Shorey lit up a dull game with a curling effort midway through the second half, but it was a miserable return to Reading for former Royals striker Cureton.
The QPR striker saw red 17 minutes from time for lashing out at home captain Steve Sidwell after his former team-mate had tricked him into dummying a ball in midfield.
It was a rare talking point in a game full of passion but devoid of flowing football.
To describe the first half as scrappy would be a massive understatement. A foul count of 20 was the most telling statistic as referee Roger Beeby took centre stage with a series of needless whistles.
Beeby booked four players, including Reading's Dave Kitson for diving, despite the big striker being off balance after he had attempted to go round keeper Chris Day.
The series of fouls meant set pieces were always likely to provide the best chance of a goal and both sides went close with first-half free-kicks.
Paul Furlong saw a fierce strike bravely blocked by the diving figure of full-back Andy Hughes, while at the other end Shorey bent a shot just over the crossbar after George Santos had clattered Kitson.
The best chance in open play fell to Kitson's strike partner Dean Morgan, who outpaced Daniel Shittu to latch on to Marcus Hahnemann's long punt forward and saw a flicked effort fly just wide of the far post.
Reading also had penalty claims waved away when Ibrahima Sonko's header hit Marc Bircham on the arm, while Glen Little won few friends among the travelling Rangers fans when he appealed for a spot kick after tumbling under a fine tackle by Bircham.
Recalled striker Cureton was Rangers' most likely outlet and, having been starved of a chance in the first half, burst into life in the opening minutes of the second period.
The pint-sized striker saw a deflected strike easily saved by Hahnemann after Ivar Ingimarsson had completely missed a defensive clearance and sent a curling shot just wide after cutting in from the left.
But just as QPR seemed to be getting on top, Reading made the breakthrough.
Not surprisingly it took a free-kick to turn the game, Santos' foul on substitute Lloyd Owusu giving Shorey the chance to bend a delightful strike into the top left-hand corner.
Yet the match still had another bitter twist to come as Cureton's return to his former club was soured 17 minutes from time.
Reading captain Steve Sidwell appeared to call for his former team-mate to leave the ball and Cureton reacted furiously to the gesture.
Amid flailing arms and legs and following a hand in Sidwell's face, Cureton saw red on the ground where he still commands legendary status following the goals that helped Reading win promotion three seasons ago.
Cureton's punishment did not end there as he walked in to a post-match blast from manager Ian Holloway, who was furious at the striker's reaction.
"I called him selfish but that was the wrong word. He was unprofessional and should never have reacted the way he did," Holloway said.
"But I don't want to talk about the referee and I don't want to talk about Mr Sidwell, who I think is a very good player.
"I only want to talk about my own players and I think our second-half performance was not far off our best this season, but we didn't get the break and Reading did.
"I have gone back to the old Ian Holloway and made an arse of myself, but the players have had their say too."
Reading boss Steve Coppell was relieved to emerge from the gruelling game with three points and said: "It was like a derby game and the whole match was played at a very agitated level.
"Three points from a game like that is very pleasing even if the game itself was not pleasing."