The U’s responded to a disappointing loss at Leyton Orient to beat the Royals 1-0 courtesy of Fejiri Okenabirhie’s strike seven minutes from the end.
Cambridge climbed back into the top six of League One, while Reading are yet to pick up a point away from home this season.
“I thought it was a brilliant game,” Bonner said afterwards.
“Both teams had good chances, both teams were trying to win the game. There was drama throughout the game, and in the ending obviously they could have got something from it, but I thought our performance level was good.
“I liked the intent that we started with. It was a brilliant chance early on, I’m surprised we didn’t score early in the game, so it was there for us, but I’m delighted with the game that we played.
“We gave our subs the chance to come on and win the game, which is important. We’ve got to make sure that when we make those changes we’re in a game that gives them a chance of winning it for us.
“There was lots to like about us tonight, it was much more us. I think five out of six games we’ve been a good side this year.
“I love in the 30th minute how we defended our box, amazing. Everybody chucking their body in the way to block things, that’s us at our best. You’ve got to give everything. (It’s) a bit rock and roll sometimes, not always perfect, but that’s what we want to see. I really liked the intent in our game tonight.”
Ruben Selles expressed his disappointment at Reading’s display, saying: “The thought is that our performance was not good enough.
“We had a plan of how to come here and try to win the game. We were trying to get a tempo of the game and we didn’t. We tried different variations, and we had an opponent that closed all the spaces and played the game really well.
“I’m disappointed with the result, I’m disappointed with the performance.
“We had chances in the game to score goals. I think we created enough to at least score one goal. We need to be more ruthless, we need to be more nasty.
“We need to know how to play our own game, and we need to know how to control the game as a team. Today, for some periods of the game we were not with that control.
“We know the team we want to be. There are some positive things in what we do but at the end of the day we need to win football matches.”
The U’s had looked set to earn three points and end their five-match winless run in Sky Bet League One, but Taylor Perry netted two minutes from the end to secure Shrewsbury a point.
The match will be best remembered for Michael Morrison’s remarkable solo goal which had put Bonner’s side ahead 21 minutes from the end – he ran half the length of the field to score for Cambridge for the first time since January 2007.
“It’s the difference between 10th and 17th in the league, that,” Bonner said of Perry’s goal. “That’s how close the table is. Obviously it can change very quickly but that’s a big difference for us. We could have been looking at something very, very different.
“It’s not a great game by any stretch of the imagination and the goal we concede at the end is a moment we would defend a hundred times. It’s an easy moment to defend but we don’t defend it well enough. Then we get punished and we drop two points.
“If you look at the balance of the game, a draw’s probably the right result but when you’re 1-0 up with a few minutes to go you’ve got to get the maximum. So we’re kicking ourselves because the moment that we concede the goal is a really poor situation for us and we should take the points.
“At times today it was a bit too slow and we looked a little bit bruised by a couple of bad results recently. We’ve got to find that confidence to just go and play.”
Shrewsbury boss Matt Taylor was satisfied with his side’s response to falling behind and felt that a point was the least they deserved.
“I’m pleased that we scored a goal so late in the game,” Taylor said. “I’m pleased that the players showed a togetherness to come back into a game where I felt a point was a fair result.
“I’m pleased for the players. What they’ve done today is they’ve come back into a game and looked really strong in the last five or six minutes.
“I felt we were good today, just that one error where their centre-back runs through all of our players and passes the ball into the back of the net. But we responded really well to that.
“Things, I believe, are getting better. A month ago we probably wouldn’t have got a point. What they’ve showed together was a huge togetherness to get a point.
“If we’d have lost here it would have been a travesty because we deserved at least a point out of that game today.”
The veteran striker toasted the fifth treble of his career when inspiring the Rams to come from behind at Peterborough.
Jonson Clarke-Harris handed the hosts a brief advantage before Derby ran riot with four goals in 16 minutes.
Waghorn bagged the first of them before Eirin Cashin’s header completed the turnaround.
Waghorn then took centre-stage by getting a toe to a Nathaniel Mendez-Laing strike for a third goal before completing his treble on the stroke of half-time.
