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Soccer
Leam Richardson frustrated as Reading let in late leveller
Reading manager Leam Richardson believed his side had “done enough” to secure a win in their eventual 2-2 draw with fellow League One play-off hopefuls Exeter.
The Royals led 2-1 going into stoppage time at the end, with goals from Will Keane and Paudie O’Connor having cancelled out Pierce Sweeney’s early opener for Exeter.
But Luca Woodhouse levelled in the 93rd minute to give the Grecians a plucky draw.
“I thought we’d done enough to win,” Richardson said. “But we gave away two avoidable goals, especially the second one.
“It was probably the first time all night that we’d come out of our structure and made a random decision.
“We did do enough to win it and we’re growing as a team and you can see some really good signs. It’s just the little details, it’s the small things.
“It’s a tough industry in which to win games and sometimes it comes down to those finer details. But we saw some positive signs and we’ll keep going.
“We still shouldn’t concede like that at the end. The lads worked very hard and I feel for them a little bit because what they have put in in the last two games, they probably haven’t got out [also drawing 2-2 at home to Barnsley].
“Sometimes that’s football. You just have to make sure that you get back on the training ground and do the right things.
“There’s a lot of positives within those couple of performances and since I’ve been at the club.
“Some of the lads are also still new to the group and are having to learn quite quickly. So we’ll keep it going.”
Exeter are now unbeaten in six league matches but have dropped to 11th in the table.
“When it got down to the final stages of the game, I think we were quite pleased to get that point,” first-team coach Dan Green said.
“In the five or 10 minutes before Reading scored their first goal, we lost a little bit of control in the game.
“Like many aspects from tonight, we’ll reflect on that and learn from it and be better for it in the future.
“I loved the personality that the group came out with in the second half. We really came out and asserted ourselves in the game.
“The biggest thing that we really found out tonight is the character of the group. We’re really pleased with that.
“If you look at the past games where we’re unbeaten, there’s always going to be ups and downs within it.
“No one came here tonight thinking that it was going to be easy or a perfect game.
“Lots to learn from tonight but also lots to build on.”
