Mooney and Lita Star in Reserves Romp

The Reading second-string recorded an emphatic 10-1 win over Conference side Lewes yesterday.

New signing Dave Mooney stole the show with a hat trick, while troubled striker Leroy Lita scored two and missed a penaly for his third.

Want away centre-back Sam Sodje also got a brace, with James Henry, Oliver Bozanic and an own goal from Goran Crnobrnja completing the rout. Danny Campbell got a consolation for the visitors who were thoroughly outplayed by a mixture of youth and experience in the Reading side.

Mooney’s hat trick was particularly pleasing for Reading coach Nigel Gibbs.

He said: ‘Dave got his hat-trick and we were really pleased with him. He’s fitted in well, he’s been adapting ever since he came over.

‘He showed with his hat-trick that he knows where the goal is. His all-round game was much improved, we were very pleased and he will gain confidence from that.’

Gibbs went on to say how impressive the all-round team perfromance was, ‘There were good performances all over. When you have a lot of the ball it’s easy not to step off but the attitude was terrific and we scored some good goals.

‘The scoreline reflects the performance. We asked them at half time to keep pushing, keep the tempo and make sure the pressure’s the same at the end of the half as at the start.

‘Lita got a couple of goals, it was another really good performance from Julian Kelly, who’s coming on well.

‘Nicholas Bignall made an impact when he came on, Bozanic and Spence are doing well so the next step is to keep doing it and get into the first team.’