A very young Royals side were unfortunate not to progress to the Third Round after holding Championship side Ipswich Town to a 2-2 draw only to lose out in a penalty shootout at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Caylan Vickers had given Reading a second minute lead when he forced an own goal from Brandon Williams, but Cameron Humphreys and Freddie Ladapo scored either side of half-time to put Town into the lead. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan came off the bench to draw Reading level late on, but the shootout went Ipswich's way.
Two minutes into the match and Reading took the lead. A cross from Carson from the left skidded past Tume and across the face of the Town goal towards the lurking Vickers. Cieran Slicker came off his line to intercept but could only push it against covering defender Brandon Williams and the ball ricocheted into the back of the South Stand net for an own goal.
Another Carson delivery from a short corner taken on the right nearly resulted in a second own goal when an Ipswich head cleared the ball behind and took the ball out of the waiting clutches of Slicker in the process.
Ladapo tested Boyce-Clarke’s handling with ten minutes gone, cutting inside from the right to take aim from the edge of the area – but the Royals stopper was equal to it.
The Championship outfit did start to threaten though – playing with good width and testing the Royals defence with a number of crosses from both flanks, Boyce-Clarke punching the ball clear of a crowded box on a number of occasions.
Amadou Mbenge stooped to bravely head the ball clear from the edge of the six yard box and got a boot in the face as a result. But after treatment, he was ok to carry on.
Reading’s best opportunities were coming on the counter attack and Vickers’ tricky run down the middle so nearly released Rushesha on the right side of the box – but Williams managed to somehow scrap the ball back to his keeper from the ground at the second attempt to deny Reading a clear sight of goal on the half hour.
Jack Taylor thundered a rasping drive wide from a cleared Hutchinson cross, but captain Lee Evans had his name added to the book when he cynically fouled Tuma as he tried to break from inside his own half. Cameron Humphreys was cautioned moments later as he brought down Abrefa on the charge.
Six minutes of injury time were signalled threatened a second through good work from the lively Vickers and Elliott. But with only sixty seconds of the first half remaining, Ipswich pulled level. A low cross from the byline on the right was fizzed into the middle and Humphreys was there to chest it over the line from a yard out to make it 1-1.
There was still time for Vickers to fire a shot at goal from a narrow angle in search of the lead - but his effort was charged down before Slicker was called upon. And the young League One side went into level against their second tier opponents at the interval
.Half-time: Reading 1-1 Ipswich Town
Andy Yiadom came on for Carson at the break, while former Royals forward Sone Aluko was introduced for Harness for the visitors. And it was Ipswich who threatened early in the second period – Baggott glancing a header just wide from a Williams cross from the left.
Ladapo came even closer when he muscled ahead of Abrefa in a foot race for a throughball and beat Boyce-Clarke to it by a toe. But the ball was bobbling just wide when McIntyre arrived to make sure the danger was cleared.
Unfortunately Ladapo made no mistake when the next throughball split the Royals defence – the Ipswich number nine scuttling onto it ahead of Mbenge and sliding his shot under Boyce-Clarke to hand the Championship side the lead.
Charlie Savage and Harvey Knibbs were brought on with 25 minutes of the tie remaining but the visitors were showing their advanced experience, taking the sting out of what had been an entertaining affair by keeping possession well.
Vickers nearly threaded a ball through for Knibbs, making a good run into the Ipswich box – but the pass was intercepted and Reading were running out of ideas as we entered the final quarter of an hour.
And Vickers came close to creating again, fizzing a low cross into the box from the right which needed hacking clear by the backtracking Ipswich defender.
With ten minutes left on the clock, Vickers found another pocket of space in a central position but his ball towards Ehibhatiomhan was read and cut out before the striker to stride onto it.
But with time rapidly running short, Ehibhatiomhan struck the equaliser. He chased after a ball down the left and got the better of Edmundson. He scurried inside from the wing and placed a low shot past Slicker and inside the right post to make it 2-2!
Knibbs threatened to get the winner, dragging a right-footed shot inches wide via a deflection from an Ipswich leg.
And with one minute of normal time remaining, Vickers’ made progress down the right to cross into the near post where Yiadom came very close to winning it, cannily deflecting it just wide of the right upright.
As we headed towards penalties, Evans tried his luck from 35 yards but his speculative effort sailed harmlessly wide of the right post. And at the very end of six minutes of injury time, Ehibhatiomhan chased down a ball back to Slicker and charged down the keeper's clearance - only for the referee to blow for full-time before Reading could try to take advantage.
The game was going to be decided on penalties.
Full-time: Reading 2-2 Ipswich Town
Conor Chaplin stepped up to take the first spotkick and sent Boyce-Clarke the wrong way. 1-0.
Harvey Knibbs was first up for the Royals and he did the same, slotted calmly into the right side of the goal as Slicker leapt to his right.
Captain Lee Evans made no mistake, slamming high past Boyce-Clarke to keep the visitors ahead.
And Slicker gave Town the advantage when he guess right to parry Savage’s spotkick.
Boyce-Clarke responded though, saving Aluko’s penalty with his legs. But Vickers skied his spotkick high over the bar, failing to bring the Royals level.
Jack Taylor put Ipswich within one penalty of victory, coolly placing the ball into the right of the goal. And Elliott arrowed his penalty over the bar to hand the visitors a place in the Third Round.
A valiant performance from one of the youngest sides ever fielded by Reading Football Club in its 152-year history. But it was not to be on the night.
Ipswich win 3-1 on penalties
Reading: Boyce-Clarke, Abrefa (Dorsett 78), Carson (Yiadom HT), Mbengue, McIntyre ©, Craig, Senga (Savage 66), Elliott, Rushesha (Knibbs 65), Vickers, Tuma (Ehibhatiomhan 74).
Unused subs: Button, Dean, Azeez, Harris.
Goals: Williams og 2, Ehibhatiomhan 86
Yellow: Craig, McIntyre.
Ipswich Town: Slicker, Edmundson, Evans ©, Ladapo (Broadhead 76), Harness (Aluko HT), Ball, Taylor, Williams (Clarke 60), Hutchinson (Jackson 77), Baggott, Humphreys (Chaplin 77)
Unused subs: Morsy, Woolfenden, Burns, Hladky.
Goals: Humphreys 45, Ladapo 59
Yellow: Evans, Humphreys.
Attendance: 7,867 (2,214 away)