Reading’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest is up there with one of most dramatic finishes at the Madejski Stadium.

With five minutes of additional time indicated, Forest captain Ben Watson volleyed past Rafael from a corner in the sixth minute, despite the ball having gone out of play, and a questionable decision to award the corner in the first place.

However this Reading side has character and a never-say-die spirit that we have not seen for a fair few seasons.

Straight from the kick-off the ball was played out wide and Jordan Obita delivered a dangerous cross, for it to be tucked away by the opposition defender Tobias Figueiredo for an own goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Following that finish we have decided to look back at 10 of the most dramatic finishes and late goals at the Madejski Stadium to rival that of Saturday’s game.

10. Reading 1-0 QPR (March 2018)

The 2017/18 season was one of complete disappointment. The previous season had seen the Royals reach the Championship play-off final under Jaap Stam, missing out on the Premier League in a penalty shootout.

As a result of poor form Stam was sacked in March and replaced by former Derby County manager Paul Clement.

His first game in charge was at home to QPR and was one filled with controversy.

Record-breaking signing Sone Aluko opened the scoring in the first half through a powerful long-distance strike, but the drama was to come in stoppage time.

Reading fell down to 10 men following Yann Kermorgant’s quick sending off, and deep into stoppage time Dave Edwards tripped Pawel Wszolek in the box.

Jake Bidwell stepped up to take the penalty and missed, with the home crowd letting out and almighty roar as it secured the first win in nine, helping to keep the side up in the Championship.

9. Reading 3-2 Crystal Palace (September 2005)

With Reading very much looking good for promotion at this point in early September, the match with fellow promotion candidates had an extra edge.

Add to this the fact that Andy Johnson, a striker who loved playing against the Royals, was lining up for the Eagles.

It was a typical, topsy-turvy Championship fixture, with Reading taking the lead through Kevin Doyle only to be pegged back by Johnson.

Clinton Morrison then put the away side in front before Leroy Lita made it 2-2.

As the game was ticking towards a draw, Ibrahimo Sonko, AKA Superman, popped up to thunder a header into the back of the net to secure another three points on route to the record tally of 106.

The rest, as they say, is history and Reading remained unbeaten until February.

8. Reading 2-1 Sheffield United (October 2005)

Another entry from the incredible year, a late winner against a title-rival is always nice.

Sheffield United ran Reading close for most of the season, and up until November were ahead of Reading in first position.

Icelander Brynjar Gunnarsson gave Reading the lead in the third minute.

They should have been playing ten men for most of the match when Paddy Kenny came flying out of his box and handled, only to be given a yellow card instead.

The Blades hit back and equalised through Steve Kabba, but it was the Icelander who had the final laugh as his 88th minute goal stole the three points for Reading as they looked to overtake Neil Warnock’s side.

7. Reading 2-1 QPR (May 2006)

Reading by this point had already wrapped up promotion to the Premier League and the Championship title, but this late bit of drama was one of the moments of the season.

A final day clash with QPR had nothing riding on it, other than the opportunity to break the point’s record set by Sunderland, with the majority of the crowd just wanting to watch the trophy lift at the end of the game.

Dave Kitson open the scoring of what looked to be a comfortable win, but R’s striker Paul Furlong equalised with time running out.

However with five minutes remaining, Reading won a penalty and there was only ever one man who was going to take it.

Reading captain Graeme Murty had scored one previous goal in 279 appearances, but he was the only outfield player in the squad yet to score.

With nerves of steel he smashed the ball past the helpless keeper and took out mascot Kingsley in the celebratory bundle.

A lovely way to round off an incredible season for the Royals; with 106 points and 99 goals from 46 league matches.

6. Reading 3-2 West Brom (January 2013)

Reading had found it difficult to adjust to life back in the top flight following their promotion in 2011/12, and by January had found themselves deep in a relegation battle.

However a run of form in the first month of 2013 gave the side a glimmer of hope for survival, and this all started with the incredible game against Steve Clarke’s Baggies.

Romelu Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, had been in blistering form for West Brom and notched either side of half time to put them in a commanding lead.

But as always under Brian McDermott, the team had an abundance of character and Jimmy Kebe pulled one back with eight minutes to go.

The following turn of events was unbelievable, as Adam Le Fondre and dubious Pavel Pogbrenyak strike turned the game on its head and game the Royals an unlikely win to boost their chances of survival.

This kick-started a run of three wins and a draw in January, which saw McDermott pick up the Premier League Manager of the Month award, and Le Fondre won the Player of the Month equivalent.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be as the Royals slumped to immediate relegation, but the games in that period will be fondly remembered; and one even appears further down on this list.

5. Reading 3-2 Wigan Athletic (March 2019)

The 2018/19 season was another disappointing campaign, with Clement being sacked in November Jose Gomes came in and set about turning the sides fortunes around.

