THEY put on a brave show, but 10-man Swansea eventually crashed out of the Carling Cup last night after forcing extra-time at the Madejski Stadium.

Extra-time goals from Dave Kitson - his second of the match - and £1m man Leroy Lita broke Swansea's resistance as boss Kenny Jackett was sent to the stands for apparently remonstrating too forcefully with the fourth official.

It looked as Kitson had done enough in normal time to send Reading through, claiming his first goal in the 14th minute.

But Swansea's impressive striker Adebayo Akinfenwa extended the clash when he converted Ijah Anderson's cross in the 80th minute.

Just a few minutes later Anderson, on as a second-half substitute for Kevin Austin, saw red when he collected a second yellow card for a foul on Kitson.

Swansea scarcely deserved the extra 30 minutes, having been second-best to the Championship leaders for most of the night - even if Steve Coppell's Premiership hopefuls were guilty of missing a flurry of excellent second-half chances.

The gulf in class had been clear as Swansea - missing six key players through injury or suspenion, it must be stressed - struggled to match Reading's movement and ability on the ball.

It had been an all-too-swift reunion with a team Swansea had met here in last season's FA Cup.

On that occasion the Swans were two minutes away from causing a third-round upset when Ivar Ingimarsson equalised Paul Connor's goal, Reading going on to claim a narrow 1-0 win in the Vetch Field replay.

The Berkshire club look a stronger outfit these days and, having underlined their Premiership aspirations with the £1m summer purchase of Bristol City's Leroy Lita, top the Coca-Cola Championship after hammering Millwall 5-0 at the weekend.

Lita was one of several first-choice players rested from the starting line-up last night, but even the fringe players given a run-out by Coppell were too much for the Swans to handle.

How Swansea could have done with a little magic from Lee Trundle.

Jackett's No 1 striker was missing with hamstring trouble so there was a chance for Connor not only to repeat last season's goalscoring display at the Madejski, but to try and reclaim a regular first XI spot after turning down a summer move to Darlington.

Connor, replacing Marc Goodfellow in what was the only change to the side beaten 2-1 at home by Doncaster on Saturday, was involved in some promising early moves despite starting in an alien wide-right position as Jackett fielded a three-pronged attack that saw Kevin McLeod stationed on the opposite flank and Akinfenwa as the central strike pivot. But Swansea - missing a total of six players through injury and suspension, all of whom probably would've featured had they been available - were 14th-minute victims of a Reading smash-and-grab raid.

Stand-in keeper Graham Stack lumped a long ball forward, striker Kevin Doyle flicked it on and Kitson beat Swans stopper Willy Gueret - caught in no-man's land some 10 yards off his line - with a delicious lob from the edge of the area.

Swansea started to get a little overun in midfield as Reading's highly-rated midfield architects James Harper and Steve Sidwell began to sculpt some smooth, defence-splitting passes.

Sidwell had a crack himself on 19 minutes with a thunderous 25-yard drive that Gueret had to finger-tip over the crossbar.

Swansea were by no means deprived of possession, though, even if they had to wait patiently for chances to test the resilence of Reading's rearguard.

Indeed it was the stroke of half-time before Jackett's side seriously troubled Stack in the home goal, midfield rookie Owain Tudur Jones producing a venomous 25-yard shot that took a slight deflection off Ibrahima Sonko before landing in the arms of Reading's on-loan Arsenal keeper.

Swansea were under siege after the interval as Doyle saw a close-range volley denied only by the leg of an unwitting Gueret.

The travelling fans then held their breath as Gueret hesitated on a cross from Hunt, allowing Glen Little to fire into the side-netting.

Yet more chances came Reading's way. The menacing Kitson headed against the bar from a Hunt free-kick and Doyle forced Gueret to make a diving save with a well-planted header.

The Swans were left to feed off scraps, though they almost squeezed home an equaliser on 64 minutes when skipper Roberto Martinez rolled a pass through to Akinfenwa, who muscled his way past a couple of challenges before being dispossessed by Ibrahima Sonko just as he was about to pull the trigger.

Just as it seemed Reading would cling on to claim a deserved victory, Akinfenwa discovered his finishing touch.

Anderson delivered a well-weighted cross from the left and Akinfenwa beat Stack with a firm far-post header, Connor perhaps getting the slightest of touches as it sailed past the keeper.

Things turned sour for the Swans when Anderson was dismissed six minutes before the end of normal time, though the 10 men in black bravely held on.

Kitson, though, needed just five extra minutes to get on the scoresheet again.

Harper shrugged off Martinez to feed the striker and Kitson slotted home even after being pushed a little wide. And things got worse for the Swans when Jackett was banished to the stands for arguing with the fourth official.

Substitute Lita made certain of Reading's place in round two when he slid in to convert a cross from Harper six minutes from the end.

SOURCE: WESTERN MAIL

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