Braces for Ian Harte and Shane Long, as well as a goal from Hal Robson-Kanu condemned Boro to defeat despite a double from Leroy Lita against his former club.
As well as losing five goals, Boro also suffered the loss of goalkeeper Jason Steele, who limped off in the 40th minute with a suspected back muscle tear.
With Danny Coyne still a few weeks away from fitness, Tony Mowbray will look to sign someone on an emergency loan deal with Conor Ripley the only fit keeper at the club.
Boro were under pressure right from the off and found themselves a goal behind on 14 minutes when Robson-Kanu headed in from Jimmy Kebe's right-wing cross.
The visitors did pull a goal back on 29 minutes though, when Lita pounced on Andrew Taylor's parried shot to finish from close-range.
At that moment, the 983 travelling Boro fans might have thought their side were back in it, but that was wishful thinking as less than six minutes later, they were behind again.
A miss-timed tackle by Nicky Bailey on Kebe saw the hosts awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position. Ian Harte stepped up and the dead-ball specialist curled the ball in from 25-yards.
Things got worse three minutes after the interval when the Royals extended their lead, and again, it was Harte.
Another clumsy challenge saw the Irish defender step-up again, but this time his cross evaded everyone in the box and bounced in past Ripley.
Boro heads dropped immediately and a fourth came shortly after on 54 minutes. Harte picked up the ball midway in the Boro half and swung an early cross towards Long, who finished with a simple header.
By that point, Brian McDermott's side cruising, taking advantage of the time and space Mowbray's men were giving them and on 68 minutes Boro were hit for five.
A long ball forward set Long free and after a couple of neat touches, the striker prodded the ball past a helpless Ripley.
Lita did pull another goal back on 72 minutes when he finished from the spot after being fouled by Matt Mills but by that stage the game was well and truly over and the defeat saw Boro slip to within three points of the Championship drop zone.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo