Exeter manager Gary Caldwell could not have been prouder of his team as they bagged a dramatic late winner to beat Reading 2-1 at St James Park.

Despite their first-half dominance, Exeter went in level after Will Aimson’s 34th-minute header was cancelled out in stoppage time through Harry Knibbs’ strike.

The Royals shaded the second half but it was Exeter that won it when Reece Cole struck a sublime 93rd-minute effort to take City up to second place in the League One table.

“It was a sensational performance from start to finish,” Caldwell said. “The first half was outstanding and was the best 45 minutes of football since I’ve been at the club.

“We were totally dominant against a team that was in the Championship last season and had won their last two games; we created numerous chances and the only disappointment was not scoring more goals.

“It was an even bigger disappointment to concede a really poor goal just before half-time but all credit to the players.

“I just said to them ‘you can’t dominate a game against teams like this for 90 minutes, you have to show different parts of your character and your quality as a team’ and we had to do that second half.

“We lost a bit of control and had to defend, but we still created chances and it was an absolutely fantastic goal in terms of the quality of strike from someone I have known a long time and has had really difficult moments in football.

“He (Cole) was playing for Hayes & Yeading last year – I don’t know how many leagues below us that is – but he’s a quality player for us and it was great to see him score like that in front of the Big Bank.”

Reading boss Ruben Selles felt his side only performed in the second half.

“We had a couple of chances to go in front in the second half, but we didn’t take them and then a mistake that shouldn’t have happened from a throw-in led to us conceding a goal from the edge of the box,” he said.

“So the first part of the game and small mistakes in the second half kept us away from getting something today.

“We could have got something but we didn’t put the ball in the net and the opposition did.

“We showed in the second half the team that we want to be. We showed we are a team that wants to play at a high intensity, high tempo, to be make counter press under pressure situations.  We weren’t like that in the first half.

“I think we did enough for a point. But we didn’t score a goal and the opposition scored. We need to learn to manage those situations better. I am pretty sure we will be able to get some victories in the next set of games.”

Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield sang the praises of defender Joe Low after he played the role of local villain to perfection in a tense 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

The former Bristol City defender put the Chairboys in command after 19 minutes when he headed in ex-Rovers skipper Luke Leahy’s free-kick, only to be booked for goading the home fans who greeted his celebrations with disdain.

Veteran striker Garath McCleary strengthened Wycombe’s grip on the game when he rounded off a swift counter-attack with a clever finish after 74 minutes only for Rovers’ on-loan Chelsea forward Harvey Vale to spark a tense finale with a deft strike 10 minutes later.

The Wanderers goal was under siege for most of the closing stages but 21-year-old Low showed off his defensive capabilities with a series of aerial clearances before his stoppage-time block to divert Tristan Crama’s goal-bound shot wide ensured a victorious return to Bristol.

“Joe said he enjoyed the block more than the goal, but I don’t want to go overboard about him,” Bloomfield.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him and we’re really proud to have him as one of us with the way he treats everyone and goes about his work.

“He’s going to be a very good player and we absolutely love him. We’ve got high hopes of Joe but at the time same time he’s got a lot to work on. He’s got to enjoy his football and keep improving.”

Bloomfield also leapt to the defence of the centre-back – whose father Josh started his career at Rovers – following his booking by referee Lee Swabey after scoring.

“When a local boy comes back against the team which is the opposite of the one he used to play for and then he scores, silly boy, and celebrates like that we’ll have to stop it,” Bloomfield added.

“But it’s all part of the emotion of the game and we’ve got to be careful we don’t take too much of that out. He enjoyed his moment, and you can’t hold that against him.

“These boys work extremely hard and sacrifice a lot in their lives and while we don’t encourage provocative behaviour in terms of inciting the crowd, you’ve got to be able to enjoy those moments.”

Rovers manager Joey Barton, who said defeat was “tough to take”, criticised the referee’s performance.

“We don’t get much out of that referee and we never tend to when he comes here and I’d quite happily never see him again,” Barton said.

“I don’t think he’s a fantastic referee for us. We’ve got this new directive to speed play up and he was constantly slowing play down to get himself a breather.

