Bromley narrowly defeated in the Carabao Cup to fellow League One side Reading, a 1:1 draw on the day leading to a defeat on penalties. Bromley's Ethon Archer's kick was the decisive miss in a hard-fought tie. The match was played at Hayes Lane, with Bromley starting a near full-strength side, including new signings Shamal George, Kamarl Grant, Jacob Mendy, and Kamil Conteh. Reading started one of their own new signings up front in Jacob Brown, with Lewis Wing captaining the side. Those who have watched the Premier League will be aware of their goalkeeper Joel Pereira, who starts his fourth season with the club having been on Manchester United's books as recently as the 2017/18 season. The match itself started fast, both sides clearly coming to play for the win, and despite being the less experienced club, it was Bromley who threatened to score first. Mitch Pinnock had multiple chances to give Bromley the lead within the first ten minutes and possibly could have done better. Despite the early pressure, it was the away side that would take the lead in this tie, Kyreece Lisbie producing a dangerous cross on the wing for Daniel Kyerewaa, whose blocked shot fell into the path of Josh Stokes to bury for the lead. Goalkeeper Shamal George may believe he could have done better but was unfortunate to not keep it out. Fifteen minutes later, it would surprisingly be Bromley to equalise, hardly against the run of play but proof that The Ravens have what it takes to compete at this level. A wonderful long ball from Omar Sowunmi found its way past not only the Reading defence but through the legs of Pereira, and somewhat fortunately, it was a simple goal to bring the game level. The match quietened down in the second half, but there was another twist to come as substitute Richard Taylor gave away a penalty on Lisbee, the clearest chance for Reading to go 2:1 up, but Lewis Wing could only hit the post from the spot to keep the score level. Despite that brief scare, things would go from bad to worse for Taylor, the Bromley defender picking up a second yellow card at 90 minutes for a foul on Udoka Godwin-Malife to bring his competitive Bromley debut to an early end and leave the home side with ten men to end the match. Shamal George was called into action a few times before the full-time whistle was blown, but the game was destined to end with penalties. With Cheek and Pinnock off, Bromley had to rely on their squad depth for this particular shootout, having gone to penalties in both rounds of their run last season after 1:1 draws. In the end, both sides went perfect for their first four spot kicks, but substitute Ethon Archer's miss knocked Bromley out of the League Cup in the first round for the second time in three years. The Ravens still haven't tasted defeat in 90 minutes at home since their FA Cup defeat against Bristol Rovers last year, and will hope to continue that run when they play against Cambridge United at home. Before that is a League One debut away at Barnsley on Saturday 15th August. As of today, Bromley are 1st in England League Two, 87 points, 24 wins, 15 draws, 7 losses from 46 games, recent form WLDLW, with 71 goals scored and 46 conceded, a +25 goal difference, and are 1 point clear of Milton Keynes Dons.