A devestating 3-goal blitz in the final 20 minutes earned Reading YMCA a flattering 4-1 win over basement club Berks CS.

Sports have been in good form in recent weeks and for 70 minutes were a match for a YM side looking to stay in the pack of teams chasing leaders Sandhurst Devels.

YM were still missing Johnny Adey, Matt Bickell and Chris Lemm but welcomed back keeper Scott Hodgetts and Jason Wagner whilst manager Mark Lemm handed a 1st start of the season to Lukonda Kasonde.

On a tight Berks CS pitch, the home side utlilized the conditions well by closing down their opponents quickly and giving them no space to play.  YM were not allowed to get going and Sports took a deserved lead when Nathan Laidlaw found space in the box and turned sharply before firing into the roof of the net.  Sports continued to press and created a couple more chances before YM equalized against the run of play.

A Sports defender was caught in possession by the industrious Sam Jennings and, with a 3-on-1 situation developing, Jennings slid the ball through to Kasonde. Kasonde has been on fire for the YM Rapids this season and showed why by cooly slotting the ball past the keeper.

The game descended into a midfield scrap but YM's defence was looking uncharacteristically hesitant and Sports had a shout for a penalty when Adam Cayzer brough down a Sports striker although it looked as though he just brushed the ball first.

YM showed alot more purpose in the 2nd half as the Sports threat dwindled to the occasional set piece opportunity.  But YM were equally toothless in attack and neither side looked like breaking the deadlock until defender Ben Green leapt well to power home a Jason Wagner corner on 70 minutes.  From that point on the game changed totally with YM playing some slick football and creating a host of chances.

Striker Jennings capped another strong display by hitting a 30 yard screamer for 3-1 and, in the final few minutes, Wagner hit another long range beauty for 4-1.

Sports old boy Jules Baker made an apperance in the final few minutes and Nick Seymour, Martin Abery and Jennings all went close to adding to the scoreline but the drama ended there.

YM boss Lemm summarised "Sports put in a huge effort today and were much improved from the side we faced a few weeks ago.  At the 70 minute mark the game could have gone either way and I would have had no complaints if the game finished 2-1 to either side.

The scoreline definitely flattered us but we have got individuals in the side who can conjure up moments of magic and that was the difference today.

We've got a bit of a break now and hopefully by the time we play our next league game we'll have a full strength squad to choose from."

READING YMCA:HODGETTS, CAYZER, GREEN, FITZPATRICK, LEE, KASONDE (replaced by SEYMOUR 70mins), EDMUNDS, WAGNER, D TIPPER (replaced by DALY 75mins), ABERY (replaced by BAKER 80mins), JENNINGS SUBS: SEYMOUR, DALY, KASONDE.

LEMMY'S MOM - ROB LEE

Just when it seemed YM's second string couldn't turn in a worse performance, Saturday the 7th of November cropped up and it was a total horror show. Taking on a strong Cippenham side that were turned over in last years Berks and Bucks cup, YM's preperations were thrown in to dissaray when the referee turned up at 2.15pm for a 1.30ko. Boss Paul O Boyle had a strong squad to select from, welcoming back new father Andy Bullet to the midfield, Adam Cassidy to the back 4, and Steve Woodrow up front.

From the off it was apparent that it was the away side that had been affected by the referee's time keeping as YM raced in to a 2-0 lead with in 5 mins of the game starting. First Sidwell fed Dave Morrison who's clever work left Steve Woodrow with a clear route on goal and the hitman made no mistake from 15 yards. Then Woodrow repaid the favour by bursting in to the box only to be brought down by a lunging tackle, and Morrison dispatched the resulting penalty with ease. It appeared that it was going to be a case of how many but YM took their foot off the gas and Cippenham began to take control with the big number 6 taking control of the midfield and feeding thei dangerous wide players. It was soon 2-1 as some poor defending allowed a Cippenham striker to bundle the ball home after several warning shots, and the scores were level on 25 mins when yet another set piece was defended like schoolboys to allow the 6 to slot home from 6 yards. YM's passing became shoddy and only created 1 more chance with Sidwell feeding Morrison who could only fire over from long range. It seemed free kicks were going to be YM's way in after the ref had give 1 for handball by the away keeper and 1 for a foul on Woodrow but with half the side lining up for each attempt no one could produce anything worth reporting.

The second period was perhaps the worst 45 minutes experienced by O Boyle since taking the reigns as the game decended in to a long ball affair, and it was no surprise when Cippenham took the lead on 60 mins when yet more poor defending allowed the nippy forward to slot home. Usually YM would always create something to grab hold of but on this occasion nothing prevailed with more passes going astray, touches letting players down and workrate well below par across the entire side. Cippenham wrapped up the game on 75 minutes to make it 4-2 and there was no way back for teh Rapids.

Boss O Boyle fumed 'I'm glad this was a cup game as we can put that performance away for good and forget it ever happened. We need to concentrate on moving up the leagues as this is not division 4 any longer and teams are far strong and more organised'

YM RAPIDS: TAYLOR, T MORRISON, ROLFE, CASSIDY, KENNY, CORNELL, BULLETT, SIDWELL, EVANS, D MORRISON, WOODROW. SUBS: LEACH (T Morrison 65), SUTTON (Evans 60), WOOD (Sidwell 80)

BOILERS MOM: NO ONE!!!