Exeter manager Gary Caldwell felt his side got what they deserved as they were knocked off the top of the table in a 2-1 home defeat by Leyton Orient, whose winner came in stoppage time.

With seven players out through injury or on international duty, it was a lacklustre performance form a very young Exeter team, who went in front against the run of play through Demetri Mitchell’s spectacular strike four minutes after half-time.

But Joe Pigott levelled for the Os before Ruel Sotiriou’s long-range strike went over the hands of Exeter goalkeeper Gary Woods gave the Londoners a deserved victory.

“It was a really disappointing result and a disappointing performance overall,” Caldwell said. “We didn’t get going at any point in the match and we got what we deserved really.

“Leyton Orient deserved to win the game and we could have been a few goals down in the first half. It was a disappointing performance, but I said to the players I am not going to get overly cross with them.

“They have been fantastic and given so much, but this was a game where we dropped below the level and the standards we’ve set and we have to take that bump in the road and do something about it next week.

“We had eight players out today, but that’s not an excuse – that’s the reality and what it does is give opportunities to others.

“With the drinks break, half-time and the goal, there were plenty of opportunities for us to spark into life, but we never got going at any stage. The goal was a special moment and even after that, we still looked second best.”

Orient boss Richie Wellens felt his side were well worth the win at St James Park.

He said: “We were totally dominant in the first half. We hit the crossbar twice, we had three or four situations where we could have scored and, apart from one breakaway from Demetri Mitchell, there was no threat at all.

“We came out after half-time to build on that performance and their lad hits an absolute worldie and you are thinking maybe that’s our luck.

“But we never felt sorry for ourselves and we kept doing the basics right. That was a big thing today. Set-plays were good for and against, and even when we got it back to 1-1, I thought we were the dominant team.

“I thought Joe Pigott had his best game. He was a real handful and won his fair share of duels with the centre-halves. When you play really well, strikers want to see their names on the scoresheet, so it was a really good finish.

“Forget his goalscoring, I want a platform, something to play off especially when you are away from home. We needed to make sure we gave ourselves a platform and Joe was that.

“We could have scored a lot of goals today, so that was really pleasing.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was a happy man after his side reached the third round of the League Cup for the first time since 1989 by beating Stevenage on penalties at St James Park.

After Alex Hartridge, for City, and Jordan Roberts had traded strikes, it was left to Pierce Sweeney to score the decisive spot-kick after Viljami Sinisalo had saved from Dan Butler in the shoot-out.

“It’s fantastic, a great effort from the team again,” Caldwell said. “It was a really difficult game and both teams treated the game with respect with the teams that were picked and we got tested right to the limit and it had to go to penalties.

“I thought we remained extremely calm and our penalties were fantastic and Vil (Sinisalo) was fantastic in that situation.

“I thought we were really good in the second half and deserved to win the game, but we couldn’t get the second goal, which I think would have killed the game off, and you always run that risk with the way that Stevenage play. We didn’t defend one cross and we paid the price, it went to the wire, but thankfully we got through.

“It’s the first time in 34 years that we’ve won through and that’s a fantastic achievement for this team – a new team that’s only recently formed. The quick progress they are making shows the potential that they have.”

Stevenage boss Steve Evans said: “It’s obviously disappointing to lose, especially on penalties. We made six changes today due to the injuries we had, but I can’t fault the players for the effort and performance they put in.

“Exeter are a good team and Gary is a good bloke. We didn’t really get going in the first half, but I thought we were excellent after the break and the game could have gone either way. Unfortunately, penalties are a lottery and it didn’t go our way tonight.”

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.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell has high hopes for Ryan Trevitt after his goal set up a 2-0 win over Carlisle.

Trevitt and Demetri Mitchell sealed the points to make a long trip north worth the effort, following a midweek defeat at Portsmouth.

“It was a fantastic result after a really difficult week,” said Caldwell. “We had to recover well after Tuesday night and after everyone’s really hard efforts we thankfully got the result here today.

“After the first 15 minutes of the second half we looked the stronger team. The substitutes gave us a real attacking threat. It was a big team effort and I have to thank everyone at the club who contributed today.”

Trevitt opened the scoring on 70 minutes with his first professional goal and Caldwell was full of praise for the Brentford loanee.

“Ryan’s been brilliant since he joined the club and I can see him scoring a lot more goals between now and the end of the season,” he said.

“He’s got a brilliant knack of finding the corner. It was a brilliant finish.”

Exeter kept their third clean sheet of the season against Carlisle.

