Newbury stormed to the top of the table after an impressive 4-0 victory over Reading YMCA.

The West Berks side were bottom of the Senior Division after the first 3 games of the season but a superb run of form has seen them climb to the top of the table in their first ever season in the top flight.

And they got off to the perfect start against the Young Men by taking the lead in the opening 5 minutes.  A Newbury free-kick was cleared by the YM defence but as they pushed out the ball was played back into the dangerzone where central defender Micky Mayne beat the offside trap to outjump YM keeper Scott Mortimer and head the ball into the net.

YM were knocking the ball around reasonably well without ever looking like threatening the Newbury goal whilst the YM defence was keeping star striker Kalief Madden under control.  But when a poor defensive clearance fell to a Newbury player outside the box he slotted a pass through to Madden who found some space to get a shot in.  Although the shot was slightly scuffed it managed to jump off a divot and leap over the outstretched hand of Mortimer.

YM were trying hard to make inroads in the Newbury half but their opponents were working hard off the ball to close the Young Men down forcing moves to breakdown and passes to go astray.  YM then received a hammer blow just before the break when they gave away another soft goal.  An overhit through ball looked to be travelling comfortably into the hands of keeper Mortimer but as he scooped to pick the ball up a Newbury wide men nipped in to nick the ball away and slot the ball into the unguarded net.

YM switched to a 4-3-3 in the second half and the first 15 minutes of the half the game was fairly even but, when a goal didn't come, YM began to fade as Newbury stepped up a gear.  A 4th goal duly came helped by some poor defensive indecision from YM the last half an hour was all Newbury as they stroked the ball around with supreme confidence.

Newbury hit the bar twice and spurned many more great opportunities but the score remain unchanged leaving Newbury to head into their crucial last 6 games full of confidence and YM left to rebuild their confidence after 2 consecutive defeats.

YM player manager Mark Lemm said "It always make things difficult when you concede an early goal and this is the second game in succession we've done that.  So straight away you are playing catch up whilst the other side can relax a bit and play some football.

I actually thought we did ok 1st half without really penetrating but when Newbury got chances they were clinical.  We had to throw men forward in the 2nd half and obviously this gave Newbury more space to play and in fairness they looked really good and should have had a couple more.

Our confidence has taken a bit of a knock in the last couple of weeks but we have strong characters in the side and the morale is good so we'll just work hard to rediscover our form in the next game."

READING YMCA: MORTIMER, HARRISON (replaced by M LEMM 80mins), ROLFE, CASSIDY, ILSLEY, SIDWELL, EDMUNDS (replaced by NEWMAN 55mins), FITZPATRICK, BULLETT, WOODROW, D TIPPER SUBS NEWMAN, M LEMM, MEAKIN (not used).

Reading YMCA Rapids took a giant stride towards promotion by beating fellow high flyers Bell & Bottle 2-0 at Laurel Park.

After an indifferent start to the season, the Rapids have now taken 25 points from their last 9 league games in a run which has pushed them up into second in the table.

Bell & Bottle had already beaten the Rapids twice in league and cup this season but the Rapids fielded a strong team and, although Bell had more than their fair share of possession, the Rapids defence led my Man of the Match Matt Olney was in superb form.

The Rapids took the lead midway through the opening half when midfielder Ryan Tipper lashed in a Sean Kenny corner.

Tipper than turned provider in the 2nd half when he played in Aidey Kearsey who evaded a challenge before slotting home for his first for the club.

Player manager Paul O'Boyle said "It was a great effort by everyone today particularly the defence who stood up to everything that was thrown at them. We've got 5 games left now and looking at the remaining fixtures we probably have to win all 5 to give ourselves a chance of promotion.  But we won't have any tougher games than this so we have to believe we can do it."

READING YMCA RAPIDS: HARVEY, CORNELL, OLNEY, ZIELINSKI, KENNY, SANIGAR, R TIPPER, KEARSEY, C LEMM (replaced by WOOD 85mins), SMITH (replaced by WORTH 60mins), HEATH SUBS WORTH, WOOD, SUTTON (not used).

Ben Green was the bright spark in a misrable day for YM as he scooped the MOM award in the 2-0 defeat to Mortimer. In a game where YM were largely the better side, Green marshalled the defence well and put in some excellent tackles to deny the Mortimer attacking threat.