CHERRIES’ Championship woes continued as they were comfortably dispatched 3-1 by Reading.

All the goals for the hosts came within 19 first-half minutes at Madejski Stadium with Josh Laurent and Tom McIntyre alert to poach from set pieces, before Lucas Joao added a third.

Cherries did improve after the break, going close through Philip Billing and Steve Cook, before pulling a late goal back through the returning Junior Stanislas.

But the damage was already done as boss Jason Tindall was left facing up to a third consecutive defeat in the league.

Cherries remain sixth in the table for now, but could find themselves as many as eight points off the top two automatic promotion places by the end of the weekend, with 20 matches remaining. Reading climb up to fourth.

Jason Tindall made three changes from the midweek FA Cup win over Crawley Town. Jefferson Lerma and Dominic Solanke replaced Jack Wilshere and David Brooks, who dropped to the bench, while Chris Mepham returned from an ankle injury to replace Lloyd Kelly, who was ruled out with an ankle concern of his own.

Stanislas, who was expected to be ruled out for another couple of weeks, made a surprise early return from an ankle injury to take his place among the substitutes. He was joined by Jack Simpson, who this week signed a pre-contract agreement to join Rangers in the summer.

Reading’s only switch from their goalless draw at Preston saw talented teenager Michael Olise replace Sone Aluko.

The last time Cherries made the trip to Madejski Stadium for a competitive fixture, a solitary Callum Wilson goal in the fourth minute was enough for a vital three points in the push for the Championship title.

And they came close to an early goal again. Arnaut Danjuma was heavily involved, initially breezing past Olise before later in the move finding space on the edge of the box, where Rafael parried away the shot.

But Reading soon took over. A weak pass from Lewis Cook back towards Asmir Begovic was intercepted by Joao, who teed up John Swift, only for the midfielder to sweep his shot wide of the post, much to Cherries’ relief.

However, the hosts did soon get their noses in front, midway through the half. After Danjuma switched off from a Royals free-kick, the ball was deflected behind for a corner, from which McIntyre let fly. Mepham got in the way to block, but Laurent was on hand to slam the loose ball high into the net to break the deadlock.

And a second goal swiftly followed. After Diego Rico brought down a marauding Andy Rinomhota 20 yards out, Olise’s free-kick could only be parried by Begovic into the path of centre-back McIntyre, who reacted first to stab home.

Things went from bad to worse before the break. With just two minutes of the half remaining, Billing lost the ball in midfield allowing Reading to attack. Ovie Ejaria slid the ball in to Joao, who expertly swivelled away from Steve Cook in the box and tucked home left-footed for his 18th goal of the season.

Tindall turned to his bench at half-time, making a triple substitution with Wilshere, Brooks and Adam Smith replacing Lerma, Danjuma and Rico.

Cherries immediately looked to have injected some urgency into their game, with Lewis Cook flashing a shot wide from around 20 yards.

Back came the Royals, working the ball to Swift just inside the box, but his left-footed effort cleared the crossbar.

Cherries were winning plenty of corners and almost carved a route back into the contest just past the hour mark. Brooks’s delivery fell to the back post for Mepham, whose effort was heroically blocked by Tom Holmes, before Omar Richards threw himself in the way to deny King on the follow-up.

Chances kept coming, first Billing in the box was denied by a diving Rafael, before the keeper was then at full stretch to tip away Steve Cook’s header.

Stanislas was then thrown on for the final few minutes, and made an instant impact, curling a free-kick through the wall to reduce the arrears with five minutes to play.

But it proved too little, too late as the Royals were crowned victors, with Tomas Esteves blazing a good chance to add a fourth goal over in stoppage time.

Cherries: Begovic; Stacey, Mepham, S Cook, Rico (Smith, h-t); Lerma (Wilshere, h-t), L Cook, Billing (Stanislas, 81); King, Danjuma (Brooks, h-t), Solanke.

Unused subs: Carter-Vickers, Simpson, Riquelme, Surridge, Dennis (g/k).

Booked: Rico.

Reading: Rafael; Holmes (Yiadom, 88), Morrison, McIntyre, Richards; Rinomhota, Laurent; Olise (Esteves, 88), Swift (Semedo, 72), Ejaria (Aluko, 77); Joao (Meite, 88).

Unused subs: Gibson, Onen, Tetek, Southwood (g/k)

Booked: Swift.

Referee: James Linington.