Reading YMCA bounced back from a poor run of form to grab a much needed victory over close rivals Woodley Town.

The Young Men have taken just 2 points from their last 4 matches and were facing a Woodley side who could still mount a title challenge.  Woodley were also coming off the back of a defeat to Hellenic League Penn & Tylers Green in the Berks & Bucks cup and they looked to be suffering a hangover from that game as YM started the brighter.

The first chance of the game fell to wide man Darren Cornell who was left clean through on goal after a deft pass from Sam Jennings.  But Cornell seemed to be caught in two minds whether to cross or shoot and in the end could only pull his shot wide.  But Cornell looked lively in the opening exchanges and, along with the central midfield trio of Tim Sidwell, Tim Zielinski and Aidey Kearsey, was working hard off the ball to deny Woodley time on the ball.

On a small pitch both sides found it difficult to play much football and it was only through the prodigious long throws of Zielinski that any breakthrough looked possible.

Woodley's first chance came after 30 mins when wide man David Payne robbed Cornell of the ball before accelerating on towards the goal.  But from a difficult angle, Payne snatched at the chance and his effort flew wide of the goal.

Up to this point YM had been the better team but they had just started to drop their workrate a little which gave Woodley the edge in the final 15 mins of the half with both Brodie Kenyon and James Pearson spurning half chances.

The second half continued to be a tight affair with both defences looking organised and compact.  Woodley had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down when YM defender David Rolfe looked to have up-ended ex-YM man Chris Waring in the box but the referee waved away the Woodley protests.

Soon after, the deadlock was finally broken when YM striker Drew Tipper gambled on Woodley keeper Allan Steele struggling to deal with a bouncing ball to head the ball away from the keeper into the path of strike partner Jennings who showed coolness to volley into the net for his 1st goal for the club.

The subdued Waring was replaced by Paul Wilder and he almost equalized after some tricky play but was another to snatch at his chance and see the ball go wide.

The best chance of the half fell to YM's Tipper when he was played in on goal by Sidwell with Woodley caught up field.  A heavy first touch from Tipper allowed Steele to narrow the angle forcing Tipper to hit the ball straight at the keeper.

YM continued to work doggedly until the final whistle and just about deserved a win that gives them a big lift as they embark on a tough run-in to the end of the season.

YM coach Paul Meakin said "It's always difficult to go to Woodley and get a result but we got in their faces and made it hard for them to play.  We had a great chance to make it 2-0 but this was really a 1-0 type of game and fortunately Sam had the composure to take the once chance that was presented to him."

READING YMCA: MORTIMER, FITZPATRICK, ROLFE, CASSIDY, CORNELL, KEARSEY, ZIELINSKI (replaced by B GREEN 72mins), SIDWELL, BULLETT (replaced by EDMUNDS 65mins), JENNINGS (replaced by HEATH 70mins), D TIPPER SUBS EDMUNDS, HEATH, B GREEN, M LEMM (not used).

Reading YMCA Rapids stay in 2nd place after a hard-fought 4-2 win over strugglers Goring Res.

The Rapids are unbeaten in their last 8 games but it was Goring who took a shock lead after a slip from Rapids defender Matt Olney.  Rapids' Steve Wood was then forced to make a crucial goaline clearance to deny Goring a second goal.

After a lacklustre display, the Rapids managed to equalize just before half-time when Dean Williams picked up the ball, flicked it over a defender before stabbing it into the net.

Steve Woodrow gave the Rapids the lead soon after the break and then striker Scott Smith looked to have made the game safe after 65mins.  But Goring kept going and another slip from Olney allowed Goring to pull a goal back and then Ryan Tipper saved a certain equalizer by deflecting a Goring shot round the post.

After a nervous few minutes, Smith grabbed his second of the match with a right foot shoot to keep the Rapids' promotion hopes alive.

Player manager Paul O'Boyle said "It just didn't click for us today.  After a great performance last week against Bell & Bottle we probably thought we could stroll through this one but Goring gave us a real fright and we are fortunate to come away with the points."

READING YMCA RAPIDS: HARVEY, SANIGAR, OLNEY, O'BOYLE (replaced by TOWNER 60mins), WOOD (replaced by WILSON 65mins), WILLIAMS, R TIPPER, WOODROW, C LEMM, SUTTON (replaced by KISLUK 45mins), SMITH SUBS KISLUK, TOWNER, WILSON .

BOILER'S MAN OF THE MATCH - RYAN TIPPER

It was no surprise that one of the YM subs was awarded the MOM award during the 4-0 loss to Newbury. YM produced a nightmare display to be 3 down at half time. The introduction of Newman was the only bright spark in YM's day when he went close with 2 good chances and also showed his ability to get in behind and use his pace to open up defences.