Posh manager Darren Ferguson saw red before Kwame Poku bagged a late consolation.
Warne said: “I don’t seem to ever have much joy against Fergie’s teams and I was really disappointed with the goal we conceded.
“But I fancy us to out-score most teams so it wasn’t a massive drama to fall behind.
“The reaction from the lads was really pleasing and everything that could go right for us for the rest of the first half, did.
“It’s usually a good day at the office when one of your strikers scores a hat-trick and I’m sure everyone will talk about Waggy’s goals, but it’s everything else I like about him.
“He thoroughly deserves his hat-trick, but I’ve said many times it’s not just what he does on the pitch alone.
“It’s also all the stuff off the pitch…how he is in the dressing room, how he drives training, how he picks the young lads up. He is a real force for us.”
Ferguson’s dismissal – for collecting two cautions just seconds apart – meant assistant boss Kieran Scarff was left to reflect on a second successive Posh defeat.
He said: “The game went exactly the way we hoped it would at first. We started strongly and were probably disappointed to only be one goal up.
“We provided Derby with four opportunities and they were ruthless. That was the big difference in the first half. We also had the chances to be (ruthless) ourselves, but we weren’t.
“We’ll look back at the defending, as we do for every goal we concede. I’m sure there are things we could have done better.
“In some respects you would say the scoreline is a harsh reflection, but Derby took their chances and we didn’t.”
On the dismissal of Ferguson, Scarff added: “There is a real confusion around football with the new rules, but the lack of consistency still remains.
“There is always going to be emotion in football, whether it be on the pitch, in the dugout or in the stands.
“Obviously it’s got to be appropriate and there was nothing inappropriate as far as I was concerned. Their dugout couldn’t believe it either.”
The Rams found themselves trailing in the 23rd minute after a Posh opener from a move started and finished by Jonson Clarke-Harris.
But it was one-way traffic from then on as the visitors went on an almighty attacking raid – scoring four times in 16 minutes against a Posh side who had only previously conceded twice all season.
Their charge was spearheaded by veteran forward Waghorn, who levelled with a coolly-taken volley from a Liam Thompson cross in the 29th minute before Eirin Cashin completed the turnaround with a 37th-minute header from ex-Posh man Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s delivery.
Waghorn, who returned to Derby for a second spell in the summer, then poked in a Mendez-Laing shot in the 40th minute to extend the advantage.
And the 33-year-old completed a fifth career hat-trick with his fifth goal of the current season – a classy curler on the stroke of half-time.
A miserable afternoon for Posh boss Darren Ferguson was compounded when he was sent off by referee Lewis Smith with 20 minutes to go.
Kwame Poku then bagged a 90th-minute consolation for the hosts.
It was a much-needed first win in 13 League One games for the Chairboys, but they had to survive the sending-off of midfielder Josh Scowen for a dangerous tackle on Sam Finley and then a late Rovers recovery.
Bloomfield said: “It was incident-packed, wasn’t it?
“We’ve obviously had a testing week, but I’m so proud of the way the boys reacted today, to go and put that performance in at home and give the fans plenty to cheer about.
“The atmosphere under the lights here is always special and I’m a manager full of pride at this moment.
“I actually thought the ref had given a foul in Josh’s favour (for the red card) because Josh got the ball and then there was the collision.
“It was on the blindside, so I couldn’t see, and I saw the blood afterwards and then I genuinely didn’t realise he was going to give a red because I thought the player had put his head down.
“As we all saw, Josh got the ball and played the ball forward, there wasn’t any studs up, so that was surprising for me.”
Wycombe were dominating the game following Ryan Tafazolli’s 29th-minute opener before losing Scowen to a straight red card.
Despite being down to 10 men, the Chairboys doubled their lead when Sam Vokes bundled in from Tafazolli’s knock-down before Luke Leahy seemingly put the game to bed by adding a third.
In an extraordinary finish, however, Chris Martin pulled back two goals for Rovers in stoppage time before Jevani Brown shot just wide with the final kick.
