Andre Bikey struck twice to secure Reading three crucial points from their Barclays Premier League relegation tussle with Birmingham at the Madejski Stadium.
Bikey's emphatic header on the half-hour gave Reading a lead they richly deserved.
But Birmingham, who were missing James McFadden after the Scotland striker had keyhole surgery on his knee on Saturday morning, hit back through Mauro Zarate.
Story continues below...
They had barely managed a shot on target to that point; yet Zarate - McFadden's replacement - was on hand to convert Mikael Forssell's cross and open his Birmingham account.
The Blues' hopes of returning to St Andrews with a fortuitous point were dashed, however, when Cameroon defender Bikey nodded home the 80th-minute winner.
Reading would have been out of sight long ago had they made the most of their dominance, with midfielder Stephen Hunt hitting the woodwork and Dave Kitson and John Oster also going close.
Despite Bikey's two goals, it was Hunt who stole the show with another livewire display that left the Blues scrambling furiously for much of the first half.
Barely a minute was on the clock when a probing run from Hunt exposed the Birmingham defence, which was let off the hook when Kevin Doyle just failed to connect from point-blank range.
Hunt was unmarked on the edge of the area in the seventh minute, but his lobbed ball to Dave Kitson was easily headed clear.
Reading were caught napping moments later and nearly paid the price, Forssell teeing up Gary McSheffrey - who pushed his shot wide of the right post.
Kitson was sent tumbling as Liam Ridgewell tried to shield the ball just three yards from the goal, but referee Mike Riley was unmoved.
It took Rahdi Jaidi to finally clear the ball as Doyle sought to stab home, and in the 17th minute Hunt was denied by Stephen Kelly's timely intervention.
Hunt was rampant and rattled the bar with a blistering 25-yard drive after bulldozing his way through Birmingham's midfield.
Liam Rosenior delivered a pinpoint cross into the box. But goalkeeper Maik Taylor made a commanding catch, with a clutch of Reading players poised to strike.
Birmingham were struggling to make any sort of impact as the Royals cranked up the pressure with waves of attacks.
It therefore came as little surprise when the hosts went ahead in the 31st minute.
Hunt chased a lost cause in the left corner and won a free-kick, which John Oster floated into the box.
Birmingham's defence was all at sea, and Bikey was able to slip through unnoticed and thump the ball home with an emphatic header.
The Blues produced a promising spell that ended when Ridgewell's delicate cross was easily plucked from the air by Marcus Hahnemann.
Reading started the first half brightly and should have extended their lead when Doyle picked out an unmarked John Oster only for the Wales midfielder to sky his shot from six yards.
The Blues' defence was being exposed repeatedly, while in attack their feeble efforts were easily repelled by Reading's alert rearguard.
Oster had an appeal for handball turned down after Birmingham were caught on the counter, and it was difficult to see how they could loosen the home side's stranglehold on the match.
But against the run of play in the 65th minute, Forssell outmuscled Ivar Ingimarsson on the left.
The Finland international threaded the ball to Zarate, who made no mistake to register his first goal for Birmingham.
Reading began to look jittery at the back but breathed more easily after Bikey made it 2-1.
Nicky Shorey sent a free-kick into the box, and Bikey nodded home as Birmingham once again struggled to contain the powerful African at the decisive moment.
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £36.50 ON SOUTHEND v DONCASTER
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Friday evening's League One Play-Off clash between Southend and Doncaster, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 7.45pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £36.50, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £36.50 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match and we will collect £107.50 if Doncaster win, £107.50 if Southend win and £107.81 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Place £20.00 on Doncaster at 2.75 (7/4) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Doncaster as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Doncaster.
Back the draw with £26.00 at 3.3 (9/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on Southend at 2.15 (23/20) with Extrabet.
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on Southend.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Doncaster win, you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £107.81. That's £82.81 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Southend win you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Southend v Doncaster match is no draw and you make £36.50 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £36.81. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