“He needs to get fitter. These are fit boys at this level and if a directive is coming from the EFL to drive more ball-in-play time then unfortunately the referees and assistants are going to have to get down and do a bit of work to keep up with the physicality.

“The little fella in there was gasping for air. He wasn’t the only one, there were a lot of W players doing the same.”

Liam Manning says he will not be getting carried away after Oxford moved top of Sky Bet League One after beating Charlton 2-1.

It was a fourth straight win for the U’s and owed much to two-goal Tyler Goodrham, who opened the scoring in the 10th minute and struck the winner five minutes from time.

Charlton had bossed the start of the second half and equalised through Alfie May’s second goal of the season in the 63rd minute, but the Addicks have now lost five on the spin in all competitions.

Manning said: “I won’t be looking at the league table. For me it’s just about keeping on chipping away and picking up points.

“We will just reflect on what we did well, what we can do better and it’s all about building on this for the next game.

“It was a cliched game of two halves. We controlled the first half, with the ball and out of possession.

“We got in some really good areas and had some really good chances and I thought we could have been more clinical.

“I would have liked us, while we had the dominance there, to have made the most of it and try to put the game to bed.

“But you’re never going to dominate a game for 90 minutes and in the second half they came out a little more aggressive, on the front foot and pressed a bit more.

“They got the goal, but despite their possession they didn’t create too many chances and James Beadle didn’t have too many saves to make.

“What we showed was a good response and a willingness to bounce back.

“Yes, the performance we can dissect, but ultimately we did enough to get three points.”

Goodrham, 20, also scored in Oxford’s previous game, a 3-1 win at Barnsley.

“Tyler’s fearless, his energy and bravery are tremendous,” Manning said. “It’s now about the consistency, which he’s starting to show, and we’ll be pushing him to produce.

“Knowing him as well as I do now, he’ll keep demanding of himself.

“He’s in a terrific spot where he’s consistently playing games and is on form at the minute.

“It’s an exciting time for young players here, and we’ve shown we’re not afraid to throw in young players.”

Charlton manager Dean Holden admitted: “It’s a tough one to take.

“We started excellently and had the best chance of the game in the first few minutes for Alfie May.

“Then we conceded poorly on 10 minutes and started getting pulled around a lot and were ragged and that wasn’t acceptable.

“That’s why I made changes and changed the shape and we were much better in the second half.

“I was really pleased with the second half – we came out of the traps quickly and took the game to them and deservedly equalised.

“But we were caught by a sucker punch, trying to find the winner, they break from their box and seven seconds later we’re 2-1 down.

“My players gave everything they’ve got. We deserved more from the game but didn’t get it. It’s a similar story every week.

“We have to get back to work and turn results around. It’s about regrouping quickly.

“For me it’s about staying positive…the first half wasn’t acceptable but the second half is something to build on.

“I’m absolutely certain we’ll turn this around.”

Paul Simpson was left “raging” after his Carlisle side’s 1-0 defeat to Port Vale.

James Wilson’s penalty was all that separated the two sides, leaving Simpson’s side are still looking for their first league victory since promotion.

The manager was angered by the mix-up between Jokull Andresson and Jon Mellish which eventually led to his keeper conceding the match-winning penalty for a foul on Ethan Chislett.

“I’m absolutely raging to be honest,” said Simpson.

“We’ve gifted three points to Port Vale. Jokull just shouldn’t have been in that position.

“It’s been a frustrating day all round. We managed to get ourselves into some good positions in and around their box, but we’ve then not tested their keeper enough.

“Perhaps we’ve not been brave enough in certain situations. It’s something we’ll have to work on of course, but it’s difficult sometimes.

“I knew it wouldn’t be easy getting used to the higher level, and that’s how it’s proving.

“I can’t fault any of the players in terms of effort and endeavour, we’ve come to a tough place today and given it a real go. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with a really strong Port Vale team – it’s just not been our day unfortunately.”

Both sides created chances in an entertaining first half at Vale Park.

Wilson went closest for the hosts while Callum Guy threatened more than once for Carlisle.

Vale struck shortly after the restart when Andresson tugged back Chislett in the box, leaving Wilson to coolly slot home.

Carlisle pressed for a leveller late on, but Vale hung on and stretched their unbeaten run to four games to the delight of manager Andy Crosby.

