Reading failed to back up a strong midweek showing in the cup, succumbing to a lacklustre 1-0 defeat against Port Vale on Saturday afternoon.
Andy Carroll was denied from the spot early on before Vale had an Alex Iacovitti goal ruled out for offside.
But the home side grabbed a winner midway through the second half thanks to Ben Garrity whose deflected effort from the edge of the box sailed over David Button’s outstretched hand and into Reading’s goal.
Buoyed by an outstanding victory in the EFL Cup, many Royals fans would have expected some of the youngsters who impressed at Millwall to be rewarded with league starts.
Manager Ruben Selles instead reverted to the side which lost to Peterborough last weekend, with new signing David Button the only change, replacing Dean Bouzanis between the sticks.
In what was The Valiants’ first home league game of the campaign, manager Andy Crosby made five changes to the side which was thrashed 7-0 by Barnsley in the opening weekend.
But it was the visitors who had the better of the early exchanges – Kelvin Ehibhationham, who had scored a brace in Reading’s 4-0 victory on Tuesday, blasted wide before Carroll grazed the top of the net with a strike from just inside the box.
The Royals were presented with a golden opportunity to break the deadlock in the 11th minute after Nesta Guinness-Walker did brilliantly to earn his side a penalty; the wing-back jinked past two Vale defenders before he was felled illegally inside the box.
Last season, Carroll scored from the spot three times, but was unable to maintain his perfect record on this occasion. Firing low to Connor Ripley’s right, the stopper got down smartly and parried the ball to safety.
Reading had come out on top in all four of the sides’ encounters since the turn of the century, but Vale looked determined to buck the trend. After a Funso Ojo effort was deflected behind for a corner, the home side had the ball in the back of the net through Alex Iacovitti, but Ruben Selles’ men were saved by the linesman flagging for offside.
Despite commanding 68% of first half possession, the Royals would have been delighted to hear the referee’s half time whistle, with Conor Grant and Ojo coming close from range just before the interval.
The players returned from the dressing rooms to heavy rain, but as the sun reemerged so did Vale’s mojo. A fizzed Ojo effort was spilled into the danger zone by Button but fortunately came to nothing, before Ben Garrity headed wide from inside the six yard box.
Looking to shake things up, Selles turned to his bench and made a triple substitution in the 67th minute, hoping Lewis Wing, Mamadi Camara and Matthew Carson could offer something different, but it was Vale who broke the deadlock moments later.
The Valiants did well to work the ball to Garrity inside the box, albeit unopposed; the midfielder spun and fired towards goal and, thanks to a wicked deflection, watched as the ball looped cruelly over a despairing Button.
The Royals struggled to respond and their opponents looked the more likely side to score. James Wilson’s header across the face of goal was only just cleared away while Ojo tried his luck from range once again.
Both sides struck the crossbar in stoppage time – Ojo on the counter for Vale and Wing with a deep cross from the right – but neither were able to grab a late goal.
The defeat leaves Reading pointless and in 19th position in the league table.
Line-ups:
Port Vale: Ripley, Jones, Sang, Smith, Garrity, Chislet, Ojo, Grant, Iacovitti, Arblaster, Thomas
Substitutes: Leutwiler, Cass, Clark, Harrison, Massey, Plant, Wilson
Reading: Button, Holmes, McIntyre, Knibbs, Savage, Carroll, Azeez, Ehibhatiomhan, Yiadom, Guinness-Walker, Hutchinson
Substitutes: Boyce-Clarke, Dean, Bindon, Camara, Wing, Vickers, Carson