By March the squad had accumulated enough points to sit outside the bottom three, but a three game period in which we faced fellow strugglers Rotherham United, Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic was targeted as must win in order to haul out of danger.

After a draw with the Millers and a last-gasp winner at Portman Road against the Tractor Boys; Gomes’ side had one game left out of the group of three.

Wigan Athletic rocked up at the Madejski Stadium above Reading and also looking to move away from danger.

The Latics took the lead through Nick Powell but a John Swift free-kick saw the sides go into half-time level.

Once again the away side regained the lead, through Joe Garner, and it was looking as though Reading were going to fail to put any daylight between themselves and danger.

With 90 minutes on the clock Wigan had a drop ball and gave it straight back to Reading, allowing Mo Barrow to fire in a shot from 25 yards past the Wigan goalkeeper, which looked to have gained the Royals a point.

But Gomes had instilled a never-say-die attitude into his group of players and in the 97th minute Yakou Miete directed his header into the back of the net.

Cue bedlam around the Mad Stad, without doubt one of the best noises heard at the ground for a while.

This result spurred Reading on and they managed to gain enough points to stay up with a game to spare, and bring the fans and club together, as shown by Portugal Day on the final day of the season in thanks to the much-loved Gomes.

4. Reading 2-2 Chelsea (January 2013)

Another game in the special January Premier League spell, Reading welcomed European champions Chelsea to the Madejski.

The West-London club had previously sacked Roberto Di Matteo so veteran Rafa Benitez was in charge of the Blues.

Reading went into the game off the back of a win and a draw, but the game went as expected by most neutrals, with Juan Mata and current Chelsea manager Frank Lampard scoring either side of half time.

With the game looking as though it was past Reading, on ran super-sub Le Fondre, who had scored two off of the bench in the previous game away at Newcastle United.

Le Fondre fired a strike past the onrushing Ross Turnbull on 88 minutes, and deep into stoppage time Alfie curled an exquisite volley past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, rescuing a point and lifting Reading outside of the bottom three for the first time since November.

3. Reading 1-1 Cardiff City (December 2008)

Reading had accustomed well to life back in the second tier, not dropping out of the top six from late September until the play-offs.

But it could have been better had their home form not been poor after Christmas, with the side not winning at the Madejski after 27th January.

The annual Boxing Day game saw a bumper crowd turn up for the England v Wales clash between the Royals and the Bluebirds.

An eventful game somehow remained goalless until Michael Chopra looked to have nicked it for the Welsh outfit in the 89th minute.

However in the last minute of stoppage time a corner was swung in and Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici got on the end of it to equalise.

The ground was rocking as the point took Reading up to second in the table, a position they would stay in until February, after which they had to settle for a space in the playoffs, in which they lost to eventual winners Burnley.

2. Reading 1-0 Nottingham Forest (April 2011)

Reading had incredibly picked up 15 wins from 18 matches, including a win against top-side Southampton four days previously.

The side sat top of the table and needed to better West Ham United’s score on the night to secure promotion back to the Premier League.

A sold-out Madejski Stadium sat nervously for until the last 10 minutes, by which time news had broken that West Ham had drawn at Bristol City, thus Reading only needed a goal to go up.

With cries of “one goal and we’re going up” ringing around the Mad Stad, Ian Harte whipped a delicious free kick for Mikele Liegertwood to volley in with five minutes remaining.

It was far from over, with Nottingham Forest hitting the woodwork and Alex Pearce needing to clear a shot off the line.

But the whistle blew as fans streamed onto the pitch in celebration, the players discovered that they had been promoted to the top flight.

The celebrations went long into the night, with Sir John Madejski and Brian McDermott going to the Purple Turtle to celebrate with the Reading fans.

The title was confirmed the next game after a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, but the goal against Nottingham Forest will always be remembered ahead of the match with the South-Londoners.

1. Reading 2-1 Wigan Athletic (May 2001)

And so number one, the most dramatic moment in the 22 years of football at the Madejski, goes to Martin Butler and Nicky Forster for their goals in the Second Division play-off semi-final second leg.

Following a goalless draw at the JJB, a packed Mad Stad hosted the decisive leg following a third place finish in the normal campaign.

Thought of as the game that made the Madejski home for Reading fans, it was halted on a number of occasions due to the amount of balloons landing on the pitch.

The atmosphere was electric, but that was tainted as Kevin Nicholls gave the Latics a half-time lead.

Reading kept pushing and it paid off as Butler drew the Royals level four minutes from time.

With the wind in their sales, Forster was taken down in the box, earning his side a penalty late in stoppage time.

Jamie Cureton stepped up to take it, but saw his penalty save- thankfully Forster was on hand to thunder in the rebound and send Reading to Cardiff for the play-off final with Walsall.

Promotion was not to be as Walsall ran out 4-2 winners but promotion was sealed the following season with the famous game at Griffin Park.

Hopefully over the coming season we see many more moments like these in the coming season and beyond for Reading.