Albion Reserves went down 4-0 at home to Reading tonight.

They were 3-0 down inside the opening quarter of the contest.

Hal Robson Kanu escaped in behind the defence to give Reading a fifth minute lead. The deficit doubled seven minutes later when Albion failed to deal with a left wing cross and Alex Pearce stabbed home from close range.

Robson Kanu beat the offside trap to slot his second and Reading's third just 19 minutes into the game.

The Seagulls survived several more close shaves in the first half, notably when Reading striker Gilfi Sigurdson won a race for the ball with keeper Josh Pelling, only for his lob towards the empty net to bounce against the bar.

Albion improved after the break and could have pulled a goal back in the 64th minute. Dean Cox found Jake Robinson with a crossfield pass but he miscued tamely wide as keeper Mikkel Andersen closed him down.

Robinson was holding his head in his hands six minutes later. Put through by Steven Brinkhurst, he rounded Andersen but scuffed his shot, allowing the grateful keeper to block.

Robinson was foiled again by Andersen ten minutes from time after racing clear. The misfiring Albion marksman's misery was compounded when Nicholas Bignall was left unmarked to nod in Reading's fourth in the closing stages.

Albion Reserves: Pelling; Royce, Dunk, Mayo, Brencher; Brinkhurst, Birchell, Loft, Cox; Upton, Robinson. Subs: Wilkins, Walker, Cooper, Thomson, Smith.