Despite the late fightback, Rovers boss Matt Taylor said: “That’s the most frustrated and disappointed I’ve been in the manner of the performance for 55 minutes of that game.
“I’ve just said to the players, people will think we’re soft physically, but we were soft with the ball, we were soft with our running, we were soft with our mindset, soft with our team spirit.
“We never got any control in that game and then the sending-off happened and we looked like we were in control all of a sudden because we could find an extra pass and move the ball.
“And then, as has been this reoccurring pattern, we make two incredible decisions and don’t see out the danger and don’t defend our box.
“It was a little bit false off the back of the sending-off and we were really disappointed with that first 55 minutes of the game.”
After seeing their play-off push fall away after Bloomfield succeeded Gareth Ainsworth in February, the Chairboys opened their season with back-to-back three-goal defeats.
This put some early pressure on Bloomfield’s shoulders, but things are starting to click for the man who made 558 appearances for the club as a player, as Wycombe extended their unbeaten run to five games and moved up to seventh.
Bloomfield said: “We believe in continual improvement and we have to make sure that we right some wrongs, but the overriding feeling of today is pride in the performance and pride at the environment around the ground.
“I was touched by the supporters singing my name at the end – they’ve obviously been supporting us for a number of years while I was here [as a player] through thick and thin and that was a special moment.
“Evolution is never easy, evolution looks messy and clunky at times and certainly in my tenure here it’s looked messy at times, and I’m sure there will be some of those moments moving forward.
“But we’re really keen and really driven as a staff to imprint what we believe in the boys and the boys are really driven to take it on and deliver.”
Wycombe were ahead after 12 minutes when Sam Vokes met Kane Vincent-Young’s header and although Daniel Grimshaw saved his header, the Welshman was on hand to tap in the rebound.
Brandon Hanlan then gave the Chairboys a deserved 2-0 lead less than a minute into the second half when he volleyed in Garath McCleary’s cross at the back post.
Blackpool belatedly responded and would have forced a big finish to the game had it not been for Wycombe goalkeeper Max Stryjek making excellent saves from Olly Casey and Sonny Carey.
Seasiders boss Neil Critchley said: “A little bit more than disappointed if I’m honest.
“You know what type of game to expect here; they get the ball forward early, they’ve got players at the top end of the pitch that are strong and they can build momentum in the game by winning first balls and second balls.
“I just felt we allowed them to build that momentum early in the game, so if you concede like we conceded from not stopping a cross and defending in the box, you’re on the back foot straight away.
“We did that in our last away game and we’ve done it again today.
“I just didn’t think we were at the level that is required in this type of game in the first half.”
Tyler Goodrham gave Oxford a 20th-minute lead but the O’s hit back through Ollie O’Neill and George Moncur.
Boss Richie Wellens was sent to the stands for the third time this season, on this occasion for timewasting when making a substitution, so Harrold was again put forward after the match to speak to the press.
And Harrold said: “I thought we played really well.
“I felt they had a goal against the run of play really – we switched off and allowed a runner and they played around us with a little bit of quality.
“But apart from that, I thought we were good in the first half.
“Then we said a few things at half-time and we went from strength to strength and deserved the win.
“We worked on something in the week which came off a few times in the first half and at half-time we urged them to shoot through bodies.
“And that’s what Ollie O’Neill did and it was a great strike into the far corner. It was just that little moment that we were maybe lacking in the first half.
“It was a great goal and with Moncs, we’d said to him at half-time to take more chances – and that’s what happens when he does. He does it all the time in training and it was an unbelievable finish.
“We all know Moncs can do it, we just want to see it more often.
“It just shows what he can do. He’s fresh, he’s hungry and I think he looks really confident. We all believe in him so much – he’s done it, with a great goal and it was a great moment for us.
“I’ve got to be honest, I thought the red card for Richie seemed a little harsh because we were just trying to make a substitution which we’d made clear we wanted to do and I thought a lot of our yellow cards were harsh too.
“The gaffer’s disappointed – it doesn’t look great, obviously, but I thought that one was a harsh one.”
Oxford boss Des Buckingham admitted his team’s performance was not good enough.