“It was a really hard-earned victory for us,” said Crosby.

“We tried our hardest to control the game and that did prove difficult at times.

“What is disappointing is that we didn’t necessarily capitalise on the periods when we were dominant.

“When you allow a game like that to head into the latter stages and you’re still only 1-0 up, then you know you’re only an individual error away from potentially throwing away two points.

“We should really have finished the game off sooner but we ran around a lot, showed a real togetherness, and in the end that has got us the result.

“We need to find more of that ruthless nature that you need to be really successful at this level.

“You have to take the game away from teams earlier than we have done today, but it’s still a big three points and it keeps the positive momentum going.”

Shrewsbury manager Matt Taylor highlighted Daniel Udoh as instrumental after his goal secured a 1-0 victory at Fleetwood.

The visitors fought hard to defeat nine-man Fleetwood, who fell to their fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions.

The Cod Army created more chances but they could not find the back of the net.

In contrast, Shrewsbury scored with their first shot providing the only goal of the game, after Udoh capitalised on a mistake from Scott Robertson.

“I think we did everything that to a man you would expect away from home,” Taylor said.

“I think it’s so vitally important that we focus on Daniel Udoh – for him to be able to score and celebrate in front of our fans having seen how hard he’s worked is pleasing.

“He’s got an infectious character and I’m really happy. The players showed courage and determination to apply themselves and win that game of football.

“He was composed, I think when you get into those positions as a striker and you see the opportunity you’ve got one versus one and to have the composure is great.

“He is and he will be instrumental for the football club as we move forward.”

Despite the victory, Taylor still wants to see more from his side.

“There are areas which I hope we’re better next week but they fought and got the result. That’s two away performances and three points are huge for us today,” Taylor continued.

“Now there’s another extremely difficult trip away at Carlisle. I want the players to understand that their hard work, desire and determination have got us the result today.”

Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch was shown a red card for bringing down Ryan Bowman before half-time, while Josh Earl was dismissed in stoppage time.

Scott Brown remained positive and insisted his side were the better team.

“You lose a sloppy goal and then straight afterwards and Lynch has just got to let him go past,” he said.

“We can’t afford to go down to 10 men and then nine men later in the game as well, which is something we never want to see,” he said.

“Our performance levels were very good but the problem is we couldn’t score a goal.

“Even when we went down to 10 men we were the better team. Throughout the whole game, we were the better team.

“But you can’t make mistakes and that isn’t just one person, because mentally that’s when it becomes a hard thing to get out of and it turns into a losing streak.

“We have to understand where we are in the table is nowhere near good enough.

“The way we play, the performance levels are good, but there is a blatant difference between the performance levels and the score.

“Every team would much rather the score was in your favour.”

Bolton boss Ian Evatt felt his side should have been returning from Burton with a three-point haul rather than just one despite their slow start to the match and falling a goal behind.

Wanderers, looking to bounce back from last weekend’s 4-0 home mauling by Wigan, trailed to Mark Helm’s goal just after the break but drew level before the hour through Dion Charles.

However, Bolton could not go on to find a winner – and a first-ever victory at the home of the Brewers – as the match finished 1-1, much to Evatt’s frustration.

“It’s a game we should have won,” he said.

“First half we didn’t start great and for the first 20 minutes they put us under pressure, and we didn’t make the right decisions, which is understandable after last week, which really rocked us.”

Helm caught Bolton cold with Albion’s goal less than a minute into the second half which also irked the Bolton boss.

“We didn’t start the second half well either, making a critical error in the first minute,” Evatt said.

“To be fair, after that we rallied and took over the game, but we have missed some critical chances that should have put the game to bed.

“I think we can do better. We know we can do better. It would have been easy going behind again to feel sorry for ourselves and the only real frustration is that we should have gone on to win.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria was pleased with his team’s performance, but the former striker was also frustrated by their failure to kill off the game when Albion were on top.

“The performance is there to see. An excellent performance. I might have to put my boots on because we do everything apart from that last seven or eight yards,” he said.

Bobby Kamwa, making his first league start of the season, was guilty of an early miss having rounded Bolton keeper Nathan Baxter and hitting the post, a chance that would have capped a dominant opening to the game for Albion.

