Ardley United 2-0 Reading Town (21st Feb)

Firstly just like to say a great thanks to all the ground staff on Saturday who made the pitch playable. Secondly what a great team performance by all the lads which made great viewing for the Reading Town fans.

The Town are unbeaten in their last 12 games which is superb with the team scoring for fun and also the defence keeping plenty of clean sheets along the way. Ardley will be a good test for the Town as they are just 2 places below us and also 1 point behind the Reading boys . Ardley have are unbeaten in their last 4 games winning twice and also drawing twice. They didn't play on Saturday as their away game against Abingdon Town was postponed so that means they have had a bit of a rest.

After an 8-0 thrashing of Shrivenham i'm expecting another win at Ardley... would be nice to try and finish top 5 in the league at the end of the season.

Boza wrote:After an 8-0 thrashing of Shrivenham i'm expecting another win at Ardley... would be nice to try and finish top 5 in the league at the end of the season.

This should be another cracking game as both teams are unbeaten and scoring plenty of goals. Also another ground I will be visiting and will no doubt have some good old banter with their fans/players Plus it's meant to be sunny at the weekend

Three away games within a week.... give us a from Kidlington and Milton too another 9 points in the bag should keep Reading right up with Witney.

What absolute [****]...another loss. but i suppose the pressure is off now as there's nothing to play for for either of the teams so i say roll on the start of next season.

Boza wrote:What absolute [****]...another loss. but i suppose the pressure is off now as there's nothing to play for for either of the teams so i say roll on the start of next season.

Plenty of decent footie to watch, especially at Scours Lane Boza.
Berks & Bucks Cup games as well.
It's not just about promotion this season but more about team and character building for the future.
Lest we forget - many young players in this squad are now adapting very well at this level and will need all the encouragement that is offered.

Boza wrote:What absolute [****]...another loss. but i suppose the pressure is off now as there's nothing to play for for either of the teams so i say roll on the start of next season.

What do you mean another loss?? That's the first defeat in 12 games so the unbeaten run has come to an end. Aaron Parfitt got injured early on which didn't help matters so he was taken off.Ardley did have most of the chances and deserved to go 1-0 up fairly early on. Ardley doubled their lead when the ball hit the bar and the rebound was tucked away. The Town did have a few chances but they were either cleared off the line or they fizzed over the bar. Second half started more brightly with more shots going in at the keeper. Things though took a turn for the worst when Chris Grace was shown a straight red for bad language and this saw Scotty Rees go in goal. Even with 10 men the Town were still having a pop at goal but it wasn't to be and the game ended 2-0.

RTFC Barmy Army wrote:

Boza wrote:What absolute [****]...another loss. but i suppose the pressure is off now as there's nothing to play for for either of the teams so i say roll on the start of next season.

What do you mean another loss?? That's the first defeat in 12 games so the unbeaten run has come to an end. Aaron Parfitt got injured early on which didn't help matters so he was taken off.Ardley did have most of the chances and deserved to go 1-0 up fairly early on. Ardley doubled their lead when the ball hit the bar and the rebound was tucked away. The Town did have a few chances but they were either cleared off the line or they fizzed over the bar. Second half started more brightly with more shots going in at the keeper. Things though took a turn for the worst when Chris Grace was shown a straight red for bad language and this saw Scotty Rees go in goal. Even with 10 men the Town were still having a pop at goal but it wasn't to be and the game ended 2-0.

I suppose Reading Town are just so frustrating than most other teams in this division...ok, they have gone 12 games without defeat, but some silly draws against pish poor sides like Shrivenham and Harrow Hill have done nothing to help them, especially when the likes of Hungerford and Shortwood have been consistent and only suffered 2 defeats each, and minimal draws, thats why they are where they are.Anyway, as i said this seasons over in the sense of there not being no promotion or relegation to play for. Next season will be the big test as the team will have had their bedding in season, and for their standards have done fairly good, but Reading Town have got to be one of the favourites for promotion next season so there wont be any excuses.

To be fair, considering it;s Town's first season in the Hellenic League I think being in 6th is still respectable. Yes it's a defeat. But it's the first since November or October. That's pretty goood. Hungerford and Shortwood are well ahead anyway, they aren't gonna be caught.

As long as Town stay about where they are, I don't think it can be considered a bad season, especially with it being the first season in a new league. Ardley are pretty high up the table as well. Sixth before Saturday's game? And as Bramley says there's the Berks & Bucks. If Town win that, or even get to the final, I'll be delighted.