He said: “I’m disappointed with the performance because we didn’t deserve to win the game.
“But we’re still sixth in the table and we’ve got 11 more opportunities to make sure we stay where we want to stay.
“We’ve only got the one point from these last two home games which is not what we wanted.
“The first goal they scored we had four different chances to clear the ball and we didn’t. And the second one, we allowed a guy who’s right-footed onto his right foot to shoot.
“But we’ll deal with this together. It’s not about looking for excuses or blame. That’s not where you take a group of people where you want to go.
“Yes, it’s about accountability and making sure across the group we’re all clear about what we’re doing.
“It’s still a work in progress, it was never going to happen overnight.
“It’s something we will work on hard throughout the rest of the season and make sure we get right.
“We have to find that combination and we will find that combination.
“We have a free week before the Portsmouth game and it’s important we use these four days on the training ground to get back on track to get as many points as we can from the last 11 games.
“We need to get a run of results together to get people here behind us more often.”
Martin and Luke Thomas found the net inside the first quarter of the match to put the Pirates in control, and after Mark Harris had pulled one back, Harvey Vale sealed Rovers’ first win of 2024.
“We took responsibility and played forward more and got ourselves up the pitch,” said Taylor. “We know we’ve got enough quality if we’re there to hurt the opposition.
“So I was pleased with that start and then the goals were a bonus. Two really good goals (in the first half). Chris Martin’s in terms of a breakaway and a cross, and he’s in fantastic form at the moment.
“We spoke about Tuesday (defeat at home to Exeter) but we were missing key personnel. You just see a bit more life in that team today.
“You could just sense a bit more confidence in that whole back line on the back of the goalkeeper and those experienced defenders as well (James Wilson and George Friend returning from injury; Jed Ward starting his first league game this season),” Taylor added.
Oxford manager Des Buckingham also pinpointed the first half and the goals his side conceded, as the hosts got on top.
“First half we’ve given away two cheap goals and when you do that away from home it’s very difficult,” said Buckingham.
“We responded really well in the second half and the goalkeeper has picked up man of the match for them.
“We created the chances but just couldn’t get ourselves back in after getting the one and as we chased the game we left ourselves vulnerable. We need to be better,” he said.
Buckingham feels his team are hamstrung by having five important players in the treatment room, while the 38-year-old also hopes to add more new faces before the end of the January transfer window.
“It’s a tough ground to come to,” he said. “They went quite direct and we dealt with most of it but the two chances they did get they made the most of, the first from a very acute angle and the second from the edge of the box where we don’t quite get a foot on the ball.
“We’re limited at the moment in how we want to set up. I want to play with two wingers – we can’t quite do that – we’re still looking for one or two.
“If we can get them in before Tuesday night that will help us for then (against Portsmouth). If we can’t then the window is open until Thursday and it will be for next Saturday against Reading,” said Buckingham.
Taylor’s troops were in cruise control, leading 2-0 at half-time through John Marquis and Antony Evans and with Wanderers reduced to 10 men after skipper Ricardo Santos’ red card.
Gas had to survive a nervy finale as Eoin Toal’s late deflected goal gave the hosts’ hopes of pulling off an unlikely draw.
“If we have any ambition to challenge those bigger clubs at the top end of the table we need results like this,” said Taylor after his first league win since replacing Joey Barton as boss.
“It cannot be a one-off result; we have got to find a way to back it up.
“Bolton’s form at home has been outstanding, but the one thing we did was to start the game well and get on the front foot.
“We wanted to let the home crowd and the opposition know we were here to attack.
“The biggest plus for me is how the lads are working. Out of possession, they hustled and harried and worked their socks off.
“We are running more than at any stage this season and that has got to be our start and end point.
“The sending off helped us because he (Santos) was a big player for Bolton to leave the pitch.
“To go in at 2-0 we felt relatively comfortable. Our keeper wasn’t tested much in the second half.
“But there was a deflection set-piece goal. We had to withstand a bit of pressure, but we did that.”
Manager Ian Evatt described Bolton’s second defeat in six days as “self-inflicted”.
