Bristol Rovers were booed off by their own fans as Reading eased their own relegation worries with a 2-0 win at the Memorial Stadium.

First-half goals from Sam Smith and Lewis Wing were enough to secure victory as Rovers stretched their record-breaking run of games without a goal to seven.

Smith put Reading on course for an ultimately comfortable victory in the eighth minute with his 13th goal of the season.

His close-range header beat Jed Ward’s despairing dive after Tyler Bindon flicked on Amadou Mbengue’s long throw.

Ward denied Harvey Knibbs with a fine save before Wing doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time when his 25-yard free-kick found the top left-hand corner.

Rovers boss Matt Taylor saw his team raise their game after the break as veteran striker Chris Martin and winger Scott Sinclair joined the fray.

Substitute Brandon Aguilera went close for the hosts but was denied by goalkeeper Joel Pereira as Reading banished any lingering relegation worries.

Play-off chasing Lincoln extended their unbeaten League One run to 16 matches but had to settle for a hard-earned 1-1 draw at lowly Reading.

Tyler Bindon salvaged a point for the Royals with seven minutes remaining after Freddie Draper had given the visitors, now two points off the play-off places, the lead.

Reading had the better of an entertaining first half but Lincoln goalkeeper Lukas Jensen was rarely troubled.

Home striker Sam Smith created the game’s first opening, with a clever cross from the byline, but Ben Elliott skewed his shot wide at the near post.

In an even opening, Lincoln replied when Teddy Bishop scooped narrowly over the crossbar from a Lasse Sorensen centre.

Reading could have gone ahead approaching the interval only for desperate Lincoln defending to block close-range efforts from Femi Azeez and Paul Mukairu.

Azeez could have given Reading a second-half lead but curled over after a fine solo run.

Lincoln sat back for much of the second half but were rewarded in the 72nd minute when, on a rare break, substitute Draper nodded home.

But Reading deservedly levelled when Lewis Wing swung in a corner and defender Bindon nodded in from inside the six-yard box.

Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens was delighted to secure a 2-1 win against Reading after a difficult week for the club.

The O’s match with Lincoln on Tuesday was abandoned when lifelong supporter Derek Reynolds was taken ill and died later that evening.

Wellens had seen his team dominate the early exchanges against Reading to deservedly take a first-half lead through a Jordan Brown piledriver before Tyler Bindon equalised ahead of the interval.

But the points were secured in the 90th minute by George Moncur, who stepped off the bench to apply the final touch after a goalmouth scramble following a corner.

“It was a really emotional afternoon and I thought the club as a whole today made it a brilliant day to remember a lifelong supporter and someone who worked for the football club,” Wellens said.

“It’s been a very tough 72 hours. Finding that motivation to get going has been difficult

“We had to work hard in the end. We were totally dominant in the opening 20 minutes. We created loads of chances, we hit the crossbar and we found it easy to play round them but then they changed it when we scored and they blocked us up a bit.

“We’re still an emerging side, naive at times and tactically we have to get better while the game is happening but I can’t be prouder of the players as our points return has been really good.

“Jordan Brown epitomised what we’re all about. He was excellent today; picked pockets, kept possession and technically he’s a very good footballer which was demonstrated from the goal he scored.”

Reading remain in the relegation zone and manager Ruben Selles acknowledged that his side need to address their shortcomings.

“We competed well but it’s another moment late like the Exeter game where we lose the game in a situation we could have easily solved,” he said.

“We came here to compete and we were in the game. We came back after the first goal but we need to improve.

“Our pressure was not quick enough at the start of the game so I made a couple of modifications and we started to defend better. We went back to our system we know to get more pressure on the ball and it stopped the crosses coming in from the opposition.

“We lost Sam Hutchinson before the match as he was feeling his hip. He could run but not kick the ball so we had to made a change and brought in Charlie Savage.

“There is always pressure in football but there has been a lot of things out of our modifications of building the team but I will not make excuses. We came here to compete.”

George Moncur’s 90th-minute strike gave Leyton Orient a 2-1 win over Reading at Brisbane Road.

Jordan Brown’s opener was cancelled out by the visitors’ Tyler Bindon but Moncur settled the issue in the final minute of normal time.

Joe Pigott was twice denied early opportunities to open the scoring as his powerful header crashed against the crossbar and then David Button went at full-stretch to save his shot.

Orient were rewarded for their persistent pressure when Brown completed a five-man move by slamming an unstoppable 20-yard shot past Button for the opening goal after 26 minutes.

At the opposite end, Lewis Wing had an effort spilled by O’s keeper Sol Brynn but they levelled on 35 minutes when Ballard headed against the upright but Bindon rolled the ball into the net.

Both keepers were kept busy after the break with Brynn denying Harvey Knibbs and Wing while Button thwarted Ed Turns and Theo Archibald.

But the Reading keeper missed a corner late on and Moncur was first to the ball in a goalmouth scramble to give Orient the points.