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Last Updated: Sunday, 26 December, 2004, 13:16 GMT
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Reading kept up their promotion push as they cruised past struggling Watford.
Ibrahima Sonko put Reading ahead in two minutes, heading Nick Shorey's free-kick past Watford's on-loan goalkeeper Paul Jones at the near post.
Johnnie Jackson, on loan at Watford from Spurs, was close to an equaliser, but Steve Sidwell doubled Reading's advantage with 15 minutes left.
He fired home Nicky Forster's pass from eight yards before Lloyd Owusu headed the third after 87 minutes.
Royals manager Steve Coppell:
"I was happy to get to half-time with the score still at 1-0 because Watford looked dangerous, although we looked better in the second half.
"Our passing wasn't anywhere near good enough, and they had a positive spell of 20 minutes where we had to work very hard to contain them.
"In the second half, we were more incisive with quality crosses and good finishing."
Watford boss Ray Lewington on the defeat:
"It's the first time this season that we have seemed to be short of conviction in our ability to score at one end and to keep a clean sheet at the other," he said.
"Most games this season we have felt that we could have got a win instead of a draw, or a draw instead of a defeat, but not today.
"Reading were better than us at the business end of the pitch."
Reading: Hahnemann, Hughes, Shorey, Sonko, Ingimarsson,
Little (Convey 86), Sidwell, Harper (Newman 86), Brooker,
Forster, Owusu.
Subs Not Used: Young, Morgan, Goater.
Booked: Little.
Goals: Sonko 3, Sidwell 76, Owusu 88.
Watford: Jones, Chambers, Darlington (Demerit 86), Cox, Dyche,
Devlin, Mahon (Blizzard 73), Gunnarsson, Jackson,
Dyer (Young 66), Helguson.
Subs Not Used: Chamberlain, Doyley.
Booked: Mahon.
Att: 18,757.
Ref: P Crossley (Kent).
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