Ben Garrity’s deflected effort sees Port Vale down Reading

Ben Garrity was the matchwinner as Port Vale bounced back from a heavy defeat on the opening day of the League One season to claim a 1-0 win over Reading.

Garrity’s hugely-deflected shot settled the contest in the 72nd minute, earning Vale a morale-boosting victory after losing 7-0 against Barnsley last weekend.

Andy Carroll had a golden chance to put Reading ahead with a 12th-minute penalty after Nesta Guinness-Walker was fouled in the box by Dan Jones, but goalkeeper Connor Ripley denied him.

At the other end, Vale defender Alex Iacovitti fired the ball into the net just before the half-hour mark, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

The early stages of the second-half lacked goalmouth action but the home side looked more likely to break the deadlock.

The winning goal came 18 minutes from time as Garrity’s shot on the spin took a massive deflection before looping over debutant goalkeeper David Button’s head and in off the post.

Funso Ojo came agonisingly close to making it 2-0 in stoppage time, but his shot was saved by Button and came back off the crossbar.

Reading nearly equalised in the dying moments when substitute Lewis Wing’s cross-shot hit the bar, but Vale held on for all three points.