SWINDON Town put in a decent display in their final pre-season friendly, but were beaten 2-1 by Championship Reading at the County Ground this afternoon.

Town took the lead on 19 minutes, thanks to Reading defender Alex Pearce.

Raffaele De Vita found space inside the area to put a teasing centre across the face of goal, and Pearce could only deflect the ball up and over Adam Federici into the far corner.

Swindon dominated for much of the period, with Matt Ritchie coming close on two separate occasions, while Jonathan Smith and Oliver Risser have excelled in the middle of the park.

But after the break Reading showed signs of the class that took them to the Championship play-off final last time around.

Shane Long levelled matters from the penalty spot on 51 minutes after Paul Caddis felled Jobi McAnuff in the box and Mathieu Manset came off the bench to nod the visitors’ second with 19 minutes remaining.

Here are the key moments from today’s match:

Three mins: Early signs of strength in midfield and creativity going forwards from the hosts, as Oliver Risser and Jonathan Smith put in tough challenges before Matt Ritchie whips a fine cross to Michael Timlin at the back post.

The ball falls beautifully at the feet of the Irishman, but he can’t control it and it dribbles out for a goal kick. Good start for Town.

Eight mins: A reckless challenge from Smith gives Ian Harte the chance to fire in a free kick from 25 yards. The former Leeds man has deadly accuracy from this range, but Phil Smith is equal to the effort and flies to his right to palm the ball onto the post.

An early warning shot for Town, that; don’t give Harte the chance from the dead ball.

18 mins: Some lovely two-touch-and-move stuff going on from Town in midfield. Lacking the killer ball but toying with their guests at times.

19 mins: GOAL (1-0, Pearce own goal) Swindon have been benefiting from opponents’ generosity in pre-season and it’s continued here this afternoon.

Raffaele De Vita finds himself in acres of space just inside the penalty area on the left, and his low cross deflects off Alex Pearce’s outstretched leg and loops over Adam Federici into the far corner.

We’ll take them any way they choose to come.

20 mins: Jimmy Kebe runs from right to left on the diagonal, beating three red shirts in the process. He slides the ball to an unmarked Jobi McAnuff, but the Reading skipper drags his shot wide.

21 mins: Good save low down from Smith to deny Shane Long after the loose ball falls to the in-demand striker 15 yards out.

24 mins: You can sum up the optimism inside the County Ground ahead of the 2011/12 campaign with the sight of Alan Connell trying to launch a 60-yard, first-time half-volley from a ridiculous angle over Federici.

Shame it only made it about 45 yards.

28 mins: Callum Kennedy fires in a delightful cross from the left and Ritchie rises and hangs in the air before nodding just wide of Federici’s let-hand upright. Swindon look mighty dangerous going forwards here.

Exciting stuff.

30 mins: A beautiful four-man move from the home side should really end with a goal from Ritchie.

Paul Caddis and Jonathan Smith mess around with Harte down the right before Smith finds Risser bursting into the area.

The Namibian has time to pick out Ritchie 15 yards from goal, which he does almost perfectly, but the right winger can’t place his side-footed effort beyond Federici.

That was some way above League Two level football.

32 mins: Reading are being reduced to wildly speculative potshots now, and Jem Karacan’s is woefully off-target on the volley from 30 yards out.

33 mins: There seems to be no way through whatsoever for Ritchie as he twists and turns himself into a knot 22 yards out. But the former Portsmouth man untangles himself just in time to unleash a thunderbolt of a left-footer.

Federici is scrambling to get across and does manage to make a save low to his right, but that was a fantastic effort from Ritchie. Sparkling display from Swindon so far.

47 mins: A Harte free kick from 30 yards is well-blocked by the Town wall early on in the second half.

51 mins: Pressure on the Swindon defence in the early exchanges of the second half, but they’re coping admirably.

54 mins: GOAL (1-1, Long pen) A little slapdash at the back from Paul Caddis, who shows McAnuff the outside too easily and then brings him down callously inside the box.

Long casually strokes the resulting penalty into the bottom left-hand corner.

59 mins: Tireless stuff from Ritchie, who breaks out of midfield, gallops wide right before cutting inside and hitting a fizzing low effort just wide.

62 mins: Substitute Mathieu Manset heads a free header horribly wide, with Swindon’s defence just standing and staring. It wouldn’t have counted, though, as the striker is offside.

66 mins: Risser’s free kick from 20 yards is easily charged down. Never have got the notion of rolling the ball back to strike it – plenty of time for defenders to get involved.

71 mins: GOAL (1-2, Manset) I think it’s fair to say it’s been coming in the second period, and Reading have the lead as Manset rises highest to power a superb header into the top corner from Andy Griffin’s looping cross.

They’ve been difficult to handle since the break, Brian McDermott’s men.

72 mins: Ritchie tries his luck from distance, but it’s never going to trouble Federici from out wide.

74 mins: Sean Morrison is greeted with a few hearty boos from the County Ground crowd as he comes off the bench for the visitors.

79 mins: A number of my colleagues in the press box have been giving Jordan Obita great praise for what he has shown so far this pre-season. But that was just woeful.

An off-balance, speculative, wild shot that worries the Reading fans in the back row of the Stratton Bank a lot more than Phil Smith.

84 mins: Shocking miss from Manset, who has a free header six yards out but glances it wide from Griffin’s cross. A few question marks remain over Town’s ability to defend set pieces from out wide.

SWINDON TOWN (4-4-2): Phil Smith; Paul Caddis, Joe Devera (Alberto Comazzi, 61), Aden Flint, Callum Kennedy (Kevin Amankwaah, 78); Matt Ritchie, Oliver Risser (Simon Ferry, 83), Jonathan Smith (Alan McCormack, 46), Michael Timlin (Ibrahim Atiku, 55); Alan Connell (Billy Bodin, 61), Raffaele De Vita (Nathan Thompson, 68)

Subs not used: Leigh Bedwell

READING (4-4-2): Adam Federici; Andy Griffin, Alex Pearce, Bongani Khumalo; Ian Harte; Jimmy Kebe, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Jem Karacan, Jobi McAnuff; Hal Robson-Kanu, Shane Long

Subs: Mikkel Anderson, Marcus Williams, Sean Morrison, Michail Antonio, Nicholas Bignall, Ibrahima Sonko, Jay Tabb, Noel Hunt, Matthieu Manset, Jordan Obita

Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)

Attendance: 4,820

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