Evatt defended his decision to substitute leading goalscorer Dion Charles as reaction to his captain’s 33rd-minute dismissal for bringing down Aaron Collins.
“With some players, there was hangover from Monday,” he said referencing the 2-0 loss at leaders Portsmouth.
“Rico is brilliant player and people make mistakes, but that changed everything. We had a clear, tactical idea of what we wanted to do which meant sacrificing Dion. It was tough for him, but he understands why.
“You saw the fruits of that in the second half. When we got the plan right, we dominated with 10 men.
“We showed great character, great courage and energy; a lot of which was missing in the first half. But just as we made the change, we conceded an awful second goal and that left us with a mountain to climb.
“That was really the end of the bad stuff and had we scored 10 minutes earlier I believe we would have got something out of the game.”
Bolton’s first home defeat to Rovers since 1985 dropped them to fifth, but Evatt countered: “If we win our game in hand we are still second.
“We are going to have highs and lows, and this week has been a low. So, we need to manage the emotion and keep everyone calm and focused.”
Taylor had veteran full-back Jack Hunt to thank for sparing his blushes in his first home game in charge since succeeding Joey Barton as he cancelled out Will Goodwin’s opener.
“It was incredible to witness that first half because there were so many mistakes and so many moments where we weren’t in control of our own game,” Taylor said.
“We were slow and a bit stodgy and we were waiting for moments to appear and when that happens you get a lot going through your brain.
“And footballers can’t have too many thoughts going through their mind because they become indecisive.”
And the former Rotherham boss added: “We weren’t where we needed to be during that first half and I told the players it could only get better.
“We certainly couldn’t get any worse and I challenged them to start showing more of what we are made of.
“And then to see the difference in the second half was impressive – it really was night and day as we went from being a poor team to being a really effective team.
“We played quicker football with a brighter tempo and we looked like a different side.
“We could have gone on and won it but I’d have snapped your hand off at half-time for a point after how we played but I’ m learning so much in a short space of time.”
Striker Will Goodwin put the Robins in command on 28 minutes, coolly slotting in from 10 yards after a counter-attack led by George Lloyd to record his fifth goal this season.
Hunt, making his 500th senior appearance, equalised on 50 minutes, acrobatically poking a bouncing ball beyond Luke Southwood after good work by Luke Thomas.
Cheltenham’s ex-Rovers manager Darrell Clarke headed back up the M5 with mixed feelings.
“The most pleasing aspect is that the dressing room is disappointed that we haven’t won the game and that’s a good sign,” Clarke said.
“We scored a good goal and kept our shape nicely in the swirling wind but didn’t handle the first 15-20 minutes of the second half well when they came back into it.
“We knew they couldn’t play as badly in the second half as they did in the first so we were braced for them to come at us.
“We conceded a sloppy, scruffy goal but we didn’t chuck in the towel, they didn’t roll over and got more impetus as the game went on and that bodes well.
“So I’m sat here with mixed emotions but it was probably a fair result because we were better in the first half, they had the upper hand.”
While the Robins remain rooted to the bottom of the League One table, Clarke is upbeat about his side’s chances of beating the drop.
“We’ve now taken four points from three tough game and we keep going and we’re just trying to claw teams back,” Clarke said.
“I can’t ask for more from the players because they’re giving me everything in terms of effort, determination and grit but we’re playing for snookers because of our bad start to the season.”
Rovers, who had not previously beaten Wanderers since 1989, grabbed a 10th-minute lead when Grant Ward crossed for Marquis to register his fifth goal of the campaign.
The visitors’ fortunes increased when Bolton captain Ricardo Santos was sent off for tripping Aaron Collins 12 minutes before half-time. And there were home boos when manager Ian Evatt sacrificed 15-goal marksman Dion Charles for defender Will Forrester.
Almost immediately, the Gas went 2-0 up as Collins set up Evans for his seventh goal of the season.
Nathan Baxter kept Bolton in the hunt when saving from Collins, Evans and Connor Taylor before Wanderers rallied.
George Thomason forced Matt Cox into his first save of the game after 66 minutes and the goalkeeper made a more spectacular effort to deny Jon Dadi Bodvarsson with 20 minutes left.
