Reading YMCA went down to their second successive league defeat against a Mortimer side who lifted themselves off the foot of the table with their first win of the season.

Mortimer were looking for revenge after YM edged out the villagers in last season's BTC Senior Cup Final but it was the Young Men who started strongly.

Striker Drew Tipper was YM's main attacking threat whilst the pace and direct running of Nader Edmunds was also causing problems.

But despite YM's bright start it was Mortimer who took the lead against the run of play when the excellent Martin Abery turned sharply in the YM box before stabbing the ball past keeper Scott Mortimer.

YM continued to press though and got their reward shortly afterwards when Tim Zielinski was adjudged to have been fouled inside the box.  Mortimer were incensed by the decision claiming that no contact had been made but defender Danny Fitzpatrick stepped up to superbly convert his 3rd consecutive penalty in as many games.

YM then had a golden opportunity to head into the half-time break in front when Darren Cornell robbed a Mortimer defender of the ball.  With the entire Mortimer defence stranded Cornell was left clean through on goal but just as he was about to pull the trigger 6 yards from goal he lost his footing leaving Mortimer keeper Dave Lyons to clamly scoop the ball up from the floor.

After a strong 1st half from YM it was Mortimer who had the better of the 2nd half with Abery and Skantos using their pace and skill to stretch the YM defence whilst wide man Ben Dunk was also enjoying more possession.

Several half chances and promising attacking situations were spurned by Mortimer until they thought they had taken the lead when a free-kick from the edge of the box was deflected agonisingly wide of the upright with keeper Scott Mortimer totally wrong-footed.

But with 15 minutes left Mortimer finally took the lead when a mix-up between David Rolfe and Danny Fitzpatrick presented Skantos with the ball.
Skantos then raced towards the remaining YM defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

The last 15 minutes saw YM throw everything at Mortimer with Andy Bullett and Edmunds both going close before a first-time shot from Zielinski was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Lyons to keep the score at 2-1.

YM manager Lemm said "This was a much better display from us after a really poor performance last week against Rabsons.  I said to the lads before the game that I can take losing a match if we lose in the right way and I felt we did that today.

We had the better of the 1st half and should have scored a couple more but then Mortimer dominated the 2nd half and always looked to have more of a cutting edge.  We kept working hard and could have nicked one in the last
15 minutes but I've got no complaints about the result and I think Mortimer will cause alot of teams problems this year as they have a solid, experienced defence and some real flair in the final third.

We now need to get back to winning ways quickly as all the other sides are picking up points but if we can match this effort with a bit more composure on the ball we'll get results."

READING YMCA: MORTIMER, M LEMM, ROLFE (replaced by WORTH 70mins), CASSIDY (replaced by KENNY 65mins), FITZPATRICK, CORNELL, SIDWELL (replaced by BULLETT 60mins), ZIELINSKI, KEARSEY, EDMUNDS, A TIPPER SUBS BULLETT, KENNY, WORTH.

LEMMY'S MOM - ADAM CASSIDY

Both sides went into this encounter on the back of a decent start to the season but it was Newbury who proved to be too strong for the Rapids.

Newbury raced into a 2-0 lead at half-time and although the Rapids improved after the break, sparked by the introduction of Matt Olney and Dean Williams, it was Newbury who maintained their momentum to add 2 more goals to finish the game 4-0 winners.

Rapids boss Paul O'Boyle said "We were just beaten by a better side today who were also fitter and faster than us.  But we have 4/5 players who have only just started playing men's football and games like this will help them develop.  The main thing for me was that the attitude and spirit were excellent and we kept going right until the end."

READING YMCA RAPIDS: HARRIES, SANIGAR, SILLEY, C TIPPER, CALLOW (replaced by GROVER 65min), T MORRISON (replaced by OLNEY 45min), PATTERSON, R TIPPER (replaced by WILLIAMS 45mins), WOOD, SMITH, MASLEN SUBS WILLIAMS, OLNEY, GROVER.

BOILER'S MAN OF THE MATCH - RICHARD SILLEY

YM keeper Scott Mortimer took last weeks mom award against Rabson Rovers. Mortimer stared in YM's dire performance that saw them lose 2-1. Mortimer made a string of excellent saves including a penalty save in the 1st half.