A goal from Jayden Wareham against his former club earned Exeter City a point at home to strugglers Reading in a match overshadowed by reports of a racist comment directed towards an Exeter player.
Reading had taken the lead inside seven minutes after Jack Marriott pounced on a misplaced header by Exeter’s Johnly Yfeko. The lead wasn’t to last for long however as only five minutes later a drilled pass from Reece Cole was met by Wareham, who had no trouble putting it past Joel Pereira in the Reading goal to score his third league goal of the season.
The Grecians had a number of opportunities to take the lead themselves, but good chances for Cole and captain Pierce Sweeney were squandered or dealt with by Pereira between the sticks. A period of Reading pressure couldn’t provide another goal either; former Exeter man Kamari Doyle almost matched Wareham in coming to haunt his former club but saw his chance go over the bar.
But in the 74th minute the referee was forced to stop the game after reports of an incident of discriminatory abuse. After he spoke with both managers and captains, an announcement in the ground warned any further incidents would lead to further stoppages. Speaking after the game, Exeter manager Gary Caldwell confirmed that the comment had come from the 1000-strong Reading away end at St. James Park, and stated ‘too many games are getting stopped for unacceptable chanting, and hopefully we can kick it out’.
Despite efforts by Exeter in the thirteen minutes added on at the end of the game to clinch a winner, the match finished 1-1, with each team leaving with a point. The result leaves Exeter in 16th in League One, while wins elsewhere saw Reading fall into the relegation zone.
The Grecians travel to Stockport next week but will do so with one eye on the ‘Devon Derby’ with Plymouth the week after.