Defender Eoin Toal’s late consolation could not prevent the Trotters’ second defeat in six days following last Monday’s loss at leaders Portsmouth.
They made the decisive breakthrough on 65 minutes when Jordan Cousins lost possession, allowing Will Ferry to feed Matty Taylor who fired past Jack Stevens via the far post.
In the first half the Robins had seen a goal disallowed when Taylor’s shot was diverted in by George Lloyd on 12 minutes, only for the offside flag to go up.
Cambridge had three good chances in the first half, with keeper Luke Southwood doing well to deny both Lyle Taylor and Jack Lankester. Lyle Taylor also pulled back for Elias Kachunga to fire over.
On the hour Lankester was played in on goal and rounded Southwood, but chose to square the ball and failed to find a team-mate.
Matty Taylor then opened the scoring but the Us pressed to get back into the game, missing a great chance 10 minutes from the end when Lyle Taylor centred for sub Macauley Bonne who miscued wide from close range.
The midfielder scored twice before half-time to put Derby on course for their biggest win of the season.
Derby had twice gone close before Bird put them ahead in the 14th minute, steering in Conor Washington’s low cross from the left.
Northampton were struggling to contain Derby but they should have done better when Washington ran between two defenders before beating Lee Burge with a low shot in the 22nd minute.
The game was over 10 minutes later when Conor Hourihane’s pass picked out Bird who slid a low shot past Burge from 10 yards.
Northampton made three changes for the second half but conceded again in the 49th minute when Tom Barkhuizen crossed for Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to score from 12 yards.
Barkhuizen and James Collins should have added further goals on a miserable night for Northampton, who did not manage a meaningful effort on goal in the 90 minutes.
Crocombe’s heroics between the posts helped earn the Brewers their first point of the season in League One and deny the Chairboys what they felt would have been a deserved second win of the week.
Sam Vokes almost struck a stunning opening goal for Wycombe after 16 minutes when his volley from Kane Vincent-Young’s pass was brilliantly tipped away by Crocombe.
It was the closest either team came in a first half that tailed off but Burton’s Mason Bennett almost broke the deadlock eight minutes after the restart when he drew a good save from Max Stryjek.
Dale Taylor, on loan at the Brewers last season, then almost struck for the second game running for the Chairboys but a strong arm by Crocombe kept out his effort.
The New Zealand stopper then denied substitute Brandon Hanlan from point-blank range, although unbeknown to him the offside flag had been raised.
Helm, who was starting for the first time since December after a spell out with injury, lit the game up with a pinpoint curling finish after Max Crocombe’s long clearance had been helped on by Joe Hugill midway through the first half.
Charlton dominated long spells of possession in the first half without putting the Burton goal under severe pressure.
Midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson twice went close for the Addicks as they looked for an equaliser, a low volley from a corner blocked well by Crocombe before a raking shot bounced just wide.
Albion got the perfect start to the second half as Brayford poached a second at the back post when Charlton failed to effectively clear a long throw just two minutes after the restart.
Charlton rarely threatened Crocombe’s goal in the second half, with an angled shot from debutant Freddie Ladapo the best they could muster until substitute Daniel Kanu rattled the crossbar in added time as Albion moved above the Addicks in the Sky Bet League One table.
The Chairboys arrived having endured a miserable lack of form of late that had left them with just five points from the last 33 available and without a league win since September.
They owed their point to Stryjek, who pulled off two outstanding saves from Orient full-back Tom James and was also perfectly positioned to thwart striker Shaq Forde on two occasions when the home side stepped up the pressure in the second half.
The best chance of the match for the visitors was created by Kieran Sadlier, whose shot from distance wide on the left flashed just past the far post.
Wycombe are now without a win from their last 12 league games and left the field to jeers and boos from their travelling fans.
Lloyd Jones and Louie Watson went close in the second half while at the other end, Harry Isted denied the Shrews’ Morgan Feeney and Tom Flanagan and scrambled to keep out a fantastic Carl Winchester effort.
