Two early penalties from Abbey full-back Tom Waterhouse put his side 6-0 to the good before impressive interplay by captain Sam Hallett and his brother Joe - making his first appearance in more than six years - set up a slick backs move which was rounded off by Warwick.

He doubled his tally shortly after to put the hosts 16-0 ahead before try-scoring machine Aaron Ross - who had 10 in the two games before - crossed the whitewash for the first time.

Scrum-half Will Bevan also went over in the first-half to give his side a 28-0 lead at the break.

There was no letting up from the table-toppers in the second period as centre Dan Love went over before Baptista grabbed his first of the game following another fine passage of play from the three quarters.

Reading then showed their forwards strength which culminated in a try for captain Hallett, before a second Baptista score and another for Ross completed an emphatic rout of a side who had started the day in third place in the league.

Abbey will hope to continue their irresistible start to the season when they travel to Slough this Saturday (2.30pm).