Cookham Dean maintained their push for the Senior Division title with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Reading YMCA.

Neither side could establish any real authority in the 1st half with the defences of both sides in excellent form.  Cookham did look the more threatening of the 2 sides with the lively James Gisbourne firing over on 20 minutes and then seeing a flicked header well saved by YM keeper Scott Mortimer.

YM looked a shadow of the side that had gone unbeaten in the previous 6 league games and the passing and creativity that had been a feature of that run were all but absent as they played into the hands of the Cookham defence with aimless long balls.

Cookham were also not at their fluent best but were working hard off the ball and they carved out a couple more half chances with Paul Reeve and Gisbourne going close.

YM's best chance fell just before half-time when a free-kick was only half cleared to Tim Zielinski but his volley was miscued wide when well placed.

YM could take heart from the fact that they were well in the game at 0-0 going into the 2nd half but they were rocked almost immediately when a Cookham corner was met on the bounce by Dave Shaw with YM players glued to the spot and Shaw's powerful header powered into the net.  And it could have been worse moments later when Pavi Bangoo was brought down in the box after a mazy run but Mark Doswell curled the spot-kick over the bar.

This miss galvanised YM and they began to up the tempo but Cookham's defence is the best in the division and they were not giving YM any space in the final third.  Cookham had a couple of half chances before YM almost scored when a great move involving Drew Tipper, Darren Cornell and Andy Bullett saw Bullett loft the ball to the back post towards Sam Jennings whose header was easily saved.

YM continued to huff and puff but were making little headway and were finally killed on 85 minutes when another set piece saw Carl Reeve's head across the box where Gisbourne was on hand to poke the ball home.

YM player manager Mark Lemm said "It wasn't a great game and neither side were at their best although Cookham were a bit sharper all round the pitch and always posed more of a goal threat.

I was hoping for a bigger response from our players after losing in the cup semi-final in our last game but we looked flat and never really looked like scoring.

We finished 4th in the league last season and are likely to finish 4th or 5th this year so we have established ourselves in the top few clubs in the league but we just need to move on to the next level now.  We are generally solid and organised but just lack a bit of creativity at times and need a couple of players who can do something a bit different.  If we can get them we'll be serious contenders next year and that's what I'll be looking at over the summer."

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

YM rapids centre half powerhouse Ben Green took the MOM award in last weeks trounching of Berinsfield Res. Green has been a solid addition to the YM squad performing well for both YM teams and fully deserved the top player award.