The first Thames Valley Derby for 21 years ended 1-1 as Reading and Oxford United cancelled each other out at a SCL Stadium.

Apart from a crazy 10-minute spell at the end of the first half, where Ciaron Brown headed the U’s into a lead before Sam Smith slotted home an equaliser, the whole event was a damp squib on the field.

In front of a bumper crowd, it was Reading who did much of the early running to get the large majority of the crowd behind them. It took just eight minutes for the first sight of goal as Femi Azeez beat his man on the right-hand side before whipping a delicious ball toward the back post. Unmarked, Smith rose highest, but the ball still narrowly evaded his forehead and out for a goal kick. Getting the game back underway quickly, the visitors went straight down the other end and nearly took the lead as Stanley Mills drilled a low cross toward Mark Harris, only for the ball to skid past the former Cardiff City striker and out for a throw-in.

Neither side could settle, both making mistakes and turning over possession, but Reading should have taken the lead when Jeriel Dorsett won the ball high and fed in Smith. Holding onto the ball for slightly too long, Harvey Knibbs had a defender in the way by the time he could get his shot off inside the box. Oxford settled into the game and took the lead with one of their few chances, Brown connecting with a simple cross and heading past a helpless David Button.

It looked set to be a lead for the visitors at the break, but the U’s defence stood still as a Lewis Wing lofted pass found Smith as many felt the forward was offside. The former Oxford loanee played to the whistle and cooly slotted past James Beadle to send the crowd into raptures. Smith, not popular in Oxfordshire, enjoyed celebrating in front of the 3,000 travelling supporters as much as the Royals fans did. It could have been even better in stoppage time as Azeez drove through the heart of the defence and fed Knibbs. The top scorer drilled a cross toward the front post, but Azeez could only divert past the post and out of play.

Despite carrying all of the momentum into the half-time break, Reading were as flat as anything they have been this season and the second half appeared to pass them by. Harris nearly took advantage of some confusion between Nelson Abbey and David Button, but the goalkeeper had just about enough to reach the ball over the top before the forward. Cameron Brannagan saw his direct free-kick blocked and Holmes completely missed an overhead scissor kick in what was a flat second-half which failed to live up to the billing of a derby match.

It took until eight minutes from time for James Beadle to be called into action in the second half, bending down to pick up Azeez’s weak effort from the corner of the box. Charlie Savage forced the England youth stopper into another catch as a final whistle was edging closer. The nearest either side came to nicking the game was former Reading trialist Josh Murphy, who cut in from the left and fizzed a shot inches wide of Button’s far post.

The final whistle was met with utter silence from all four sides of the ground, as the match was a derby in every sense but on the field. Reading remain in the relegation zone and Oxford remain in the play-off spaces as neither side particularly benefit from a point apiece.

Reading travel to Lincoln City for the first time in 30 years on Saturday looking to build on the draw.