Reading YMCA moved up to 3rd in the table after a hard fought win over Woodcote/Stoke Row at Scours Lane.

YM had knocked Woodcote out of the BTC Senior Cup the previous week with an emphatic 5-1 win but this game was a lot closer and largely hinged on a missed penalty by Woodcote early in the 2nd half.

Woodcote were again ravaged by injury and unavailability going into the game with Ross Weatherstone, Duncan Holder, Steve McMillan and new signing Chris Hancock all absent.  But manager Pete McAllister was able to hand Dean Jordan his 1st start for the club.

YM were still without skipper Tim Sidwell who is likely to be missing until the New Year with an ankle injury but were boosted by the inclusion of new signings Mark Ilsley (Kintbury) and Dan Newman (Englefield).

With a strong wind in their favour YM started confidently with midfield duo Andy Bullett and Tim Zielinski both prominent.  The first chance came when Steve Woodrow broke through the Woodcote offside trap to go clean through on goal but his delicate dink over the keeper drifted wide of the post.

Another excellent YM move ended with Ilsley delivering a superb cross into the box for the onrushing Zielinski but with the goal at his mercy his header flew over the bar.

At the other end Woodcote were struggling to penetrate with their best chances resulting from individual errors from the YM defence.  Woodcote’s best chance came when YM’s Adam Cassidy allowed a ball to slide under his foot leaving Jordan in on goal but the excellent YM keeper Scott Mortimer made a great save to tip the ball around the post.

YM were still on top though and it took a great fingertip save from Woodcote’s Ben Rawlings to deny Drew Tipper’s long range effort.  Several other good opportunities were wasted and it proved to be costly when Woodcote took a surprise lead.  YM’s Danny Fitzpatrick was caught in two minds dealing with a seemingly innocuous through ball which allowed Frank Dillon to steal in and lob over the stranded Mortimer.  With the ball trickling towards the goaline, Jordan slid in to scramble the ball home.

But the lead proved to be shortlived as Woodcote defender Mike Hingley slipped trying to deal with a long ball which allowed Mark Lemm to race in on goal.  With the covering defender and keeper bearing down on him, Lemm squared the ball for Tipper to tap into the unguarded net.

YM had a great chance to go ahead just before the break when Bullett had a free header 5 yards out but his attempt hit the ground and bounced up in front of the keeper with Lemm unable to head it in.

Woodcote came out strongly in the 2nd half and could have easily taken the lead but YM’s energetic midfielder, Nader Edmunds, was enjoying plenty of space on the right and was causing plenty of problems.  But despite some good build up play YM couldn’t find the final pass until a Woodrow did well down the left before squaring the ball to the edge of the box for Lemm to hit an inch perfect volley into the top corner.

This was the cue for Woodcote’s best spell of the match and, with the conditions worsening dramatically, YM were forced to defend doggedly for much of the remainder of the half.  The turning point came on 60mins when an incisive Woodcote move found Frank Dillon free inside the box but as he motioned to shoot YM’s Cassidy slid in and clipped Dillon’s ankles for a clear penalty.  The resulting penalty was well struck by Worsfold but agonisingly for Woodcote it cannoned off the post to safety.

It was now all Woodcote but in difficult conditions the YM defence rose to the challenge with Fitzpatrick and Ilsley, in particularly, both outstanding.  Despite a lot of pressure Woodcote could never really create the clear cut chance they needed although Worsfold had the best chance when his header went wide of th post.

As the game drew to a close YM were hitting Woodcote well on the break and Andrew Heath, Edmunds and Tipper all had great opportunities to make the game safe with just the keeper to beat. 

But in a scrappy 2nd half it took a moment of class to decide the match when YM sub Newman gathered the ball 20 yards from goal before arrowing a low drive off the post and into the net for a debut goal.

YM player manager Lemm said “We looked really sharp going forward in the 1st half and should have made the game safe then whilst in the 2nd half Woodcote put us under a lot of pressure and we had to show the other part of game with a fantastic defensive effort.

Woodcote are having a horrific time with injuries at the moment but I rate them highly and they were a bit unfortunate not to get at least at point from this game.  They have some real match winners in their side and if they can get a few back they should start to climb the table.

Our squad is looking good at the moment and the problem for me now is to try and keep everybody happy.  But I rotated the squad today to give other players a chance and I will continue to do that throughout the season so hopefully everybody will play their part.”

READING YMCA: MORTIMER, FITZPATRICK, CASSIDY, ROLFE, ILSLEY, EDMUNDS, BULLETT, ZIELINSKI (replaced by KEARSEY 65mins), WOODROW (replaced by NEWMAN 65mins), M LEMM (replaced by HEATH 60mins), D TIPPER SUBS HEATH, KEARSEY, NEWMAN.

LEMMY’S MOM – MARK ILSLEY

Reading YMCA Rapids made it 11 goals in 2 games with a 6-1 win over Sonning Res.

Teenage striker Luke Buckley was the star man with a hat-trick whilst another teenager Dan Sutton also grabbed a brace.  Matt Olney wrapped up the scoring with his first YM goal since 2003 and also claimed 2 assists.

Stand-in manager Lindsey Edwards said “The lads are doing everything asked of them by picking up wins against the sides in the bottom half but the crunch will come when we face the top 4.

But I think we will be better prepared for those challenges than we were earlier in the season.”

READING YMCA RAPIDS: HARVEY, SANIGAR, R TIPPER, CORNELL, WOOD, OLNEY, WILLIAMS, WILSON, D MORRISON, BUC KLEY, SUTTON SUBS NONE.

LINDSEY’S MOM – LUKE BUCKLEY

Drew Tipper scooped last weeks MOM award with an awesome display in the cup win over Woodcote. Tippers forward play was outstanding and was capped off with 2 sublime goals, the 2nd being a stunning individual effort curled in the top corner leaving the keeper with no chance.