L1: Epsom 0 Reading 4

Reading’s second game of the weekend took them to Epsom for the quarter final of the National Cup.  This was uncharted territory for both teams although Reading had kncoecked out Trojans to get to this stage whereas the South Prem side had yet to face EHL opponents.

Reading made the best possible start scoring in the first minute.  After putting instant pressure on Epsom’s restart, a quick passing move down the right ended with a cross that was deflected into the top left corner by Becky Odlin.

After such a good start Reading relaxed a bit too much and made heavy weather of the rest of the half, spurning chances and ignoring their basics.  Epsom created little to threaten though, most of their chances coming from Reading mistakes and unfortunately for the Blues there were a few too many of those in the first period.

Reading looked a much better team when they passed the ball in their usual patterns: the pace and space generated by this exposed the gap between the two teams.  Reading played in this manner more often in the second half to slilence the vocal home crowd for longer periods.  Top scorer Claire Kerr put in another influential performance earning her the player of the match award. Reading scored three times in the half, all of them satisfying finishes to end fluid passing movements that are the trademark of Reading at their best.

Epsom got excited whenever Sam Archer got the ball and her skills caused Reading most problems, but she failed to ever beat the last defender until the final minute of the game when she won Epsom’s first penalty corner.  If there was any concern for Reading in this game it was that once again they failed to score from any of their own numerous penalty corners.

Nothing, however, could detract from Reading’s celebrations at the end of the game.  Reading may not have the fluency and crispness of their autumn performances yet but they resisted every challenge and did everything asked of them this weekend to set up an exciting season finale.

First there are more league challenges to come.  The league is not yet won and there are four games left with each team Reading face eager to be the ones to bring the first taste of defeat to the Blues.  Reading host Horsham on Sunday (14:30) which will no doubt be a tough physical encounter like their prior meeting.