Appleton said: “I enjoyed the second half. I didn’t enjoy the first half very much, but I thought the response and performance (was good) and the keeper made some good saves, as they did ours in the first half.
“But a clean sheet is a positive, which they have not done since the opening day of the season.
“So pleased with the way we reacted but ultimately, as a group, they know – and there are certain individuals who know it more than others – that we have to be more competitive than we were in that first half.
“We were braver (in the second half). We passed the ball forward and were more aggressive in our approach with the ball, which means we got higher up the pitch, and we were obviously playing a lot of the game in their half of the pitch, and the stats tell us that.
“I have to be mindful and slightly disappointed with the way we started the game, but at the same time, don’t take too much away in the way the lads responded.”
The Addicks went close to breaking the deadlock early into the second half when Watson’s cross was met by Jones but Marko Marosi tipped it over the bar – before then saving Watson’s long-range strike.
The home side were close to registering their first goal of September with under 20 minutes remaining through Winchester. The right wing-back unleashed a strike from his own half after seeing Isted off his line, but the Addicks keeper scrambled back and pushed it away for a corner.
Shrews boss Matt Taylor said: “The players have given me and the fans and everyone who has watched today everything, I thought physically we were excellent.
“The first half, they couldn’t live with us. Why? Because the players ran, they harried, they chased, and they made good decisions and got to some unbelievable positions on the pitch. I have never come off a pitch where we have had 30 crosses, 15 shots.
“We have missed some glorious chances. The defenders have done their job and the goalkeeper, when Marko was called upon, did his job. I just feel today, regardless of the result, our performance was really good.
“We are all disappointed that we didn’t get three points, but leading up to this, we had lost the last three games. I have never shied away from the facts, and I never will.
“We have to use this as a springboard going into Tuesday night at Oxford. If we play like that and the players reproduce that, whoever plays in the team, then we are going to pick up positive results in this league.”
The Addicks have taken 11 points from a possible 15 to move within striking distance of the League One play-offs and are unbeaten under their head coach, who was appointed last month.
Charlton had to fight back from going a goal down in the 23rd minute. The hosts were opened up by Reece Cole’s pass, with Exeter striker James Scott slipping his finish past Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
Charlton levelled just before half-time through the in-form Corey Blackett-Taylor, his third goal in the last four fixtures.
Alfie May’s poacher instincts bailed out Chuks Aneke after his 65th-minute penalty was pushed onto the base of the post by Exeter keeper Viljami Sinisalo, racing into the box to hammer in from close range.
Exeter’s cause was not helped by captain Will Aimson’s dismissal for a challenge on May. Substitute Miles Leaburn then emphatically drove home Charlton’s third before May took his goal tally for the campaign to five after Blackett-Taylor once again caused City huge problems.
Appleton said: “There was a little bit of a lapse in concentration for their goal. But we keep responding, which is really, really pleasing.
“I said it in my programme notes – there was a question mark over them as a group, maybe being a bit of a soft touch. It was something I wanted to eradicate and make sure it doesn’t happen.
“When we have been asked questions over the first four games they have responded really, really well.
“We were good second half. The worry when the opposition go down to 10 men is that they are going to take an extra touch and slow it down a bit but we did the opposite and that was great to see.
“We camped for long, long periods in their last third. We can still be a bit more patient but it is very difficult for me to be critical of the team tonight because they gave me everything they had.”
Grecians boss Gary Caldwell was critical of referee David Rock over both Aimson’s dismissal and the penalty decision.
He said: “If you get the ball, how is it a red card? It’s clear he wins the ball.
“Alfie May does what clever players do – he buys the foul and rolls around to buy the red card. That’s football – I’m not having a go at him – but the ref has been conned.
“I got a reaction from my players all night – I don’t think the players got any help in the game. The gameplan was working to a tee in the first half and we had opportunities to go 2-0 up, that was frustrating.
“If the penalty for Charlton is a penalty then we have a penalty in the first half. They are identical actions and we don’t get it.
“We are not getting any big moments and tonight we didn’t get anything from decisions – it went strongly against us when you need it to go in your favour for big games.”
