MAX Heaver scored a late goal to earn Reading a 1-1 draw with Beeston at the Nottingham Hockey Centre on Sunday, writes Dave Wright.

They had trailed from the 25th minute when the right side of their defence failed to pick up home attackers and Elliot Hibell squeezed the ball home from a tight angle.

It was a disappointing goal to concede as the Blues had worked hard to tighten up their defending after shipping 16 goals in their first four games.

With both sides missing chances it looked as if the one goal would be enough to decide the game.

But Reading, who had been held to a goalless draw by bottom club Sevenoaks the previous week, then pulled something magic out of the hat with eight minutes left on the clock.

After forward Jatinder Bachu raced back into his own circle to break up a Bees attack, Connor Roberts launched a counter-attack down their right wing before feeding Lee Morton.

The Scotland international brilliantly weaved his way past several opponents as he raced across the field before hitting a reverse-stick pass towards goal, with Heaver providing the finishing touch.

Reading had a last-minute scare when they were unfortunate to give away a penalty corner, but young keeper Chris Wyver pulled off a superb save, hurting himself in the process and was still down on his knees when the final whistle blew.

The Blues were certainly a lot happier with the point than Beeston, who remain fourth in the table, two places higher than Reading.

But their lack of goals – just two in their last three games and a total of 12 in eight – remains a concern for coach Jason Lee and must be addressed if they are to move up the table.

This Saturday (6.30pm) they host the University of Exeter, who are second-from-bottom of the table with just four points from seven games after beating fellow strugglers Sevenoaks 3-2 last weekend.

Reading defender Liam Sanford, who has recently been sidelined with a leg injury, is included in the England 20-man squad for the World Cup in India. Their first game in Group B is against China on November 30, followed by Australia the following Tuesday and Ireland on December 7.

The Irish squad is expected to include Reading's Stuart Loughrey.

Like the men, Reading Women picked up a point away from home for the second weekend in succession, sharing four goals with Isca in Exeter.

Olivia Saligoi put them ahead from a penalty corner on 25 minutes, only to see Annie Dalton equalise four minutes before half-time.

Lorna Bennell restored Blues' lead, also from a penalty corner, but again they were unable to hang on to it for long with Kim Sheldon making it 2-2 in the 64th minute.

Reading slip to eighth in the table ahead of their fixture with fifth-placed Trojans at Sonning Lane this Saturday (4.30pm).