Reading res 1 (Robson-Kanu 63)
Chelsea res 0

A crowd of 2,135 saw our reserves beat Chelsea 1-0 at Madejski Stadium tonight.

The Royals created a hatful of chances, and our experienced line-up played some very incisive football against a young Chelsea side.

Hal Robson-Kanu headed home the winner just after the hour, and the young forward had a good game.

Reading could have been 5-0 up by half time, but were profligate in front of goal.

Miroslav Stoch was very lively for the visitors, but Adam Federici made a couple of important saves.

John Oster got a full 90 under his belt, and Kalifa Cisse hobbled off in the final minute.

Full video highlights will be on Reading World on Thursday.

Reading: Federici; Rosenior, De La Cruz (c), Bikey, Bygrave; Cisse (Sigurdsson 89), Fae, Oster, Convey; Long, Robson-Kanu
Subs: Hamer, Spence, Kelly, Bignall

Chelsea: Taylor; Grant, Van Aanholt, Magnay, Worley; Bridcutt (c), Sawyer, Stoch, Simmonds (Kakuta 64), Cummings (Nielsen 84), Tejera (Mellis 72)
Subs: Searle, Ofori-Twumasi

Ref: K Yeo

Attendance: 2,135

First half
Reading flew out of the traps, and could have scored three times in the first 90 seconds. Hal Robson-Kanu had a shot tipped out for a corner, then Kalifa Cisse hooked over the bar. Emerse Fae then tried his luck from a poor kick out, but it was blocked.

Nigel Gibbs' men continued to press, and after nine minutes visiting keeper Rhys Taylor flapped at a cross, with Robson-Kanu's follow-up blocked.

Then Chelsea had their first sight of goal, but Adam Federici saved well from Miroslav Stoch.

Fae immediately went down the other end and shot narrowly wide.

Bobby Convey got forward well on 20, and his cross flashed along the edge of the six yard box, Shane Long touching just wide.

Stoch was Chelsea's main threat, and fired wide after a nice one-two.

Robson-Kanu chanced his arm again on 27 minutes, but shot into the side netting after showing very good footwork.

In the final eight minutes before the break, Reading had five clear chances to open the scoring.

First Andre Bikey missed a simple header, nodding over from only seven yards.

A moment later he headed wide, but it was a more difficult chance on the stretch.

John Oster was involved in a nice move to give Fae a chance, but the Ivorian blasted miles over.

A minute before the break it was Convey who was off target, dragging wide after another nice move involving Oster.

Then in injury time Long headed wide after a nice cross, and the half time whistle was a relief to Chelsea, who had been very much under the kosh in the final knockings of the period.

Second half
Reading had a great penalty shout 90 seconds after the break, but referee Mr Yeo was not interested, even though Long looked to be tripped.

A poor pass from Long then gave Stoch a run at the Reading goal, but he shot over.

Cisse struck a nice volley on the hour, but it was smartly saved by Taylor.

On 63, Reading finally had their goal. Cisse did well to find Convey, who released Long down the left; the Irishman having made a good run.

Long in turn found Convey again, and the American whipped in a good cross. Robson-Kanu was unmarked, and finished well with his head.

The forward was having a good game, and deserved his goal.

Stoch was by far Chelsea's most threatening player, and his cracking run on 67 was only ended by Bikey's deflection.

Robson-Kanu unleashed a good effort on 73, but Taylor got down well.

Bikey's barnstorming run on 78 was a sight to behold, but Convey couldn't get a cross in.

Taylor was being tested more and more as the game drew to a close, and he denied Long on 84. The Irishman was desperate to score, and perhaps should have passed instead of going for goal himself.

Robson-Kanu had a very good chance a minute later, and should have taken it right-footed. Instead he tried to work it onto his left, and the keeper saved.

With three remaining, Stoch went through again, but Federici denied him. The Aussie then came well out of his box and cleared decisively as it ran loose.

Then Reading had another scare as Stoch shot once more, but Federici saved again.

Cisse hobbled off in the last minute, to be replaced by recent Iceland under 21 call-up Gylfi Sigurdsson.

He was back on the pitch to shake hands as the final whistle blew, and it had been a good night's work for our seconds.

We should have scored more goals, and were clearly the more experienced team. We deserved to win, and with a good crowd behind them, our lads put on a decent show.

There is clearly plenty of depth in our squad, with the likes of Federici, Oster and Liam Rosenior doing their chances no harm.