All three of the Addicks’ victories this season have been in SE7 and Appleton was brought in to make sure they do not let a third successive League One campaign fizzle away to a mid-table finish.
The victory over the Chairboys – with Miles Leaburn, Slobodan Tedic and Corey Blackett-Taylor all scoring – moves them up to 16th but only six points behind Barnsley and Exeter, in fifth and sixth respectively.
“You want to get that first win as early as you possibly can,” said Appleton, who replaced Dean Holden earlier this month. “It’s almost like a striker joining a club and getting off the mark.
“Against a side like Wycombe it is even bigger, because they are on such great form.
“They have got players in that dressing room who are used to being around that top six every single year for the last half a decade or more.
“So for the players to weather the storm like they did in that early part of the second half and come through it is hopefully going to breed confidence.”
Blackett-Taylor is out of contract next summer and Charlton technical director Andy Scott confirmed recently that bids were rejected in the summer transfer window.
Asked if the winger’s livewire displays could also be a negative in terms of attracting more interest, Appleton said: “I’m very much here and now – I want him to play like that every week and score goals every week.
“If he goes on to bigger and better things then so be it. All I would say is we have to make sure, and I knew we will, that if that ever did happen we have got someone who can just slide in.”
Wycombe had levelled the contest through a superb volley by West Ham loanee Freddie Potts but saw their five-match unbeaten league run – in which they had taken 13 points – come to an end.
Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield said: “We were the ones in the ascendency. It looked like there was one team going to go and win the game – unfortunately that wasn’t to be.
“I’m so proud of the way the boys conducted themselves in the second half. I felt we were below par first half and lacked that energy and drive.
“Even before Freddie’s goal that was just a reward for what we were doing.
“We created so many opportunities to go and get the second goal but we were caught by a sucker punch.
“It’s the second time Tedic has done that to us after his goal for Barnsley last year.
“I have to talk about the way we passed the ball, played attacking football and rolled into wide positions to try and get crossing opportunities – it’s a real tough one to take.
“We deserved to get something. We need to not let this affect our belief.”
Chuks Aneke, Tyreece Campbell, Alfie May and Miles Leaburn scored after the restart for the Addicks to ensure the visitors still have not collected a single point on the road this season.
Charlton are flying under former Blackpool, Lincoln and Portsmouth boss Appleton.
Since he was appointed they are unbeaten and have collected 12 points from a possible 18 to move firmly into the Sky Bet League One play-off picture.
“One of the questions we asked ourselves before the game was to make sure we had the same desire to want to go again and play on the front foot,” said head coach Appleton.
“Sometimes when you get teams in the position like Reading are and you go ahead then there can be a tendency to take your foot off the gas a little bit and allow them to get back into the game – we didn’t do that.
“We have to be ruthless and have that killer instinct, that when you see the opposition on the ropes you make sure you use it as a strength rather than a weakness.”
The only negative for Appleton was seeing Aneke forced off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury shortly after his goal.
The powerful forward netted for the first time in more than a year in the league.
“We will know in the next 48 hours whether it is a strain, a pull or just fatigue,” said Appleton. “We weren’t expecting him to get through 90 minutes today but we certainly were hoping we’d be able to bring him off with sufficient time to know he would be available for Tuesday.
“That still might be the case – I’d rather be positive than negative.”
There were no plusses for Royals manager Ruben Selles. They have drawn two and lost 18 of their last 20 matches on the road.
“The first half we showed what we can do,” said Selles. “The start of the second half was really good and then in one action we concede the goal.
“We still created chances to equalise. We didn’t and the second goal turned everything down and we weren’t able to stay in the game.
“I’m disappointed. The performance for 60 minutes was there but we need to be able to do it for 100 minutes.
“We go to every stadium to try and win the game – that’s what we showed today. Unfortunately when we concede that second goal we should be able to stay more in the game.
“We need to be more ruthless in both boxes and need to grow, be more strong with our mindset.
“We need to be better in the transition. For the first 60 minutes we were dynamic and aggressive with our pressure.
“It is now a good moment to play at home and build momentum – because we have been performing well there.”