“A game like today should have been done and dusted in the first half but we just lack that quality in those final yards to score goals but everything else was excellent,” Maamria said.

“We played in their half and pressed them really well but couldn’t get the goal we deserved.”

He added: “Second half we got the goal and needed to kick on but the disappointment is that we conceded from a second ball from a long ball and it’s preventable.

“Is it a fair result?. I think if we had the killer instinct in those final 10 yards, we would have won the game.

“Their keeper denied Deji (Oshilaja) with his trailing leg at point-blank range and any other day that goes in, and we win the game. It wasn’t meant to be.”

John Mousinho slammed the decision to send off Portsmouth’s Joe Rafferty and Stevenage’s Jake Forster-Caskey after a feisty 0-0 draw at the Lamex Stadium.

The two players were shown red by referee Simon Mather when a 50-50 challenge seemed to spark a skirmish on the floor during the second half of the League One clash.

Jordan Roberts came closest to scoring when the Boro forward hit the post from outside the box late in the first period.

“I think it was bizarre,” said Mousinho.

“We have just watched it back there, there is nothing in it.

“Rafferty and the lad on the floor have a little coming together, the referee does not deal with it and decides to send both players off.

“I just thought, from what I could see, the Stevenage player did not do anything to Rafferty or vice versa.

“Honestly, I don’t know, I think both players were really shocked.

“I just spoke to Rafferty there, he said there was nothing in it, so a bit of a strange one.

“It was a tough game to assess I think, it was another bizarre afternoon of football ruined by things that happened off the pitch.

“We are disappointed to come away with another draw, this is a really tough place to come, Stevenage are very well organised and good at what they do.

“We really opened them up towards the end, it was a very strange last half-hour because of the sendings-off.”

However, Boro boss Steve Evans insists the sending-off swung the match in Pompey’s favour.

“That changed the momentum a little because we were so far on top at that stage,” said Evans.

“That probably helped the Pompey lads a little bit more than us.

“I 100 per cent did not see it, if I saw it and my player was out of order then I would say it.

“I think they are under huge pressure aren’t they, we are under our own pressure.

“This is Portsmouth Football Club, look at the support they bring and the press coverage they demand because they are such a great club.

“I think John is a good young manager but he will learn along the way, won’t he?

“We will take the point; we will regroup, and we will go again.

“I don’t think there was a lot to split the teams at the end if you take the whole 90 minutes in.

“I think everyone will go home and say they will take the point, a hard-earned point.

“I think if you listen to every pundit and press report coming into the game, you would have thought it was lambs to the slaughter today, but little lambs bite sometimes.”

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy was cautious about looking at the Sky Bet League One table after his side cruised to a 3-0 victory over 10-man Blackpool.

The win moved the Imps up to fourth and extended their unbeaten run to four.

“Where we are in the league at the moment is not important,” Kennedy said. “We spoke to the group after the game and told them to not get carried away and stay grounded.

“We don’t want to be fooling ourselves. We’re not a top-four team.”

The Imps scored twice from the penalty spot and saw another strike deflected home, and Kennedy said: “With the goals, we had three big chances and took them.

“Blackpool are a really good side with a good coaching group, so that is a big win for us in a big test.

“I thought we were really good in and out of possession. We looked structured and hard to break down. We controlled the ball. I thought we did that very well today.

“Before we went to Shrewsbury, a couple of our players were practicing penalties. I told Danny Mandroui that he was on penalties today, but we have three or four players who are really capable.

“I’m a big believer of driving at defenders, so it was nice to see Ethan Erhahon drive forward and pulling the trigger. I’d like to see him do that more often.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was honest about his side’s performance.

“Horrible is the word that sums it up,” he said. “The initial start was good, we had two good chances before the first goal after seven minutes. That was a mistake from us.

“It was stupid of us to give away the penalty. We responded well, I thought. We still had chances to equalise before the second.

“Lincoln got a little bit of luck with the second goal. We didn’t get the press right and he shoots from outside the area. It takes a deflection and at half-time I’m scratching my head as to why we were 2-0 down.

“We changed our formation and players at half-time and we were threatening to get back into the game.”

