PAUL McSHANE bagged a second half equaliser to rescue Reading a deserved point against early league leaders Brighton and Hove Albion at Madejski Stadium.
Royals flew out of the blocks, taking the lead in the second minute through John Swift’s free kick.
Brighton quickly equalised when Joey van den Berg, who was later sent off, headed into his own net.
The visitors took the lead immediately after the break through Anthony Knockaert but McShane’s low finish earned a share of the spoils.
“I think we did very well,” Stam pleased with display
Jaap Stam named an unchanged side from the one which lost 4-1 at Newcastle United on Wednesday night with the only alteration seeing Callum Harriott replace Deniss Rakels on the bench.
And the settled team got off to the perfect start.
Good footwork from Roy Beerens down the left saw him tripped, allowing Swift to step up and whip a free-kick into the box with barely a minute on the clock.
And the former Chelsea midfielder swung his effort all the way into the bottom corner to notch his second goal for Reading following his summer move from Brentford.
But the lead did not last long.
Brighton won themselves a corner on eight minutes which was sent high into the box by Knockaert and inadvertently headed into his own net by van den Berg.
Royals protested at a potential foul on the Dutch defender but referee Mike Jones was unmoved.
The Seagulls had their tails up and could sense a second goal with good spells of possession but Stam’s charges held firm with Ali Al-Habsi relatively untested.
As the half wore on, Reading began to grow back into the contest.
Yann Kermorgant saw one effort hacked away by Lewis Dunk after good work by Danny Williams and the Frenchman also dragged an effort wide from the edge of the box.
George Evans also tried his luck, winding up an effort from 30 yards which flew narrowly over the crossbar.
And perhaps the biggest chance since the goal arrived with three minutes to go in the first half when McCleary played a neat ball down the line for Chris Gunter.
The Wales full-back looked up and cut the ball across for Swift arriving at the near post but his goalbound effort was brilliantly blocked by Liam Rosenior.
The lively Beerens also saw an effort saved before the half was out as Reading ended the first 45 minutes strongly but it remained level going into the break.
But that momentum was killed just seconds after the restart.
With less than a minute played, hesitant defending and poor marking led to Sam Baldock clipping the ball to Knockaert free at the back post to sweep in.
But Royals responded well, coming agonisingly close to levelling again when McCleary’s great cross was headed against the bar by Kermorgant.
The scores were soon tied up though with McCleary again involved, drilling a low cross for captain McShane to fire into the bottom corner.
While Brighton were looking dangerous on the break, Reading looked like the more likely winners with Kermorgant going closest, seeing his spectacular overhead kick parried away by David Stockdale.
Both sides huffed and puffed in search of a winner but neither keeper was seriously worked in the closing stages.
There was one more flashpoint as the entertaining contest reached its final minute with Joey van den Berg sent off for a second bookable offence, but the hosts saw out the draw.
READING: Al-Habsi; Gunter, McShane (c), van den Berg, Obita; Evans, Williams, Swift (Quinn 81); McCleary (Mendes 86), Beerens (Cooper 90+1), Kermorgant.
Subs not used: Jaakkola, Watson, Harriott, Meite.
Goals: Swift (2), McShane (59)
Yellow cards: van den Berg x2 (14,89), Kermorgant (90+3)
Red card: van den Berg (89)
BRIGHTON: Stockdale; Rosenior, Bruno (c), Dunk, Bong; Knockaert, Sidwell, Kayal, Skalak (Murphy 76); Baldock (Norwood 68), Murray (Hemed 86).
Subs not used: Maenpaa, White, Ince, LuaLua.
Goals: van den Berg (OG) (8), Knockaert (46)
Yellow cards: Dunk (57), Bong (72)
Referee: Mike Jones
Attendance: 16,781 (inc 2,915 away)