Although Gracey getting sent off for swearing at the ref (or whatever) is disappointing. Actually, with Hodget's gone to Henley, do Town has a backup keeper?

Boza wrote:

RTFC Barmy Army wrote:

Boza wrote:What absolute [****]...another loss. but i suppose the pressure is off now as there's nothing to play for for either of the teams so i say roll on the start of next season.

What do you mean another loss?? That's the first defeat in 12 games so the unbeaten run has come to an end. Aaron Parfitt got injured early on which didn't help matters so he was taken off.Ardley did have most of the chances and deserved to go 1-0 up fairly early on. Ardley doubled their lead when the ball hit the bar and the rebound was tucked away. The Town did have a few chances but they were either cleared off the line or they fizzed over the bar. Second half started more brightly with more shots going in at the keeper. Things though took a turn for the worst when Chris Grace was shown a straight red for bad language and this saw Scotty Rees go in goal. Even with 10 men the Town were still having a pop at goal but it wasn't to be and the game ended 2-0.

I suppose Reading Town are just so frustrating than most other teams in this division...ok, they have gone 12 games without defeat, but some silly draws against pish poor sides like Shrivenham and Harrow Hill have done nothing to help them, especially when the likes of Hungerford and Shortwood have been consistent and only suffered 2 defeats each, and minimal draws, thats why they are where they are.Anyway, as i said this seasons over in the sense of there not being no promotion or relegation to play for. Next season will be the big test as the team will have had their bedding in season, and for their standards have done fairly good, but Reading Town have got to be one of the favourites for promotion next season so there wont be any excuses.

I wouldn't say Reading Town have been frustrating as they have played some excellent stuff so far this season but it was an off day yesterday. With some players making mistakes who before this match haven’t made any errors. I am going to have to disagree with you again as there are no really poor sides in the Hellenic League. All of them fight/scrap and have plenty of determination to get a result. Also It's the performance on the day which counts don't forget like in the FA Cup Kettering were massive underdogs against Fulham and nearly pulled it of because they showed determination and fighting spirit to pull off a shock result. The season is over in a sense we can't get promoted but I expect the team will want to finish in the Top 4 or somewhere around there so then they can build momentum for next season. Also still in the Berks & Bucks so a chance to win some silverware. It's too early to say who will be favourites for next season as some teams might improve their squad by a fair bit or have a new manager who brings something new to the team. Also other teams are paying their players a fair bit of cash which will bring players from higher leagues to drop down a level.

Ben-Chris Grace was sent off for swearing/protesting. Not sure who will be a replacement as he will be suspended for probably 3 games and Hodgetts is at Henley now. Also no to sure if the ban starts straight away or it starts in 21 days

RTFC Barmy Army wrote:

Boza wrote:

RTFC Barmy Army wrote:

Boza wrote:What absolute [****]...another loss. but i suppose the pressure is off now as there's nothing to play for for either of the teams so i say roll on the start of next season.

What do you mean another loss?? That's the first defeat in 12 games so the unbeaten run has come to an end. Aaron Parfitt got injured early on which didn't help matters so he was taken off.Ardley did have most of the chances and deserved to go 1-0 up fairly early on. Ardley doubled their lead when the ball hit the bar and the rebound was tucked away. The Town did have a few chances but they were either cleared off the line or they fizzed over the bar. Second half started more brightly with more shots going in at the keeper. Things though took a turn for the worst when Chris Grace was shown a straight red for bad language and this saw Scotty Rees go in goal. Even with 10 men the Town were still having a pop at goal but it wasn't to be and the game ended 2-0.

I suppose Reading Town are just so frustrating than most other teams in this division...ok, they have gone 12 games without defeat, but some silly draws against pish poor sides like Shrivenham and Harrow Hill have done nothing to help them, especially when the likes of Hungerford and Shortwood have been consistent and only suffered 2 defeats each, and minimal draws, thats why they are where they are.Anyway, as i said this seasons over in the sense of there not being no promotion or relegation to play for. Next season will be the big test as the team will have had their bedding in season, and for their standards have done fairly good, but Reading Town have got to be one of the favourites for promotion next season so there wont be any excuses.

