JOSH LAURENT bagged a crucial late goal to give Reading an away point against relegation rivals Barnsley.
The Royals went a goal down after just five minutes after Lucas Joao was denied a shout for an early penalty and they were punished moments later by Carlton Morris.
After a frustrating afternoon, the tension in the away end turned to triumph When Laurent netted in the 82nd minute.
The draw keeps Barnsley five points away from the Royals as they marinated their gap from the drop zone by scoring late on.
In what was set up as a game between two relegation rivals, the notion of a ‘six pointer’ had never been more appropriate coming into the clash at Oakwell.
Paul Ince made one change from the win against Blackburn Rovers prior to the international break as John Swift replaced the injured Andy Rinomhota, who will miss the remainder of the season.
Baba Rahman and Femi Azeez also recovered from injury to return to the substitutes bench, while Orjan Nyland made his third successive start in goal.
The Royals team were greeted by a sold-out away end who turned out in force to support their side ahead of their push to fight for Championship survival.
Reading made a bright start after Lucas Joao was tripped in the box and wanted a penalty that the referee was never interested in awarding with a big decision going against the Royals shortly after kick-off.
But the positive start didn’t last long and quickly turned to disaster just five minutes in when the Royals conceded yet another early goal.
Carlton Morris was afforded far too much time to swivel and strike a shot low past Nyland to score with The Tykes’ first attack of the game.
Barnsley’s skipper Mads Andersen picked up the first booking of the match which saw him have to play the remaining 80 minutes on a caution after he hauled down Joao.
It was far from a free-flowing game that saw plenty of fouls committed by both teams to break up any semblance of attacking play, while John Swift smacked one over the bar with the only presentable chance for the visitors in the opening 20 minutes.
With half-time approaching, a chance came the way of Tom Ince who had the ball nicked off his toes by Remy Vita who recovered rapidly after Ovie Ejaria’s cross.
A frustrating half came to a close with Reading producing far too little in the final third to trouble the hosts and went in a goal down.
10 minutes after the restart, Reading had another appeal for a penalty. This time it appeared to be the correct decision after Tom Ince threw himself to the floor in the box after some slick attacking link up with Swift and was subsequently booked for simulation.
Reading did have the ball in the back of the Barnsley net after Ince was slipped through by Ovie Ejaria but the linesman’s offside flag was raised well before Ince’s shot crossed the line.
The Royals threw all they had at a tired Barnsley team with 15 minutes left on the clock but lacked any real quality to open up the hosts’ defence.
Paul Ince opted to make his first change in the 78th minute as Tom Dele-Bashiru replaced Ejaria.
The Tykes’ defenders put their bodies on the line to prevent an equaliser when Callum Brittain blocked Joao’s effort on goal.
With eight minutes to go, Reading’s persistence paid off to send the away end into jubilation when Josh Laurent crashed a shot into the back of the net, with his second goal in as many games.
Reading looked to snatch a winner having got level and came close when Swift bent a shot towards goal that was tipped behind for a corner by Brad Collins.
Barnsley created a golden chance to snatch a winner deep into stoppage time but Tom McIntyre made a vital block before Reading survived the corner.
Reading have seven league games left to play and host Stoke City on Tuesday night at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Barnsley: Collins, Brittain, Kitching, Andersen (c), Vita, Wolfe, Gomes, Styles, Quina, Bassi, Morris
Subs: Walton, Moon, Benson, Palmer, Oduor, Leya Iseja, Adeboyejo
Reading: Nyland, Yiadom, Morrison (c), Holmes, McIntyre, Drinkwater, Laurent, Swift, Ejaria, Ince, Joao
Subs: Southwood, Thomas, Dann, Rahman, Dele-Bashiry, Azeez, Ehibhatiomhan
Goals: Morris 5’, Laurent 82’
