Hosts Reading had put in a brave performance in their opening South West One East game of the season, and were ultimately only undone by injuries and fatigue.

The game was played at a terrific pace throughout, with Leighton Buzzard keen to run the ball from everywhere and their half backs Ed Radcliffe and Dan David looking to spread the ball around whenever they had the opportunity.

Reading’s pack dominated the opening exchanges in the loose - albeit finding it tougher at scrum time - and earned the first points of the day when Buzzard were penalised for an infringement at a ruck, with fly half Jason Donnelly kicking a successful 13th minute penalty.

And the hosts continued to have the better of the first half, leading to Leighton’s Ryan Andrews being sin binned for conceding another penalty at a ruck.

Reading made full use of their numerical advantage as hooker Jack Lynch was driven over successfully from a five metre line-out to put his side 8-0 to the good.

With Leighton Buzzard having a try disallowed shortly before the break - with the referee unsure of who had won a footrace following Jack Whitehouse’s kick and chase, Reading kept their lead until half-time.

And they extended their lead shortly into the second period, again using their forward power to good effect.

After a slick move from the backs ultimately ended with a scrum in a useful position, lock Matt Hulland was able to go over for a try to put Reading 13-0 to the good.

However the hosts were left to rue missing the opportunity to move even further ahead, after losing a five metre line-out when a try could have sealed the game.

The visitors ruthlessly punsihed this lapse, and sticking to their wide open game, they forced Reading to make ever more tackles before the floodgates eventually opened.

Buzzard got themselves back into the game in the 54th minute when their endeavours were rewarded with second row Rich Graydon rounding off a good team move to score in the corner.

And a key part of the game arrived with the introduction of three substitutes - Greg Falcon, Ross Bevan and Graham Magill - for the visitors in the 60th minute.

Following another excellent move from their backs, Bevan fed Magill to touch down before David’s conversion reduced the gap to one point.

With the game in the balance, Reading fell behind as they finally slipped off a couple of tackles, allowing centre Jack Whitehouse to score a converted try, before the hosts were cruelly denied even a bonus point when Euan Irwin scored straight from the restart following another fine Buzzard move.

With David slotting his third conversion, Leighton Buzzard escaped with a 26-13 win, having been behind from the 13th minute until added time.

Reading - who ended the game with just 15 fit players - will hope to overcome those injuries and compete well at Maidenhead this Saturday.