I wouldn't say Reading Town have been frustrating as they have played some excellent stuff so far this season but it was an off day yesterday. With some players making mistakes who before this match haven’t made any errors. I am going to have to disagree with you again as there are no really poor sides in the Hellenic League. All of them fight/scrap and have plenty of determination to get a result. Also It's the performance on the day which counts don't forget like in the FA Cup Kettering were massive underdogs against Fulham and nearly pulled it of because they showed determination and fighting spirit to pull off a shock result. The season is over in a sense we can't get promoted but I expect the team will want to finish in the Top 4 or somewhere around there so then they can build momentum for next season. Also still in the Berks & Bucks so a chance to win some silverware. It's too early to say who will be favourites for next season as some teams might improve their squad by a fair bit or have a new manager who brings something new to the team. Also other teams are paying their players a fair bit of cash which will bring players from higher leagues to drop down a level.

Ben-Chris Grace was sent off for swearing/protesting. Not sure who will be a replacement as he will be suspended for probably 3 games and Hodgetts is at Henley now. Also no to sure if the ban starts straight away or it starts in 21 days

I'm not denying that the team haven't played some excellent stuff at times this season(although i have not seen them play) The point i'm making about the frustration is you never know which Reading is going to turn up as they might get beat by a weak team one week, and then destroy a strong team the next. I don't know if the inconsistent results come from a young team finding their feet in a new league, or that the bad results have come from players missing through injurys etc, but hopefully Colin and the boys will have learned enough this season to have a good shot at the title next season.As for this league being competitive...well the jury is still out on that. I think Hungerford and Shortwood are the exceptional sides, then the next half a dozen sides are fairly tough opponents, but as you get to mid table i question that the quality isn't that great and would expect an on form RT to dispatch them quite easily.

A mid table side (Kidlington) hammered the potential champions of the Hellenic One East League (Binfield) last week.The mid table sides are sometimes the toughest as they raise heir game against the higher placed sides. There is a difference at Step 5 as every game is a tough one and you have to earn your points.

I believe that Rdg Town have viewed this season the same way a promoted club would. Try to consolidate, see where you need to strenghten and look to build each season.

Last league defeat was in Nov so Town have seemed to sort out any inconsistency. Also the fact that Town were without Hancock,Saurez and Riccio gave the fringe players in Colin's squad a chance to impress. However Ardley were the better side on the day and deserved their victory.

Ass-man wrote:A mid table side (Kidlington) hammered the potential champions of the Hellenic One East League (Binfield) last week.The mid table sides are sometimes the toughest as they raise heir game against the higher placed sides. There is a difference at Step 5 as every game is a tough one and you have to earn your points.

I believe that Rdg Town have viewed this season the same way a promoted club would. Try to consolidate, see where you need to strenghten and look to build each season.

Last league defeat was in Nov so Town have seemed to sort out any inconsistency. Also the fact that Town were without Hancock,Saurez and Riccio gave the fringe players in Colin's squad a chance to impress. However Ardley were the better side on the day and deserved their victory.

I think that's a bad example using cup games to gauge strength of teams though as Binfield were also stuffed by the current Reading League leaders, Woodley Town back in November. I don't think the HL div one teams are that good though and i would expect a mid table prem team to beat one from the league below anyway.
I agree about Reading though they have done well this season, but they need to be more consistent and clinical next season especially against the bottom teams who have taken points off Reading even during their unbeaten run they dropped points against Harrow Hill and Shrivenham for instance where as the top two Hungerford and Shortwood have only lost two a piece each. I guess this season was all about consolidation and i think they have done that, but there wont be no excusses for failure next season as they will be one of the favourites i would imagine.

After noticing that Ardley had done the double over Reading this season.. i just checked where Ardley was on Google Earth...blimey, it's basically a village and with 56 attending the game (according to the Hellenic website) the whole [*******] village population must have been watching.

Boza wrote:After noticing that Ardley had done the double over Reading this season.. i just checked where Ardley was on Google Earth...blimey, it's basically a village and with 56 attending the game (according to the Hellenic website) the whole [*******] village population must have been watching.

If the whole village was to attend the game then it would be 666 after looking on Wikipedia. Also It's pancake day today so don't forget to get flipping

RTFC Barmy Army wrote:

Boza wrote:After noticing that Ardley had done the double over Reading this season.. i just checked where Ardley was on Google Earth...blimey, it's basically a village and with 56 attending the game (according to the Hellenic website) the whole [*******] village population must have been watching.

If the whole village was to attend the game then it would be 666 after looking on Wikipedia. Also It's pancake day today so don't forget to get flipping

666? sign of the devil well they have been Readings unlucky omen this season anyway ...well, 56 of 666 is almost 10% of the population, pretty good going.