Berks County Sports and Reading YMCA met for the second consecutive week and it was the Young Men who again came away with the win despite Sports presenting a far tougher challenge than the previous week. YM made 3 changes to their side with David Rolfe, Rob Taylor and Sam Cripps all coming in whilst Sports welcomed back Ian Bradshaw although Ray Richardson was absent.

YM started confidently but it was Sports who created a golden opportunity within the opening 10 minutes when a swift break away saw a Sports player cross for the onrushing Ian Jubb but, with the goal at his mercy, he skewed wide. Both sides were looking lively on the break and YM were unfortunate to have a Martin Abery "goal" disallowed for offside after great work from Nader Edmunds.  Shortly afterwards a YM shot was cleared off the line and were again denied by some last ditch defending in the ensuing scramble.

But generally this was an evenly fought contest which was largely contested in the midfield with neither side managing to create much in the way of clear cut chances despite engineering some promising positions.
The second half was a tense affair with both sides realising that 1 goal would probably win the match.  YM keeper Rob Taylor had to make one finger tip save whilst Sports also threatened from set pieces thanks to some excellent deliveries.  At the end other, the chance of the half fell to Abery when he sprinted clear of the Sports defence to home in on goal but Sports keeper David Osbourne did well to stay big to deny YM's top scorer.

The game looked to be heading for stalemate when sub Sam Jennings, making his returning from a hamstring injury, played through a ball for Edmunds to run on to.  Edmunds outpaced the Sports defence and then drilled the ball past Osbourne with his left foot to spark manic celebrations from the player.
The final 20 minutes saw YM on the backfoot as Sports piled on the pressure but they could not create the clear cut chance they needed and the game finished at 1-0.

YM boss Mark Lemm said "This was a far tougher challenge than the previous week and credit to Sports manager Dan Purvis who did his homework and made a few tactical changes that made things difficult for us.  I always felt there was a goal in the game but it could have easily gone to Sports who matched us all the way in this one.
We are used to grinding out results in these tight games though and it says alot about the player's concentration and attitude."

The Rapids came through a tough test in the Berks and Bucks at the weekend, having to play 120 minutes at Twyford. It was a fair reflection on an encouter that sums up the phrase 'a game of 2 halves'

YM came out the blocks all guns blazing and went close with efforts from top scorer Dave Morrison and Steve Woodrow. Steve Wood was again causing havoc downt he left and linking well with the front men. It was no surprise when YM took the lead and it came from an unlikely source in skipper Ryan Tipper. A deep corner from Woodrow found the unmarked YM stalwart at the back post and he managed to scramble home from an accute angle. The Rapids then scored one of the team goals of the season as Ilsley and Chris Lemm played the ball out from the back to Wood who set Morrison away down the left. Wood carried on running and, after a trick from Morrison sent their full back sprawling, an inch perfect cross found him to side foot home and make it 2-0. This appeard to open to flood gates to make the game same but Twyford hit back with 3 great chances in quick succession to fire a warning shot across the YM bow and finally got their breakthrough just before half time after a Tim Morrison slip allowed a home forward to steal in and finish from close range.

The 2nd half could not have been more different. Twyford came out the blocks and thre everything at the Rapids. A formation change to a 5 man midfield meant they were creating far more space and it was one way traffic. The Rapids defence were put under pressure and it was only the goalkeeping heroics of Ian Harvey that kep the young men in the game. Harvey denied the Twyford strikeforce on no less than 5 seperate occasions and kept YM in with a shout. The equaliser looked certain to come and did eventually when a Twford striker cut across Morrison and went sprawling. The referee pointed to the spot and the game was level.

Extra time came and it was Twford who drew first blood to make it 3-2. YM looked shaken and in a position they weren't used but midfielders Tim Sidwell and Steve Woodrow dragged their side out the gutter and got them firing. Supersub Lewis Evans managed to miss from 3 yards to let the home side off but the equaliser came when a deep Sidwell cross was cut back and Dan Sutton made no mistake. Rob Maslen sent the crowd wild when he tucked in from close range and Evans put the icing on the cake with a fantastic run and cool finish from a tight angle to seal passage to the next round.

Rapids boss Paul O Boyle quoted "I was delighted with our character going behind in extra time to score 3 times in 2nd half of extra time underlined the spirit in the team and we look forward to the next round!!"

READING YMCA RAPIDS: HARVEY, T MORRISON (replaced by MASLEN 90mins), ILSLEY, C LEMM, LEACH (replaced by EVANS 65mins), WILLIAMS (replaced by SUTTON 75mins), SIDWELL, R TIPPER, WOOD, WOODROW, D MORRISON SUBS EVANS, SUTTON, MASLEN.

BOILER'S MOM - IAN HARVEY