Cheltenham 2s were back on the road for another away match against Reading 2s.

Being their third match of their formation, they were looking to register their first win.

The team had some new and existing faces in the squad.
In defence, James Lloyd returned in goal, with Alex Brown, Ben Brown and Joe Perkins stepping in.
In midfield, Conor Dockery, Alex Bray, Ethan Lee, Stephen Bennett and James Cole all came in for their debuts in the twos.
The attacking line up stayed the same this week with Drew Houlbrooke, Yuriy Syiek and Joe Emberey returning.

The first quarter was an exciting and an eventful one where Cheltenham started in possession after winning the toss.

Cheltenham had many shots go narrowly wide and hit the pipes before Drew Houlbrooke finally beat the defence and keeper to give the visitors a well deserved 1-0 lead.

The defence shut out Reading’s attack where the defensive unit used what they learned in training to put into practice, shutting out feeds with James Lloyd dealing with the rest.

The second half saw more goals from both sides after each team upped a gear in attack.

Cheltenham won the ball back immediately and with a feed to crease, in-form Yuriy Syiek scored with a well placed goal.

Reading then got their first goal by exposing an opening for their attacker to beat Lloyd.

Houlbrooke then got his 2nd by holding the ball when fed and placed it low, before Reading got their 2nd to show they are still in the game by receiving a feed low and beating the Cheltenham keeper.

Syiek scored two in succession with one from another feed to crease, and then taking a powerful shot from up top during a man up play.

Ethan Lee who was mopping up the ground balls during the game, got his first after a clever drive through the middle, where Joe Emberey scored a trademark jump shot.

Reading scored a third just before the end of the half to keep in reach.

During the half time, the defensive and attacking coordinator kept the organisation of the team in tact to go into the 3rd quarter to keep pushing for the win.

The third quarter saw Cheltenham at their best.

The defensive work, transition and clearing was straight off the training ground with great communication from all.

Syiek scored two more to up the score line whilst Lee and Emberey added to their tallies.

Reading scored a crease goal whilst Lloyd and the defence kept them out for a long period of time. The shots were also kept out with a lot of help from Joe Perkins and James Cole taking a ball to the body in various points in the game to keep the home side out.

Cheltenham played cleverly to remain in control and to prevent the fatigue from affecting their performance.

The fourth quarter saw Cheltenham dominate with Conor Dockery adding a goal to his many assists in the match and Syiek scoring two more to give the visitors a fine score to a well earned win.

Cheltenham had to endure a final attack from Reading in the last three minutes with every player putting everything in to keep them from scoring.

This was kept a clean sheet quarter by timed interceptions from Perkins, Alex and Ben Brown along with five stunning saves by Lloyd.

The Cheltenham midfield helped bring the ball to Reading’s half and held the ball to see out the game.

Final score Reading 2s 4-14 Cheltenham 2s

An excellent performance by the 2nd team to cement their first win.

Goalscorers:
Yuriy Syiek x 7
Drew Houlbrooke x 2
Joe Embery x 2
Ethan Lee x 2
Conor Dockery x 1

Men of the match:
Yuriy Syiek, Joe Embery and James Lloyd

Yuriy Syiek showed his quality and attacking threat with seven goals for the Welsh U20 international.
Joe Embery won back lost balls and battled successfully every ground ball in the game whilst scoring two goals. An important player in the team in the attack and midfield.
James Lloyd showed his experience and athleticism with many clinical saves from all angles.

The 2nd team is back in action on 10th October in a friendly at home against the Cheltenham 1st team.