“We’ve been very good defensively,” Caldwell said.

“It was a big question mark in pre-season and in fairness the whole team have worked hard on defending set-pieces and working hard off the ball. That allows you to make moments to go and win the game and when we got our two moments, we took them.”

Paul Simpson believes his Carlisle side are not too far away from where he would like despite the result.

“I thought there was a lot of good things today. We had good controlled possession and worked their keeper well,” he said.

“My over-riding thought is that we’re not too far away now. But that’s also a frustration.”

Carlisle were on top in spells of the game and Simpson rues the chances his side missed.

“When we’re on a good spell that first goal is all important,” he said. “There were opportunities to get crosses in and we hit the first man and that’s where the real frustration lies.

“We do know the importance of scoring the first goal when we’ve had the chances. We’ve had the corners. We overloaded the near post with good deliveries but fine margins and we didn’t get on the end of those good balls.”

Goalscorer Mitchell was on a yellow card when he fouled Fin Back in the first half but Simpson was coy about the decision not to send the Exeter man off.

“If he hadn’t been on a yellow, it might have been given but I don’t like seeing players sent off,” he said.

“It’s not why we lost today so I would be clutching at straws if I were to claim that cost us the game today.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell could not fault the effort of his players as they held much-fancied Blackpool to a goalless draw at St James Park.

The Tangerines are tipped by many to make an immediate return to the Championship after relegation last season, but they were second best against a spirited and largely youthful Exeter side.

In a game of few clear-cut chances, Exeter could have gone in front on the stroke of half-time, but Jack Aitchison took too long to get his shot away when through on goal, while Blackpool could have won it in stoppage time, but Vil Sinisalo made a brilliant stop to deny Matty Virtue.

“I thought the players were outstanding with their energy, their quality and the way they kept going against a team that was in the Championship last season,” Caldwell said. “I thought we looked like the team that tried to win the game.

“We gave them a huge opportunity that we have to be better at, as it came from our throw-in, but they came and showed us a lot of respect and but for a little bit of quality, or the ball bouncing in the right place in the final third, I thought it was a game where we did enough to win.

“I don’t think there was much lacking today, we had 11 shots at their goal and it wasn’t like we were toothless or didn’t create chances.

“We created one great chance from the way that we pressed late in the first half, but every other chance was probably a half chance, or moment in the final third where we have to understand the profile of each player and the relationship between the players, how each player differs and wants to receive the ball.

“I think that part of our game, our understanding, still needs to come, but I can’t fault the players for what they gave me today.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley felt the result was about right.

Critchley said: “I am not sure we deserved to win the game but I don’t think we deserved to lose it either.

“We are coming to Exeter’s first game and you can see the belief because of the start they have had and they are playing full of confidence.

“You could see that we were a big flat and a bit leggy. Both teams gave everything, it was a good, honest performance from both teams.

“We weren’t at our best but we defended the goal brilliantly well. We gave away one chance and we nearly nicked it at the end which would have been the perfect away performance. But it is another clean sheet which is a positive.

“We stressed at half-time we would get chances on the break and it didn’t quite happen until right at the death but we defended the goal brilliantly well. A lot of teams would have got beaten today by Exeter.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was delighted with the second-half response from his side as they reached the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win over Sky Bet League Two club Crawley.

After falling behind in controversial circumstances – former Plymouth and Torquay striker Klaidi Lolos headed in from a corner when Exeter were down to 10 men and trying to make a substitution – Kyle Taylor and James Scott scored in the last 15 minutes to turn the tie on its head.

It was Taylor’s first goal since returning from a nightmare 18 months out with a serious knee injury, while Scott’s goal was his second in successive matches.

In truth, it was no more than Exeter deserved as they dominated for long spells, but it took a half-time rollicking from the Grecians boss to get the response he wanted.

“It was a really difficult game and I said before the game that we can’t underestimate Crawley and I felt, in the first half, we did a little bit,” Caldwell said.

“We were a little bit flat, our press wasn’t as energetic as it needed to be and in fairness to them, they played a really open style of football and asked a lot of questions of us defensively with how they position players on the park. I thought they played well.

“We could have been better on transition and we could have been better on the press. We conceded the goal, but I thought our response after half-time was sensational and we came out and looked more like the team on Saturday, we played on the front foot, we played aggressive football and in the end, I think we deserved to win the game.

“I said to the players at half-time you can’t win a game without running for the team, but we did that second half and thoroughly deserved to win the game.”