Reading FC 5

Ipswich Town 1

ORLANDO Sa scored the first hat-trick of the Championship season as Reading FC brushed aside promotion candidates Ipswich Town.

The £1 million Legia Warsaw signing netted twice in the opening 15 minutes and again after the break as Royals chalked up their first win at Madejski Stadium this season in some style.

Sa powered home a header from a delicious Nick Blackman cross to give Clarke's men an eighth minute lead - only for Freddie Sears to equalise four minutes later after Jonathan Bond had saved David McGoldrick's initial shot.

But Royals were not level for long thanks to Portuguese ace Sa.

Matej Vydra, on his home debut, raced from inside his own half before slipping the ball to Sa, who finished with aplomb from just inside the box.

Vydra, renowned for his electric pace and finishing, had created the crucial gap through which Sa scored with an unselfish run to the left, drawing in defenders.

Clarke, perhaps with tongue in cheek, had suggested Friday night's clash could be a low-scoring affair, but still the chances came with Jonas Knudsen and Sears threatening for the visitors and Royals showing plenty of attacking intent themselves.

It continued after the break and just four minutes in they restored their two-goal advantage.

Royals penned Ipswich back and Blackman found himself one-one-one with a defender.

The rest was clinical, Blackman dropping his shoulder and shifting the ball onto his favoured left before slamming it into the roof of the net from an acute angle.

Blackman, much maligned last season, appears reborn under Clarke and continues to offer a threat he rarely did in the past.

Mick McCarthy's visitors fought back and only the width of Bond's crossbar denied them a second.

Royals' defence sat back and when Ryan Fraser's chip arrived in the box, Brett Pitman's looping header smacked against the crossbar.

It was the turning point of the match as Sa completed his hat-trick only two minutes later and suddenly, rather than being 3-2 down, Ipswich were 4-1 behind.

Blackman was involved again, this time cutting onto his right down the opposite flank before crossing for Sa to side-foot home in style.

When he was replaced by Ola John, another exciting signing from Benfica, Blackman received a standing ovation.

Rightly so, to, did Sa when he exited with nine minutes to go after a night of top-class finishing rarely witnessed by home fans in recent times.

There was even time for a fifth and perhaps the best strike of the night, a 30-yard piledriver from Oliver Norwood with three minutes to go.

Reading had scored only four goals at home in their previous 17 fixtures, yet they managed five in one night against against a top Championship club.

Clarke shelled 14 players and signed 11 over the summer and revealed he had no choice but to break up last season's squad, which laboured to 19th in the table.

His new-look team, now unbeaten since the opening-day defeat at Birmingham, suddenly look a different prospect.

Clarke said: "it was important to get three points at home and get that monkey off our back.

"It was quite a strange game. I don't think it was a 5-1 scoreline and Mick will be scratching his head.

"But because we were so electric on the counter attack it was 5-1."

McCarthy lamented: "It was awful, car-crash football. I never saw that coming, it was embarrassing."

Reading: Bond, Gunter, Obita, McShane (c), Ferdinand, Norwood, Tshibola, Quinn, Blackman (John 78), Vydra (Piazon 77), Sa (Robson-Kanu 82). 
Unused subs: Al Habsi, Hector, Williams, McCleary. 
Ipswich Town: Gerken, Knudsen, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Skuse, Douglas, Fraser (Maitland-Niles 66), Pitman (Murphy 66), McGoldrick, Sears. 
Unused subs: Bialkowski, Parr, Coke, Malarczyk, Toure. 
Yellow: Chambers, Skuse, Fraser, Knudsen
Referee: Roger East.

Att: 16,809 (Ipswich 1,682).