Blackpool were down to 10 men with 17 minutes to play after Oliver Norburn brought down Ben House prior to Lincoln’s third, and Critchley believed it was the right decision.

“We didn’t defend well enough on the halfway line,” Critchley continued.

“The third goal and the sending-off kills the game. It looked horrible, it feels horrible, but it’s our first defeat of the season so I have to put it into perspective.”

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney was reluctant to criticise his team or the match officials after a 2-0 defeat to Barnsley with 10 men.

The visitors started brightly and took advantage of Charlie Hughes’ 21st-minute red card, with Devante Cole firing his side in front five minutes later.

Wigan showed plenty of heart in the second half but Barnsley substitute John McAtee made the game safe in added time.

Maloney said of the red card: “It’s a difficult decision. I’ve seen one angle of it and I can’t decide whether he’s got the ball or the player, so it looked a little bit 50-50.

“I don’t want to complain too much about decisions, sometimes they go for you and this instance it’s gone against us. It had a big impact in terms of how the game went, but that’s football and sometimes these things go against you.

“The flow of the game changed immediately after the red card. I’m not overly positive generally after defeats, but for half an hour or so in the second half we had to play under big pressure.

“I let them know that I didn’t care if there was a mistake, we had to play under pressure to get back into it and for 30 minutes I think we did that.

“I can’t be critical of the second goal, we went all out to try and get a goal and physically the team was spent. The last five or six minutes were open and I can’t be critical.

“It’s a sore one and you don’t like to lose, but we’ll get back to work on Monday.”

Barnsley manager Neill Collins admitted his “relief” as his side got back to winning ways.

The Tykes had not tasted victory since dismantling Port Vale 7-0 on the opening day of the season and they faced a tough task at the DW Stadium – against a side who would have started the day top were it not for an eight-point deduction for financial reasons.

Collins said: “It’s always a relief to win when you’re coming on the back of a couple of defeats.

“The first day was just an excellent day all round, to get the three points was important but to win the way we did meant it was made a bit more of a deal than it was.

“I thought the cup game afterwards (against Tranmere) was positive from the perspective that we had a really young team and they played really well.

“Then at Bristol (Rovers) we got a point without playing great, before two home games against two really tough teams (Peterborough and Oxford).

“People ask questions after defeats but we knew the reasons why they happened and how we needed to improve.

“To come here and get a result considering where we’re at is really pleasing.”

Delighted Derby boss Paul Warne hailed hat-trick hero Martyn Waghorn – but not just for his goals.

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.”

Richie Wellens praised his “exceptional” players after Leyton Orient earned a 2-0 home win against Cambridge.

The visitors started the game at the top of League One but were swept aside by their hosts and seldom given an opportunity to showcase their best form.

Seeking their first win of the season since returning to the third tier, Orient were given a confidence booster when 19-year-old Watford loanee Shaq Forde gave them a first-half lead.

Theo Archibald doubled the advantage after the interval to earn Orient a dominant and convincing victory, whilst The U’s dropped down to ninth.

“The players have taken on a lot of information this week and were exceptional this afternoon,” Wellens said.

“We’ve had people that haven’t been up to speed and when you sign players later on like we have, they need more time so we took a couple out.

“It’s my job to make difficult decisions and I thought with Michael Morrison, who I played with – no disrespect because he’s a brilliant player – but we knew against him and (Ryan) Bennett, we should go with speed against them and it worked.

“I am really pleased for Shaq Forde. I watched him all week and I love working with young players who are athletic, exuberant and want to do well.

“He trained well all week and every time he finished the ball in training it flew into the net. I just thought we can’t leave him out.

“Theo Archibald was excellent again and deserved his goal. We’ve asked him to play at wing-back, which isn’t ideal for him or me, but his application has earned him that goal.”

Cambridge boss Mark Bonner had no complaints about the outcome.

“We weren’t very good and they were excellent causing us problems all afternoon,” he admitted.

“It’s not a wake-up call because we don’t think we’re the best team in the league so it’s a wake-up call for others and not us.

“The goals we conceded were very poor and when the second went in we looked like a team that couldn’t wait to finish the game.

“The last five minutes we had a great chance and if we score it might be the Alamo, if we score, but we didn’t take it and didn’t deserve it and they were much better than us so deserved the points.

