Danny Rose's 90th minute winner saw a young Reading side dumped out of the Carabao Cup in Round One to League Two outfit Stevenage.
Taking the lead in the 10th minute, Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan equalised midway through the second period, only for the travelling side to win it at the death.
Paul Ince made eight changes to the side that beat Cardiff City on Saturday, with three debuts for Dean Bouzanis, Basil Tuma and Mamadou Loum.
Similar to Saturday’s win, it did not take long for the visitors to assert their dominance. Looking like the side two divisions higher, Boro were composed and confident in front of no more than 5,000 at RG2. It took just 10 minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Saxon Earley tucked home a cross from the right-hand-side past a helpless Bouzanis at his near post.
Against the Bluebirds, going behind lit a fire in the Reading team and saw them come out fighting, but this was not the case against Stevenage. Despite lots of energy, the young side were chasing shadows for much of the half and seemed content to let the Herfordshire outfit control proceedings.
Looking to use the speed of Tuma and the height of Ehibhatiomhan, plenty of long passes were aimed from the defenders in the general direction of the front two, very rarely coming to anything.
It took 40 minutes for the first attempt from Ince’s men as Nottingham Forest loanee Tyrese Fornah skewed a volley well-wide of the upright after a corner was cleared by the travelling side.
The second period started much the same as the first, with the away side looking much more threatening than the Championship side.
However, that changed on 60 minutes with the introduction of Mamadi Camara and Jahmari Clarke.
The youth duo brought added impetus and direct play into the game, and within three minutes the hosts were level.
John Clarke fired a ball into midfield and Camara cleverly spun and threaded a perfect ball for Ehibhatiomhan to slot the ball past the stranded keeper. It could’ve been another just moments later and Camara played through Clarke in a similar fashion, only the for the strike to fire over the bar on this occasion.
Ehibhatiomhan almost grabbed a second in the final 10 minutes, his header clearing the bar after pressure from the nearby defenders. Full of confidence, he tried an audacious attempt moments later after cutting in but the 19-year-old bent his shot well high and wide.
With just 60 seconds on the clock a corner was recycled by the visitors and after evading everyone in the box was tucked home by Rose to seal a famous victory for the fourth tier side.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here