The visitors were first to threaten when Pethick was penalised 25 yards out.

Salako's resulting free-kick found captain Adrian Williams at the far post and his header was blocked by Hart at the expense of a corner.

Cullip's aerial strength was required on a couple of occasions in the opening exchanges before Albion responded with a run and shot from long range by Hart which bounced into the arms of Hahnemann.

It took Forster only five minutes to give Albion's five-man defence a warning.

His electric pace took him away from Paul Watson and Cullip for an angled left foot drive which was beaten away by Kuipers.

Forster was cautioned for diving inside the area three minutes later as he latched on to Salako's throw, with Cullip in close attention.

Both teams were looking bright going forward. Pethick chanced his arm from 35 yards with a free-kick which the shaven-headed Hahnemann held moving to his right.

Pethick was involved again shortly after when his pass released Jones down the left flank.

Hart met the Welshman's low cross to the near post with a shot which was blocked by Upson for a corner.

It was end to end stuff, with both back lines having to work overtime to keep the respective attacks at bay.

A deep cross from Salako was headed down at the back post by Rougier, but Forster could not latch on to it.

The Seagulls came back with a fluent move involving Sidwell, Jones and Zamora.

Albion's talisman, tight to the byline, still managed to get around Williams before his attempt to find a colleague was smothered.

Reading broke dangerously via Murty through the inside right channel when Jones was caught upfield.

The former York fullback freed Rougier for a cross-shot which Kuipers fisted away.

Albion fell behind midway through the first half to a goal partly of their own making.

They were caught out at the back and Reading took full advantage, Forster squaring for Salako to lash a left foot shot through Kuipers.

It was a ferocious finish from the former England winger, who played under Coppell at Palace.

Reading were looking dangerous virtually every time they ventured over the halfway line and the Seagulls were at full stretch to stay in contention.

Salako presented Albion with a potential route to parity with a square pass straight to Jones midway inside the Reading half.

Albion's left wingback, making his first home start since mid-September, rather wasted the opportunity when his pass meant for Zamora was comfortably cut out by Murty.

Reading's formation made it difficult for Albion to put them under any sort of pressure.

The Seagulls had by now reverted to a flat back four, with Mayo at leftback, but both he and Paul Watson were being kept occupied down the flanks by Rougier and Salako.

The tactical switch by Coppell made sense, as Forster was foraging alone through the middle for the most part with Hughes just behind him.

Sidwell collected Albion's first caution of the contest seven minutes from the break for a late challenge on Williams.

It was evidence of the Seagulls' growing frustration as they sought a way past Reading's scrooge-like rearguard.

Sidwell's second yellow card in as many games was followed by one for Hughes in the 42nd minute for a late tackle on Carpenter a yard inside Reading territory.

Sidwell, seeking his third goal in three matches, could not get any power or direction into a header from Mayo's leftwing centre.

The Royals almost doubled their lead in the final minute of the half. Kuipers made a mess of Rougier's high centre under pressure from Hughes and the ball was spinning towards the empty net when Paul Watson hooked it off the line.

There was still time for Cullip to loop a header narrowly over the bar from a Rodger free-kick, one of the few scares for Hahnemann in an agitating opening 45 minutes for Albion.

Half-Time: Albion 0 Reading 1
The normally composed Coppell is not averse to dishing out a half time roasting, as the Albion players revealed at Preston last Saturday.

It had the desired effect then, when they recovered from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, and a similar response was needed now.

Albion began the second half with a bit more conviction. Zamora cleverly flicked on Paul Watson's pass into the path of Sidwell, but he was crowded out and Zamora's ensuing effort caused no harm.

Sidwell's drag back from Paul Watson's pass gave the loan signing from Arsenal space to try a shot from 25 yards which Hahnemann held above his head.

It was no surprise to see Brooker introduced eight minutes into the restart at the expense of Jones because Albion needed to be more creative.

Albion were missing the buzzing industry of Barrett, ruled out for the fourth match running by a knee ligament problem.

They enjoyed more of the possession in the early stages of the second half, but Reading were still a threat on the counter-attack.

A cross-shot by Salako into a crowded penalty area ricocheted to safety off Mayo.

Williams presented Albion with their clearest chance to date on the hour mark.

The Reading skipper's mistake gave Brooker a clear sight of goal 12 yards out, but his low right footer was smothered by Hahnemann.

There was a better tempo about Albion's play now, although Zamora all too often found himself outnumbered by Reading's impressively disciplined defence.

Zamora uncharacteristically spurned the space he had from a cross by Brooker with a header from 15 yards which finished closer to the corner flag than the Royals' net.

Reading made a change with 19 minutes remaining, bringing on Newman for Kevin Watson.

They seemed content to soak up what Albion could throw at them, while relying on Forster's lightning speed upfront.

Coppell threw caution to the wind on 76 minutes by introducing teenage target man Webb in place of Carpenter.

With steady rain returning, Albion, hard as they tried, could just not find a way past Reading's watertight defence.

A rare spell of sustained pressure by Albion ended with Mayo heading straight at Hahnemann from Rodgers' corner.

The visitors made a second substitution a minute later, Butler coming on for Rougier.