Division Two: Reading 2 Preston North End 2

DAVID Moyes felt more like a beaten manager last night despite seeing Preston pick up a point he would probably have been happy with at the start.

Moyes looked on in horror as Preston squandered a two goal lead and almost blew it all together: "The way we defended was bitterly disappointing. We got ourselves into a winning position and were very comfortable. It's hard to put my finger on what went wrong in the final 20 minutes."

David Eyres (32) and a fine solo effort from Steve Basham (39) gave North End the cushion they craved before half time, but a rejuvenated Reading came out with all guns blazing and Preston suddenly found themselves under pressure.

Neil Smith headed the Royal's back into the picture as the game entered the final quarter and then substitute Keith Scott equalised, also with a header, to give North End an anxious last 10 minutes.

Coming on the back of Saturday's home drubbing by Wigan, it was little wonder the manager was dejected.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.