Reading YMCA moved up to 5th in the table after a 2-1 win over visitors Berks County Sports but YM manager Mark Lemm was far from happy with his side’s performance.

“We spoke before the game about making sure we capitalise when we are on top but despite creating a host of chances and looking comfortable for most of the game we ended up hanging on at the end.

The best sides in this division are ruthless and we have to find that edge quickly because on another day we will get caught out.

Sports always keep going for the full 90 minutes but we would have been kicking ourselves if we’d have walked away from this with just a point.”

The omens looked good for YM when they took an early lead via the prolific Martin Abery.  Danny Fitzpatrick, who was returning to the side after a 2 week absence, volleyed a Sports clearance into the path of Abery who slotted the ball under the body of keeper Dave Osbourne.

YM were rampant at this point with Chris Lemm and Nader Edmunds both getting forward well from midfield and it was Edmunds who should have extended his side’s lead when he sprinted on to a through ball only to hit the post with just Osbourne to beat.

Shellshocked Sports soon recovered their composure and began to get their passing game going.  Sports were causing a few problems at set pieces but they had a good chance to equalize when a Sports striker was played in on goal but from a difficult angle he could only shoot tamely at keeper Scott Mortimer.

The pattern continued with Sports enjoying good possession but YM looking the more penetrative in attack.  Abery had a great chance to add another goal to his tally when he again found himself clean through but he screwed the ball wide.

But just before half-time YM did grab a second goal when Abery and Johnny Adey both beat the offside trap to home in on goal.  Abery got to the ball first but his shot cannoned off the bar and when he tried to convert the rebound he was upended by Sports’ Ray Richardson.

YM had missed their last 2 penalties but Adey took responsibility and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to leave YM 2-0 up at the break.

YM had a great chance to make the game safe within 2 minutes of the restart when a superb Abery cross found Adey unmarked 5 yards from goal but his header flew over the bar.
The game became scrappy as the sticky conditions took their toll and much of the half was fought in the midfield with Darren Cornell outstanding for YM with his energy and passing.

Chris Lemm was also enjoying a good game on the left of midfield and his direct running was providing a great outlet for YM.

Although Sports were edging the possession and territory the chances continued to flow for YM and both Edmunds and Adey could have done better with promising opportunities. 

With the game seemingly petering out it suddenly burst into life when Sports claimed an unexpected lifeline.  A poor Adam Cassidy clearance hit the back of a Sports player allowing him to race on to the rebound and slide the ball past Mortimer.

With 20 minutes left it was now game on with YM having the added pressure of knowing they should have killed the game off long ago and Sports knowing they had a great chance to salvage something.

Sports were pushing forward in numbers but it was actually YM who were creating the chances as they hit Sports on the break.  On 3 separate occasions Abery broke free on goal but Osbourne was in terrific form and managed to deny the striker each time.

Despite their efforts, Sports could not create the chance they needed and YM hung on the win.

READING YMCA: MORTIMER, GREEN, ALLEN, CASSIDY, C LEMM (replaced by M LEMM 70mins), CORNELL, FITZPATRICK, EDMUNDS, SEYMOUR, ADEY, ABERY SUBS M LEMM, ROLFE (not used).

LEMMY’S MOM – DARREN CORNELL

Reading YMCA Rapids broke a 48 year old club record by winning their 9th consecutive game from the start of the season and with 11 consecutive wins stretching back to last season they are now homing in on the overall record of 13 set in 1998.

They were odds on favourites to record a win here with Taplow currently winless despite a good showing in a 3-1 cup defeat to Division 2 side Woodley A the previous week.

YM were just too powerful though with top scorer Dave Morrison collecting his 3rd hat-trick of the season, Tim Sidwell and Rob Maslen hitting braces and Mark Ilsley, Tim Zielinski, Dan Sutton and Dean Williams also scoring.

YM keeper Ian Harvey open the scoring when he stepped up in the first few minutes to convert a penalty after Sidwell had been pushed in the box. Sidwell then drilled in the 2nd from 20 yards and also hit the 3rd after hooking the ball over his head from 6 yards, and catching the hapless Taplow keeper unawares. Zielinski then powered home a header from a Sidwell corner and Sutton made it 5 from a viciously whipped in Woodrow corner. Williams then made it 6 with an excellent far post finish and Morrison bagged his first to make the score 7-0 at half time. The second half started as expected with YM losing their shape and everyone wanting to get a piece of the action, and it took 15 mins to get back in to the stride. Rob Maslen's pace was causing the home side problems and the young YM startlet found himself with 2 glorious chances but could only scuff wide and straight at the keeper. Morrison then tucked away number 9 before Sidwell went through looking for his hat-trick but could only shoot wide from close range after a 1-2 with Williams. Maslen then got on the score sheet after Sidwell had burst through and squared the ball for an easy tap home which also included the YM skipper getting clattered by the Taplow keeper. Mark Ilsley was next up with a volly from the edge of the box that flew in the back of the net to make it 11. Morrison completed his treble in the final few minutes after calmly tucking the ball away following some excellent wide play from Williams.

Rapids manager Paul O’Boyle said “Taplow had a lot of spirit but games like this are no good for either team.  We just need to stay focussed and keep trying to pick up the wins so that we can test ourselves in a higher division next year.

It would be nice to beat the record but we have some tough cup games coming up against higher level opposition so we’ll have to show our battling qualities in those.”

READING YMCA RAPIDS: HARVEY, T MORRISON, ZIELINSKI, ILSLEY, LEACH, SIDWELL, WOODROW, WOOD, SUTTON (replaced by MASLEN 45mins), D MORRISON SUBS MASLEN.