“It’s back to work again for us because that was a long way short of where we have been in the opening games of the season.

“First half we were okay but they played the perfect game, outrun us and we turned the ball over far too quickly so we never had any control of the game.”

Leyton Orient recorded their first win of the season as they beat Cambridge 2-0 at Brisbane Road.

The visitors, who began the match as league leaders, had no answer to a determined home side who scored through Shaq Forde after 29 minutes and Theo Archibald in the 57th minute.

It was a memorable first league start for striker Forde, signed on a season-long loan from Watford.  The 19 year-old was on hand to turn a deflection into the net following a Jordan Graham shot .

The O’s nearly doubled their advantage two minutes later when winger Archibald, a persistent menace to the U’s throughout the afternoon, rattled the crossbar with a thunderous shot from outside the box.

The visitors posed little threat, although O’s keeper Sol Brynn was forced into a save when Sullay Kaikai broke free just after the interval.

Archibald was rewarded for his influential performance when he gathered a pass from Tom James and drove the ball past Jack Stevens from 15 yards.

Full of confidence, the O’s continued to play purposefully to complete a convincing victory.

Sam Hoskins struck a late winner to earn promoted Northampton a 1-0 victory at struggling Cheltenham.

The only goal of a largely uninspiring game arrived in the 88th minute after a ball over the top of the home defence from Sam Sherring left Hoskins with only Luke Southwood to beat.

He finished confidently for his third of the season and Cheltenham rarely troubled Max Thompson in the Cobblers goal.

The Robins are yet to score in six league and cup games this season, leaving them bottom of the early League One table.

Will Ferry sent a shot over the bar for the home side in the third minute, but Northampton went on to control much of the opening period.

Patrick Brough smashed ab effort wide in the 17th minute and Kieron Bowie was off target after good work from Louis Appere in the 23rd minute.

Sherring then saw a header hit the bar following a Marc Leonard corner five minutes later.

Elliot Bonds curled an effort over the bar in the 61st minute and Luciano D’Auria-Henry’s header was kicked away by Sherring in the six-yard box as Cheltenham showed an improvement, but Hoskins had the final say as Northampton made it seven points from their last three games as they adjust to life at the higher level.

Reece Cole’s stunning stoppage-time winner earned Exeter City a superb 2-1 win over Reading at St James Park.

Exeter dominated the first half, with Dion Rankine firing into the side netting early on and Tom Carroll shooting narrowly wide.

Zak Jules, Demetri Mitchell and Carroll all went close for sprightly Exeter, who almost led when Jack Aitchison struck the post after good work by debutant Ilmari Niskanen before Ryan Trevitt was denied by a superb save by David Button.

The goal Exeter deserved duly arrived from captain Will Aimson, who deftly headed Carroll’s cross into the net after 34 minutes.

Reading grabbed an equaliser against the run of play deep into first-half stoppage time when Harvey Knibbs took advantage of Pierce Sweeney’s unfortunate slip to level things up.

Reading were much improved after the break and almost when in front but Femi Azeri struck the post and then missed a great chance moments later by dragging his shot wide of the post.

Both sides pushed for the winner and it came in the 93rd minute as substitute Cole lashed the ball in from 20 yards from Sam Nombe’s knock-down.

Stevenage and Portsmouth both had a player sent off during an entertaining 0-0 draw at the Lamex Stadium.

Pompey’s Joe Rafferty and Boro’s Jake Forster-Caskey were shown red cards by referee Simon Mather when a 50-50 challenge turned into a skirmish on the floor during the second half of the League One clash.

Jamie Reid’s header forced an outstanding save from Will Norris early on.

Alex MacDonald’s delivery should have led to the opening goal, but Aaron Pressley’s limp shot from close range went over.

Abu Kamara fired a powerful attempt straight down the throat of Taye Ashby-Hammond before Boro’s Jordan Roberts hit the post from outside the box.

Rafferty and Forster-Caskey were sent off at the start of an eventful second half.

Substitute Elliott List found Roberts in the box with five minutes left to play, but the forward could not find the net.

Referee Mather was forced off the field with an injury and replaced by fourth official Stephen Finch in the closing stages.

However, neither side could find the back of the net as the match finished 0-0.