Reading YMCA swept to the top of the Senior Division table after a hard fought 2-0 win over rivals Woodcote/Stoke Row.

YM were still without Chris Lemm and Matt Bicknell and were further hit by the late arrival of defender Adam Cayzer who was caught in traffic on the M25.  Cayzer's absence saw manager Mark Lemm hand James Atkinson is first start of the season whilst Johnny Adey was also restored to the starting line up for the first time since October.

YM started the game at a high tempo and established early authority against a side they have never lost to.  The midfield trio of Edmunds, Wagner and Tipper were not allowing their opponents any space and, offensively, were looking to release wide men Adey and Abery.  But it was Woodcote who went the closest to scoring when a header from a free-kick flew wide of the goal.

Woodcote had regained their composure and began to improve although YM still retained the upper hand.  YM's first real chance of the match came when Sam Jennings turned and played a through ball into the path of Adey whose first touch was good but struggled to negotiate the boggy pitch and was caught by the covering defence who did enough to force he striker to shoot narrowly wide.  Woodcote then had a shot from the corner of the box that flew wide but at this stage defences were on top with little in the way of clear cut opportunities.

Full backs Rob Lee and Atkinson in particular were defending magnificently with Atkinson's pace snuffing out the threat of Woodcote's top scorer Toby Nowell and Lee blunting the threat of YM old boy Andy Bullett.

The best chance of the half came on the half hour when a neat YM move saw Drew Tipper expertly scoop a pass over the Woodcote defence into the path of Abery who took the ball superbly on his chest only to blaze the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

Woodcote had their best spell of the game at the start of the 2nd half and twice went close when a James Worsfold header from a free-kick drifted agonisingly over the bar whilst another cross into the box just eluded an onrushing Woodcote player when any touch would have guaranteed a goal.

YM roused themselves again and began to dominate possession and territory and finally made the breakthrough on 65 minutes in sensational style when a Jennings flick on was met by Abery who, from a difficult angle, steered a left foot volley into the top corner.  The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the battling villagers and it was all YM for the remainder of the game.  And the win was secured when Abery beat the Woodcote defence for pace to bear in on goal but although the keeper saved well Stuart White was on hand to show his class with a cool finish into the bottom corner.

YM had 2 great chances to extend their lead in the final stages when Steve Daly went close with a header and then Atkinson shooting wide when clean through but the score remained at 2-0 which was a fair result on the day.

Lemm reflected "I rate Woodcote highly and think Pete McAllister has done a great job there but we seem to have the Indian Sign over them in the last few years.  There wasn't much between the sides but we just seemed to have the edge in most areas and, apart from a spell at the start of the 2nd half, looked in control.  But when it's 0-0 anything can happen so you could see the relief when we got the first goal and we were excellent from there on in.

Special mention to James Atkinson too who came in at the last moment and produced a MOM performance."

READING YMCA:HODGETTS, ATKINSON, GREEN, FITZPATRICK, LEE, ADEY (replaced by DALY 70mins), WAGNER, EDMUNDS, D TIPPER (replaced by CAYZER 80mins), ABERY, JENNINGS (replaced by WHITE 73mins) SUBSDALY, WHITE, CAYZER.

LEMMY'S MOM - JAMES ATKINSON

YM's second string made tough work of the bottom side, eventually coming through 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Luke Kasonde (2)and Dave Morrison.

A dreadful referring decision made the final 20 minutes uncomfortable for a Rapids side in a rich vein of form. YM started the day resting Key midfielders Darren Cornell and Steve Woodrow and giving Paul Towner a rare start in the middle of the park with Lewis Evans making his first start for 6 weeks on the left hand side.

A boggy Pangbourne pitch was not condusive to flowing football and the first 15 minutes turned in to a scrappy affair with overhit passes and the tackles flying in but it was Towner that managed to settle the Rapids with some slick passing and movement. Morrison and Kasonde were causing the usual problems upfront but were struggling with an over zealous linesman and the flag went up more times than it didn't. The breakthrough came on 25 mins when Sidwell found 5 yards of space and slotted a perfect through ball for Kasonde to run on to and the rest is history as per the 16 previous times this season! It was then Morrison's turn to have a go at a one on one and the first occassion was disallowed for a dubious offside, but the YM hitman made no mistake when played through by Jules Baker 2 minutes later, and made it 2-0. YM were crusing and it seemd to be how many rather than the result being question. Kassonde then grabbed his second after Sidwell picked up the ball at the right back position and pinged and inch perfect ball 40 yards for the Rapids top scorer to round the keeper once more and make it 3-0.

The second period started in much the same vein with Evans romping down the left and Jules Baker causing havoc down the right. Several chances were spurned by various players but the major incident came on 70 minutes when a Taplow forward appeared to control the ball with his arm for a blatent handball, but the ref waved play on the the player hit a shot that took 2 deflections and found its way in to the YM net. The triggered a period of resurgence for the away side and YM had to defend for the final period. A great save from Froud coupled with a ridiculous dive from a Taplow player meant YM saw the final 20 minutes out and grabbed the points.

Boss O Boyle quipped 'I'm pleased to start making our way up the league after so many weeks without a game and we made life hard for ourselves when they got back on track, but showed our resiliance and came through well'

YM RAPIDS:FROUD, LEACH, CASSIDY, ROLFE, KENNY, BAKER, SIDWELL, TOWNER, EVANS, D MORRISON, KASONDE. SUBS: WOODROW (Replaced Kenny 65), CORNELL (Replaced Towner 70) NEWMAN (Replaced Morrison 70)

BOILERS MOM - PAUL TOWNER