Ascot United 0 Reading U23 4 (Berks & Bucks Cup Final, 7th May 2022)
Although I’ve been to quite a lot of football matches, Berkshire derbies are a rare thing for me. The two highest profile ones have been for the FA Cup clash between Reading and Slough in 1991, where Reading blew a 3-1 lead in injury time at Slough’s Wexham Park, before winning a replay. I’d watched Wokingham lose 0-2 there a couple of years earlier, in a top of the table clash.
The others have all been in the Berks & Bucks Cup, which Reading have entered sporadically over the years. They have made the last two finals though, even if the previous one was a full three years ago, thanks to covid.
That one also featured Slough, who gained some kind of revenge for that cup defeat with a 3-1 victory. Slough would not be playing in this one, but their fairly new Arbour Park ground would be the venue. Wexham Park, just a few hundred metres away as the crow flies, is still there, but mainly reclaimed by nature since Slough had to move out in 2003.
I can only assume the area near the ground is studentland, as the walk up from where I’d parked near the station showed a succession of houses with front gardens ‘landscaped’ into a kind of ‘urban wilding’, all overgrown scrubby bushes and weeds, that would have fitted in well with Wexham Park.
Arbour Park, in constrast, is an oasis of neatness, that might not quite be able to shake off that ‘new non-league ground sterility’ but the main stand and facilities are impressive – how many grounds have a rooftop beer terrace? – and enough cover to make you not have to reconsider attending if a spot of rain looks likely. If only there was a way to stop people standing by the fence right behind the goal, it would get higher marks.
Appearing in the final would be Ascot United, in their first final, and the first club from so far down the league system to make it to the final too. They are used to smart surrounding too, located in the grounds of the town’s famous racecourse, almost closer enough to the grandstand to be in its shadow on a autumnal evening. They’d had a much harder route to the final than Reading U23, having to win five ties to make it. Their semi-final v Wycombe drew a record crowd of 1267 to Ascot’s ground.
On paper it should have been a routine win, and the scoreline suggests that was the case, but that doesn’t quite tell the whole story. Ascot actually started the strongest, and you could see their players were really up for the occasion. These sort of games though can sometimes come down to a battle of technique v determination, and the technique of Reading struck first after 15 minutes, when about their first clear sight on goal saw a shot from the edge of the area beat the Ascot keeper at the near post, and set the tone for the rest of the half.
It was like a switch had been flipped, and from being potentially awkward, the Reading players oozed confidence, stroking the ball around and making the Ascot players chase around on a pleasantly warm afternoon. Within 15 minutes it was 2-0, with a Melvin-Lambert header, headed in from a perfect cross, being one of those goals that makes effective football look so simple.
On 38 minutes it was three, with left-back Imari Samuels adding a composed finish, in off the post, after being put through. It could have been worse, but for the odd good save or bit of last-ditch defending, but that would have been harsh on Ascot, who weren’t playing badly, but were maybe guilty of allowing the Reading players a little too much time on the ball.
It was something they clearly addressed at half-time, as while there is almost certainly an element of the Reading players ‘taking their foot off the gas’ the Ascot players played the second half with a degree of grit missing from most of their first half display. With them being hassled, some of the composure went from the Reading display, and Ascot would largely control the half. Even so, they had to be alive to the threat Reading possessed, with one break – and Reading’s attacks were mainly on the break in this half – being cut across the six yard box for a tap-in, only for nobody able to get that final touch.
Ascot’s main route to scoring looked to be from a set piece. They had plenty of corners, and a player with very long throw creating a bit of danger, but the Reading defence was able to repel almost everything put into the area, which the Ascot forwards just didn’t have their day with the few that didn’t. Clipping the bar was about as close as they came.
The game had become very niggly, with loads of stoppages, resulting in seven minutes of added time. It was in the fourth of these that Reading added the fourth. With Ascot down to 10 men, and throwing everything forward to try to get at least a consolation, there were gaps at the back. One had nearly been exploited a minute or two earlier, with a shot that had gone over the bar. This time, a loose ball had been knocked up into an Ascot player’s arm. With many seeming to freeze slightly, wondering about a penalty, the ref either played on, or ignored the appeal, and Melvin-Lambert was there to knock the ball into a largely unguarded net to add a little extra gloss to the day.
It’s harsh on Ascot, as it was a magnificent achievement to get this far, but they should be able to look back on the cup run with pride. It was also good to see that the Reading players looked genuinely delighted to have won. You can sometimes wonder what players from professional clubs make of these cups. I once saw Reading lose a final to Maidenhead, where losing didn’t look like it bothered them in the slightest, so it was good to see this group of players cared.
For the few hundred Reading fans there, in the given crowd of 1122, it was a little something to enjoy in an otherwise miserable season, and with little obvious prospect of the club’s fortunes improving soon, you have to take these moments when you can.
Stadiums and Cities 