they put together another good piece of play but the finish was again tame.

As half time approached Kebe broke well down the right, but the move got a little slower when Hunt tried to find Leroy Lita and the keeper came out to smother.

Second half
Steve Coppell made six changes at the break, with Noel Hunt initially on the right wing. He almost made an immediate impact, but his back post header was off target.

Lita looked destined to score on 54 minutes after a lovely long ball released Kevin Doyle, but the Congolese-born frontman was denied by a good save.

The game was opening up, and Marcus Hahnemann got fingertips to a thunderous strike on 56.

A minute later Lita got another shot away from the edge, but it was saved low to the keeper's left.

Bobby Convey was a lively presence, and hit a cracking strike on 63 but the keeper saved well again.

On 69 Reading made their final two outfield changes, and Noel Hunt moved up front. Immediately Ibrahima Sonko had a goal disallowed for offside from a free kick.

Reading were turning the screw, and had their first goal on 72. The ball was dinked through to Doyle, and the keeper made a hash of it to allow him a tap-in from a yard.

Just a minute later it was 2-0, with Noel Hunt finishing from inside the six yard box after James Henry did well to find Convey and the American slid in a cross.

Halmstads gave themselves a lifeline five minutes later when Alexander Prent beat sub Mikkel Andersen from inside the six yard box for 2-1.

But the two-goal advantage was restored on 86 when Noel Hunt headed home well off the underside of the bar.

Convey should have made it 4-1 in the last seconds but his touch let him down on his right foot.

Overall it was a good win for the Royals and a nice way to end the tour. We played well in a tough encounter, and the bonding on the training ground was priceless.