Last night was already a cause for celebration as the club unveiled their new home shirt and official tracksuits which have generously been provided by our new principal sponsor Parkers, but come the end of the 90 minutes we had even more reason to celebrate as Reading City had rocketed to the top of the Hellenic Premier Division after winning 1-0 against Burnham in front of a crowd of 172 people.
MATCH REPORT (By Nick Bird)
Burnham visited Rivermoor Stadium on their second game back in the Hellenic Premier Division after an opening day defeat to Fairford Town 3-0. Reading looked to continue their good form from the opening day win over Shrivenham with another win here vs Burnham.
It was a much quicker start by Reading City with a header going close from a corner only five minutes after the start. Burnham replied minutes later with a corner of their own saved by Charlie York to deny an early goal for the visitors.
McKoy Palmer showed great pace from a Reading attack right after that corner with a strong run down the left to the byline which forced a corner. The corner was swung in by McKoy but the resulting shot went just wide.
McKoy once again had a strong run to the edge of the box and had a shot which just missed the target. A strong start from the left-winger.
However, Burnham was the side who were having more of the ball and were committing lots of men going forward allowing them to keep the ball in the Reading City half. Although they had lots of possession they struggled to get many shots on goal that Charlie York had to worry about and the defence did a great job of shutting them down. Reading City couldn’t get the ball on the floor and subsequently created very few chances.
Despite the Burnham possession it was Reading City who had the best chance of the game so far as they counter-attacked down the right, a ball was then put into Khalid Simmo who had a shot well saved by Burnham keeper Sam Buntig but the keeper couldn’t hold onto it and Reading City retained possession leading to another shot from midfielder Dan Davies in the same place saved by Buntig again. City should have taken the lead but Buntig did very well to keep his side level.
Five minutes later Burnham was on the attack and the ball was crossed from the right-hand side to Ollie James in the box, Steve Lee was holding him up well before James went down in the box which lead to appeals from both sides for a penalty and a dive respectively. However, referee Simon Weston dismissed the appeals from both sides.
Dan Davies got his second yellow card of the season after a late tackle in the middle of the park on 38 minutes. The free-kick was decisively claimed by Charlie York who came out and caught the ball before anyone else could get on the end of it.
On 40 minutes Burnham had a corner cleared by Reading City, Khalid Simmo got on the ball and it was a 2v2 as Khalid carried it from the edge of the City box to the Burnham box, skipping over challenges from recovering Burnham players on the way. He had an attempt at goal which was blocked by a defender. Nothing came from the corner initially but when the ball was put back into the box Reading City captain Josh Blackwood looked for goal of the season as he attempted a bicycle kick but narrowly missed the ball.
It was only three minutes later though when Blackwood found himself high in Burnham half when he saw the opportunity to dispossess a Burnham player on the edge of their box, he did so allowing him to get into the box and drive a shot across goal past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give the home side a lead going into half-time, Reading City 1-0 Burnham.
Reading City started fastest after the break, Khalid Simmo made a run down the right, something we’ve already become accustomed to seeing from the pacy winger, he cut inside but the Burnham defence didn’t allow him to get a shot away.
Another chance fell soon after for City as a clearance by Burnham fell nicely just outside the box for Matt Stockill who hit the ball on the half volley but the shot was deflected wide for a corner.
Khalid Simmo created the first big chance in a while in the 61st minute as he drove down the right again and cut inside drawing the final two Burnham defenders before offloading the ball to Fergus Burton who had his shot charged down quickly by Buntig he couldn’t get to the rebound which he would have likely put in to make it 2-0.
Burnham had their first good chance of the half with just over 20 minutes to go as substitute Duncan Berry had a long-range shot that Charlie York saved well.
McKoy Palmer found himself playing upfront as Fergus Burton was substituted and Yashwa Romeo was only on for 15 minutes before having to come off again injured. Palmer broke on the counter and played the ball to substitute Mo Davies, Davies had a go at goal but the keeper saved it stopping Reading City from increasing their lead.
The last chance of the game came for Matt Stockill, he had the ball just inside the box, his shot was blocked but the keeper wasn’t on his line when the ball dipped due to the block and barely went over the bar.
The game ended Reading City 1-0 Burnham, City deserved the win as they had the best chances and they should have won by a couple more but couldn’t finish their chances.
MATCH GALLERY
MATCH REACTION
First Team Manager Simon Johnson had this to say following our win last night.
"Not at our best tonight, but defensively sound and earned a clean sheet, 2 wins from 2 isn’t bad going, great start to the season. On to the FA Cup on Saturday!"