Stevenage were knocked out of the FA Cup following a 3-0 defeat to Sky Bet Championship side Reading in the third-round replay at the Madejski Stadium.

A hat-trick from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson saw the Royals quality shine through as they downed a battling Boro side who had plenty of chances of their own.

Darren Sarll made one change from the side that fought back to a 1-1 draw away at Morecambe on Saturday, with Mark McKee taking the place of Dale Gorman in central midfield.

Royals boss Jaap Stam made a total of 10 changes from Saturdays 0-0 draw at Hull City, with captain Chris Gunter the only player to keep his place.

Boro thought they’d made a perfect start with 11 minutes played as Matt Godden glanced home a Joe Martin free kick but, the offside flag was up against the striker and the goal was chalked off.

The away side were in the ascendancy and it was Godden again who came agonisingly close to opening the scoring with less than 15 minutes played.

Danny Newton’s in swinging cross found his strike partners head but his downward effort from close range was brilliantly pushed away by Anssi Jaakkola in the Reading goal.

However, it was the Royals who grabbed the opening goal against the run of play.

A cross was not dealt with by Stevenage and a huge deflection fell to Jon Dadi Bodvarsson on the edge of the six-yard box, with the attacker tapping past a helpless Tom King.

Icelandic international Bodvarsson made it 2-0 just two minutes before half-time he headed home a cross from Gunter, just out of King’s reach and with a little help from the inside of post.

Boro looked to get themselves back in the game early in the second-half and they had a two chances inside the first 10 minutes, with Newton heading wide from close range and Tiago Ilori almost turning the ball into his own net.

As Sarll’s side pressed forward it left them exposed at the back, and Bodvarsson took full advantage with 65 minutes played.

The 25-year-old found himself in the perfect place – just two yards out – to tap home Gunter’s low cross, wrapping up his hat-trick and putting the game to bed at 3-0.

Sarll’s side return to Sky Bet League Two action when Carlisle United visited the Lamex this Saturday.

Reading: Jaakkola, Gunter, Beerens, Aluko, Edwards, Bacuna (Richards, 80), Ilori, Clement, Bodvarsson, Blackett, Kelly

Stevenage: T King, Henry, J King, Wilmot, Martin, Pett, Smith, McKee (Conlon, 71), Kennedy (Samuel, 71), Newton (Georgiou, 85), Godden

Attendance: 4,986 (608 away)