Tennis ball protests disrupt first half of Portsmouth's League One trip to Reading

On two occasions, match official Martin Coy had to stop play to allow ground staff at the Select Car Leasing Stadium to clear tennis balls off the pitch.

Both incidents happened on four and 17 minutes respectively.

Royals fans were registering their anger at club owner Dai Yongge. Under his charge, Reading have been deducted 16 points over three seasons, slapped with a transfer embargo until January 2025, while it is estimated Reading are around £100m in debt to their owner.

A protest was held outside the ground before kick-off. Yet those objections carried on inside the stadium and during the game as tennis ball rained down onto the pitch following kick off.

The stoppages in play did the Blues no good either. After a stop-start beginning to the game, the Blues found themselves 2-0 down, putting their unbeaten start to the season in jeopardy.

However, a spectacular goal by Chelsea loanee Tino Anjorin just after the half-hour mark halved the hosts’ advantage.

And with Coy adding eight minutes of additional time onto the first-half, Colby Bishop fired the visitors level deep into that time added on.

Terry Devlin then snatched a winner for the Blues in the second half as John Mousinho’s side stretched their lead at the top of the League One table to six points.