Reading Senior Division side Reading YMCA almost provided the shock of the round when they were leading Hellenic Div 1 side Henley Town 2-1 with 10 minutes to go but 2 late Henley goals eventually sunk the Young Men.

It was the first meeting between the sides since 1953 and Henley were firm favourites after an impressive start to the season which has seen them claim notable scalps in both the FA Cup and FA Vase.

YM were also in decent form coming off the back of 2 league wins and were looking to improve on last season’s semi-final defeat to Marlow Utd in the same competition.

The opening minutes saw Henley enjoy good spells of possession but YM kept a tight, disciplined shape which prevented Henley from finding any penetration.  Henley quickly grew impatient and passes began to grow astray as YM harried their opponents and forced them into mistakes.

YM were also looking confident on the ball with the midfield trio of Aidey Kearsey, Tim Zielinski and Andy Bullett stroking the ball around well and YM were starting to look the more dangerous of the 2 sides. 

The first chance of the game fell to YM when striker Drew Tipper got the ball down and curled a shot towards the bottom corner but Henley keeper Michael Pratley made a good save.

At the other end the dangerous front pairing of Deon Denny and Michael Davies were being well marshalled by the YM defence with Adam Cassidy in particularly good form.  But Denny showed a glimpse of his threat when he beat 2 men in the box but defender Mark Lemm was on hand to make a last ditch tackle.

The half continued with neither side dominating but with YM forcing the better attacking situations largely due to the work rate of the front 2 of Tipper and Andrew Heath and the hesitancy of the Henley rearguard.

Tipper and Heath both had half-chances to open the scoring but YM were just lacking a bit of composure in the box after some excellent approach play.

Henley suffered a blow when Darren Russell was forced off with a hamstring injury but their spirits were soon lifted when midfielder Chris Bark broke the deadlock.  Lorenzo Medford slung in a deep cross and Bark lost his marker to head home past the helpless Scott Mortimer.

YM had a great chance to equalise when Zielinski met a Bullett corner with a powerful header but the ball deflected over the bar when it looked destined for the net.

The second half started slowly with neither side making much impression before YM turned the game on its head within a 5 minute spell.

Another excellent Bullett corner was met by Cassidy and his header was diverted into the net by Danny Fitzpatrick to make the score 1-1.   YM then shocked Henley by taking the lead when a lofted Bullett pass eluded Medford allowing Heath to race in on goal before planting a deft lob over Pratley into the net.

Henley were rattled but with 30mins to go there was still plenty of time for them to get back into the game.  Henley started to edge the possession but the likes of Man of the Match Kearsey and Fitzpatrick were getting through a huge amount of work to win tackles and break up Henley’s rhythm.

Zielinski had an excellent chance to finish the game off when a free-kick found him unmarked at the back post but he could not adjust his body in time to tap into the unguarded net.

The defensive effort from YM was outstanding and Henley grew more and more frustrated as they began to resort to hopeful long balls and shots from distance.  With 10mins to go Henley looked to have run out of ideas but the Lillywhites are made of stern stuff this season and they kept plugging away and managed to make the breakthrough.

A long ball out of defence caught the YM defence flatfooted and the searing pace of Denny allowed him to get to the ball first where he powered in a volley from 20 yards that just avoided the grasp of Mortimer.

The last few minutes saw Henley pile on the pressure in search of an equalizer and with time almost up it duly came when the ball fell to the edge of the box and skipper Dave Mills was on hand to drill a right footed shot into the bottom corner.

There was still time for YM to create another opportunity when an incisive run from Tim Sidwell saw him square the ball to Steve Green.  Green did well to dummy 2 defenders but his mis-hit shot trickled past the post.  

YM player manager Mark Lemm said “It was a great effort from us and we showed what we are all about today.  It wasn’t just a “backs-to-the-wall” effort either as we played some really good stuff at looked really threatening at times.

I felt we looked reasonable comfortable in the 2nd half and our keeper didn’t really have a shot to save in the whole match other than the goals, so to concede 2 goals in the last 10 minutes is heartbreaking.

But Henley showed their class in taking their goals and their manager, Roddy Slater, has done a great job in blending the talent with team spirit and they now have a great chance of going all the way.”  

READING YMCA: MORTIMER, M LEMM, CASSIDY, ROLFE, CORNELL (replaced by SIDWELL 65mins), BULLETT, ZIELINSKI, KEARSEY, FITZPATRICK, HEATH (replaced by GREEN 60mins), D TIPPER (replaced by BUCKLEY 80mins) SUBS SIDWELL, GREEN, BUCKLEY.

LEMMY’S MOM – AIDEY KEARSEY

This battle of two of the division’s mid-table sides saw the game end in a frustrating stalemate.

The Rapids enjoyed the majority of possession but created little in the way of chances.  The closest they came was when a Steve Wood cross flew across the face of goal but no one was on hand to tuck the ball in.

The Hop Leaf hit the post in the 2nd half and Rapids’ Ryan Tipper went close with a few long range efforts but there was little to get excited about. 

A bad day was made worse when a Leaf player was dismissed for violent conduct.

Rapids manager Paul O’Boyle commented “This is 2 points dropped from my perspective and this result helps neither side to break into the group of 4 clubs at the top.

This division is a lot tougher than we anticipated but we have played most of the teams in the top half now so we now we have to make sure we pick up points against some of the struggling clubs.”

READING YMCA RAPIDS: CALLOW, SANIGAR, SILLEY, C TIPPER, WOOD, OLNEY, HARRISON (replaced by SUTTON 55mins), R TIPPER, KENNY, WILLIAMS, MASLEN (replaced by GROVER 70mins) SUBS SUTTON, GROVER, O’BOYLE.

BOILER’S MOM – RICHARD SILLEY

YM cntre half Adam Cassidy took his 2nd MOM of the season with a solid display against Rabson Rovers. Cassidy was sorely missed in the first few games of the season and capped this excellent defensive performance with a goal from 45 yards out that decieved everyone and whistled in to the net.