PAOLO Di Canio tasted defeat for the first time since becoming Swindon manager on Saturday but, as is always the case in pre-season, the result was not what mattered.

While it would have been nice to see the Robins maintain their 100 per cent record under Di Canio so far, it was always going to be tough against a Reading side who were largely unchanged from the one that came within one game of reaching the Premier League last season.

And for the vast majority of the first half, Town more than matched their Championship opponents, taking the lead through an Alex Pearce own goal before Reading took control in the second half, sealing victory courtesy of a Shane Long penalty and a Mathieu Manset strike.

“I am happy with every individual performance and as a team and it was not their fault they went down in the second half,” Di Canio told the Advertiser.

“We still have our plan and I am confident that in the future we will perform as we did in the first half for whole matches.”

Perhaps buoyed by decent weather, almost 5,000 fans headed down to the County Ground to see Town in action under Di Canio for the first time on home soil.

Typically for a pre-season friendly, the first quarter of an hour was far from memorable, although the Robins certainly held their own against opposition who ply their trade two leagues higher.

Jonathan Smith was showing why his name was in the referee’s book so often while at York last season with some very committed challenges, while Matt Ritchie was his usual lively self on the right wing.

While Town perhaps just shaded the early stages, the best chance inside the first 15 minutes fell to Reading.

Brian McDermott’s side won a free-kick 25 yards from goal and set-piece specialist Ian Harte stepped up to curl a fine effort that Phil Smith – who has been faultless in pre-season so far - did superbly to palm onto the post.

It proved an important save as Town then took the lead with just over 20 minutes on the clock.

Callum Kennedy, again impressing at left-back, slipped a ball to send Raffa De Vita clear on the left of the area and the striker played a low cross intended for Alan Connell, but Reading defender Alex Pearce stuck a foot out and the ball ballooned into his own net.

Town continued to create chances and twice could have added to their lead through Ritchie, with the midfielder first heading narrowly wide before shooting straight at Reading keeper Adam Federici after being found by skipper Oliver Risser.

But as half time neared the balance of play swung in Reading’s favour and Phil Smith was called upon again to deny Shane Long – who could well be moving on in the coming weeks - and keep Town’s narrow advantage intact at the break.

Reading came out reinvigorated in the second half and dominated possession before deservedly equalising when Paul Caddis clumsily took the feet of Jobi McAnuff inside the area and Long sent Phil Smith the wrong way from the spot.

The Robins had to withstand a bit of pressure after that before the game again settled down, and Di Canio took the opportunity to change things around with the likes of Ibrahim Atiku, Comazzi, Billy Bodin and Nathan Thompson all coming on.

But it was the visitors who took the lead for the first time when second-half substitute Mathieu Manset nodded home from Andy Griffin’s cross midway through the half.

Di Canio made further changes as the game headed towards its conclusion with Kevin Amankwaah and Simon Ferry both coming on for Kennedy and Risser respectively.

With such a volume of changes the game lacked cohesion and Town could count themselves lucky not to have been further behind when Manset somehow managed to head wide from a good position.

That proved to be the last chance of note for either side before the final whistle blew, and while the defeat ended Town’s perfect record in pre-season, it was nevertheless a worthwhile test ahead of this weekend’s fixture against Crewe.

“The first 40 minutes we were fantastic, the second half we made individual mistakes and we did not clear our area as much as we should do,” reflected Di Canio.

“There were still some good things in the second half but first we must improve from being fantastic for 40 minutes to 50, then 60, then 70 and all the way up to 90 minutes.

“This is the only way to become the best team in the league.

“If we are happy only for the 40 minutes we are in a wrong way, if we are sad for the second half we are in a bad way. We need to have a balance.

“In the second half you can see their quality but it is important that it was like this in this game and not next week.

“We will work now on what we can improve.”