Jamie Mackie’s 14th minute goal was the difference between the sides as Reading defeated the Blues 1-0 at Portman Road. The Scotland international was given time to shoot from 25 yards and his effort just crept inside the post, while the Blues never really looked like getting back on terms.
Town boss Mick McCarthy named an unchanged side with new signings Richard Chaplow and Luke Varney on the bench.
Teddy Bishop, who signed a new contract until 2018 yesterday, was on the right of midfield with Daryl Murphy up front wearing a mask to protect his nose, which he broke at Fulham last week.
The 21-goal Irishman was the first player to threaten when he brought the ball forward from halfway having been found by strike partner Freddie Sears in the sixth minute.
Murphy looked to return the ball to the ex-Colchester man but it ricocheted back into his path off a defender and he took it on into the the box before hitting a right-foot shot which failed to test Adam Federici in the Reading goal.
Three minutes later Kevin Bru unleashed a well-struck 25-yard effort which Federici saved down to his left with the Blues starting the stronger of the two sides.
On 13 Murphy broke away down the left and held off Alex Pearce before crossing to Sears, who flicked his header well wide. Moments later, after good work from Bru and Tabb, the ex-West Ham youngster hit a shot straight at Federici from the edge of the box.
Despite the Blues having had the better of the early stages, the Royals went in front in the 14th minute via their first shot of the game.
Tyrone Mings stood off Mackie and allowed him to shoot from 25 yards, the ball creeping into the corner of Bartosz Bialkowski’s net with the keeper likely to feel he might have done better.
Two minutes after going behind the Blues felt they ought to have been awarded a penalty when Murphy’s cross from the right struck Pearce on the arm. Spot-kicks have certainly been awarded for similar incidents in the past.
The Royals went close to going two up when Mackie beat Mings down the Reading right before cutting the ball across to Hal Robson-Kanu, who shot well over when he should have done better.
Town weren’t too far away from an equaliser in the 21st minute when Sears sent over a deep cross from the right and Tabb, facing his old club on his 31st birthday, headed wide from a tight angle.
There was another scare for the Blues in the 29th minute when Robson-Kanu played a chipped pass over the top for Mackie, whose first touch on what was a difficult dropping ball took it through to the advancing Bialkowski.
The Town players claimed another penalty in the 36th minute when Bishop fed in Mings on the left and the full-back sent over a cross to the far post from where skipper Luke Chambers nodded down to Sears, who turned his shot against Pearce. Referee Eddie Ilderton indicated that he felt the ball had struck the ex-Norwich loanee’s thigh.
Three minutes later Pavel Pogrebnyak sent Robson-Kanu away on the left but the Wales international failed to find Mackie with his cross with the former QPR man in acres of space breaking into the Town box.
On 40 Simon Cox hit a shot on the turn which scruffed through to Bialkowski, then at the other end a Sears effort from inside the box was blocked.
In the penultimate minute of scheduled time Sears again failed to get enough on a cross from the left, then Bishop skipped his way into space in the area but failed to trouble Federici with his shot. Neither side threatened again before referee Ilderton brought the half to a close.
Town had started brightly and had created a couple of openings before Mackie’s against-the-run-of-play goal. From there the Blues’ performance had deteriorated somewhat and with the Royals having carved out a couple of openings from which they might have increased their lead.
Three minutes after the restart Mings played a ball into Sears’s path on the left of the area, but the striker hit his shot wide.
On 50 Nathaniel Chalobah forced Bialkowski to save down to his left from a 25-yard freekick.
Town should have made more of a 53rd minute break after Sears had sent Murphy away down the centre. The striker cut back inside but couldn’t find space to shoot. Tabb eventually moved the ball on to Bru, whose effort from distance was straight at Federici.
Tabb had another chance to score against his old club - as he did on the opening day of last season - in the 54th minute after Sears had flicked on a long diagonal ball from the right to the left of the area. The midfielder slid in but cut the ball between the far post and his on-rushing team-mates.
Town were beginning to create chances with greater regularity and on 58 Bishop saw a strike from the edge of the box deflect wide. A minute later, after a Tabb freekick from the left had been half-cleared to the edge of the box, the 18-year-old screwed another effort well past the post.
With 25 minutes remaining Blues boss McCarthy switched Tabb and Bishop for Paul Anderson and Jonny Parr, the Norwegian going to left midfield. Two minutes later, Bru was booked for a foul on Danny Williams.
Cox shot through to Bialkowski, then at the other end Murphy fed Anderson, who failed to significantly test Federici with a low shot. The Australian keeper’s time-wasting was increasingly frustrating the home crowd but not yet leading referee Ilderton to take action.
The Blues continued to press and on 73 Anderson cut the ball back from the right to Sears but the striker turned the ball straight at Federici.
On 79, after the Royals had switched Garath McCleary for Robson-Kanu and Hope Akpan for Cox, Varney was handed his Town debut in place of Sears.
With seven minutes left on the clock Varney was fouled by Michael Hector just outside the area but Anderson curled his freekick just over.
Mackie missed a good chance to seal the win for his side in the 83rd minute when he scuffed wide at the far post after McCleary found him following a Reading break.
As the game entered four minutes of injury time Anderson sent over a freekick from the left but Murphy’s flicked header bounced just wide of Federici’s left post.
Federici blocked Murphy’s shot, Reading sub Jake Cooper doing well to get to the loose ball to nod it behind.
From the resultant corner, Chambers headed it back into the danger area, Varney nodded it down and Murphy shot against a defender, the Town players again appealing for a penalty, although perhaps more out of frustration on this occasion.
Soon after, referee Ilderton’s whistle went to confirm the Blues’ second home league defeat of 2015.
Having started on top, the visitors’ goal against the run of play rather knocked the wind out of Town’s sails.
In the second half the Blues huffed and puffed against a Reading side happy to sit back on their lead, but were never really convincing. Reading keeper Federici saw a lot of the ball but without having to make any over-taxing saves.
The defeat and results elsewhere see Town stay in fourth but now five points behind new leaders Derby, who beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2.
Second-placed Middlesbrough were defeated 1-0 at home by Leeds and Bournemouth in third lost 3-1 to seventh-placed Brentford, who are now only two points behind the Blues, while Norwich, who Town face in the East Anglian derby at Norwich next Sunday, are now fifth just a point behind McCarthy's men.
Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Bru, Bishop (Parr 65), Tabb (Anderson 65), Murphy, Sears (Varney 79). Unused: Gerken, Stewart, Chaplow, Clarke.
Reading: Federici, Kelly, Obita, Pearce (c), Hector, Chalobah, Williams, Mackie (Cooper 90), Robson-Kanu (Akpan 77), Cox (McCleary 77), Pogrebnyak. Unused: Andersen, Norwood, Blackman. Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne and Wear). Attendance: 21,298 (Reading: 433).