Rotherham United Under 18s exited the FA Youth Cup at the Third Round stage following a 6-0 loss to Reading at Select Car Leasing Stadium on Thursday night.
A Taylan Harris hat-trick, a brace for Joe Barough and a strike from Shay Spencer secured a place in the next round for the hosts.
The Academy arrived in Berkshire in good form, having won each of their last four fixtures, scoring 17 in the process, but it the Royals who struck first when Tyler Field’s free kick fell kindly for Harris, who converted from inside the box.
Harris added his and Reading’s second with 17 minutes on clock when he stepped up to convert a penalty following a foul on Luke Howard.
The striker very nearly had a third but was denied by a superb double save from Hayden Blow, but the hosts weren’t to be denied and made it 3-0 through Barough before half time.
Barough grabbed his second following a smart finish soon after the restart and it was 5-0 with 10 minutes to play when Harris completed his hat-trick following a neat team move.
Reading added a sixth in the final stages when Spencer received the ball on the edge of the box and fired home past Blow to secure the win.
ACADEMY | Blow, Shepherd, Hibbard, Grove, Seisay, Roddis, Paisley, Abraham (Clarke 55’), Ayres (Wilson 73’), Giwa, Hatton (Niewiem 66’).
UNUSED | Bassett, Mare, Gordon, Lee.