| Newbury Reserves opened their season away to Maidenhead Reserves. The match was played in difficult conditions with a strong wind blowing down the pitch which affected the game particularly in the second half as the wind strengthened. Both teams were short of one player.
Newbury started with the wind behind them and opened brightly winning a corner after 2 minutes but Maidenhead were soon to counter showing the speed on the break particularly on their right wing.
Creese was gave Newbury’s first opportunity after a couple of strong runs down the right with a cross to the far post which Wright, inside the 6 yard box, was just unable to reach.
With the game now going from end to end, a Maidenhead corner was immediately followed by Creese having a shot saved but a minute later Maidenhead went 1-0 up when the striker broke through the middle of the defence to leave the advancing O’Leary in goal no chance to save.
From the restart, with Newbury defence in a bit of a tangle, Harvey made a desperate clearance off the line to keep the score 1-0. 5 minutes later Harkness was able to restore the scoreline to 1-1. Newbury’s confidence was restored and following good work in midfield between Parfett and Harkness, Creese got in another good cross where this time Harkness at the far post was just unable to connect with the ball.
Maidenhead then restored their lead with a break down the left to make the score 2-1. Minutes before half time Creese again broke down the right but this time headed towards the goal and coolly placed the ball past the keeper to restore the scoreline to 2-2.
Half time saw the wind increase significantly and was now to Maidenhead’s advantage. Minutes into the half Maidenhead had a free kick just outside the box to the right and the cross was punched away well by O’Leary. The pressure was now on the Newbury defence and 5 minutes later Maidenhead scored with a well taken shot over the keeper’s head.
The maidenhead pressure continued for the next 10 minutes and this time it was Povey who cleared the ball of the line. But after another 5 minutes Maidenhead made it 4 with a shot that just squeezed inside the right hand post. On the half hour keeper O’Leary made a tremendous clearance off the line for what initially seemed like a certain goal.
With 15 minutes to go Newbury got back into the game as Creese now moved from right wing to centre forward almost got through the defence but with 5 minutes to go, with Newbury attacking, they got caught up field and a Maidenhead break gave them a 5-2 win.
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