Reading YMCA reached their 4th consecutive BTC Senior Cup Semi-Final with a 4-1 thrashing of Theale/Royal Mail but the result bore no relation to a game in which Theale were dominant for long periods.
 
And YM manager Mark Lemm was under no illusions "Theale/Royal Mail were robbed if I'm honest and deserved to go through.  They battered us in the 2nd half and I'm just relieved that having played so badly we are still in the cup."
 
Theale were forced to play Graham Sims in goal with Kieron Lamb absent whilst YM welcomed new signing Marc Headland into the squad for the first time.
 
YM started brightly but should have gone behind when Arshad Beg was clean through on the left hand side only to blaze his shot over the bar. Mail were edging territory and YM seemed nervous with their usually rock solid defence looking hesitant and disorganised.
 
Midway through the half YM took the lead against the run of play when a free-kick into the box found Ben Green whose header looped in the air allowing striker Sam Jennings to outjump keeper Sims and nod into the unguarded net.
 
Shortly afterwards YM made it 2 when a great solo run from Nader Edmunds ended up with his miscued left foot shot sailing into the far corner of the net.
 
The goals did nothing to settle YM down though and Mail continued to press although, in truth, were creating few clear cut chances whilst at the other end YM's rare counter attacks were posing a threat to the Theale defence.
 
With half-time approaching YM almost made the game safe when a deep Jason Wagner free-kick caught on the wind and arrowed towards the goal only to hit the crossbar and rebound to safety. But with the score remaining at 2-0 Theale still had plenty to be positive about heading into the 2nd half.
 
YM had a great chance to kill the game off at the start of the 2nd half when a powerful Johnny Adey run saw him one-on-one with the keeper but the pacy wide man rushed his shot and sliced wide.  From that point on it was all Theale as they bombarded the YM goal and sensed a comeback on the hour when Morgan Hampden stepped in on the left wing, picked up the ball and travelled towards goal where he unleashed an unstoppable shot into the net.  It was as good a goal as you will see in local football and Theale now smelt blood.
 
They should have levelled the scores soon after when a corner found sub Dwayne Winter unmarked but he could not keep his header down.  YM were in panic mode and could not get out of their half as a succession of corners and free-kicks rained in on their goal.  YM's Green and Jennings were immense during this period with both putting their bodies on the line to win crucial headers.
 
YM were non-existent as an attacking force but then hit Theale with a sucker punch when a Edmunds through ball put Martin Abery clear and the striker kept his nerve to slot past Sims for a 3-1 lead.
 
YM then had the luxury of bringing on former Dorking and Thatcham striker Stuart White for MOM Jennings and he showed in his class in a 20-minute cameo which helped to see out the game.  And it was White who finally destroyed Theale's dreams when he picked up a loose ball to bare down on goal and finish expertly past the despairing Sims.
 
Abery had a late chance to extend the scoring but a heavy touch saw the opportunity go begging.
 
YM boss Lemm continued "That was the worst we have played this season but what saved us was our finishing.  Our achilles heel this season has been failing to finish off teams when we have had the chances but today our finishing was almost faultless.
 
We're now in 2 semi-finals so we can park the cup for a few weeks and concentrate on the tough league games we have coming during February."   


READING YMCA:M LEMM, CAYZER (replaced by HEADLAND 60mins), GREEN, FITZPATRICK, LEE, ADEY, EDMUNDS, WAGNER, D TIPPER (replaced by M LEMM 87mins), ABERY, JENNINGS (replaced by WHITE 73mins) SUBSHEADLAND, WHITE, M LEMM.

LEMMY'S MOM - SAM JENNINGS

YM Rapids came through a stern test against a strong SRCC outfit at Pangbourne on Saturday. With a semi final at stake YM were forced in to a couple of changes with Dave Morrison away and Jules Baker returning to the 1st team. Last weeks MOM James Atkinson got the nod up front and Steve Daly slotted in to the right midfield position.

The game started at a frantic pace on a boggy Pangbourne pitch and it was the away side making all the running, getting the ball wide and creating a couple of half chances though Dave Rolfe and Mark Ilsley looked in commanding form. Darren Cornell was putting himself about and mopping up the pieces, whilst Sean Kenny and Chris Leach were gradually getting more involved down the flanks. The sucker punch came on 25 minutes when a routine lump upfield was miscontrolled by Rolfe and the SRCC forward nipped in and smashed an unstoppable shot past Froud to open the scoring. This spurred YM on as the went in search of the equaliser which came on 35 minutes when a deep Woodrow corner was met by Kasonde to notch his 18th of the season. The rest of the half was all YM with Atkinson causing all sorts of problems with his pace, but the teams went in level.

The second period started in similar fashion as YM went in search of the 3rd goal but always susceptable to the counter attack. As the game wore on the legs got heavier and it was a real old skool end to end up tie with Kasonde and Atkinson (twice) going close. At the other end Rolfe and the returning Ilsley were snuffing out any threat and it seemed as though there would only be one winner but the 90 minutes were up and the deadlock unbroken.

Extra time prooved almost farsical with both sides on their knees and it came down to fitness, but with the introduction of a 'fresh' Ryan Tipper the YM midfield was shored up as Sidwell pushed out wide to fire in cross after cross that just failed to create the killing blow. With the game looking destined for penalties it was the unlikely source of Mark Ilsley that popped up with the winning goal. Sidwell chucked in his 20th long through of the game and with the ball bouncing around among a host of bodies Ilsley snapped up the chance and slotted home to see YM though to the next round.

YM RAPIDS: FROUD, LEACH, ROLFE, ILSLEY, KENNY, DALY, SIDWELL, CORNELL, WOODROW, KASONDE, ATKINSON. SUBS: Evans (Kenny 65) R Tipper (Daly 90)

BOILERS MOM - MARK ILSLEY