Published: Thursday, 4th September, 2008 14:00
History against title-chasing Westwood
By By Seamus Hayes
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Full preview of the new Reading Saturday League season
Westwood Utd produced heroics last season to win the Reading Football League Senior Division title by two points from Newbury FC.
However, the last time a side won back to back titles was eight years ago and the Tilehurst based outfit will start the season without a number of their Championship winning team of last season.
Perhaps the biggest loss will be Dave Green who will take a considerable amount of time to recover from a serious injury while Ally Frith and goalkeeper Neil Graham have both hung up their boots.
Another player to have left the club is Mattie Seymour who has signed for Reading YMCA. On the plus side they have signed two goalkeepers in James Small, who has returned to the club after a spell with Woodcote/Stoke Row, and Kieran Lamb who has left Royal Mail.
Long serving Cookham Dean Manager Terry Claydon has stepped down from the role but continuity is the key for the Maidenhead based side and Dave Clarke has moved up from his previous role as reserve team boss.
However, his squad has been decimated by the departure of no less than eight senior players and to date he has not been able to find adequate replacements.
Strikers Pavi Banghoo and Jamie Handscomb have both joined Burnham while Mark Doswell and Lee Ovens have also stepped up the pyramid with Marlow Utd.
Two other departees are James Gisbourne, who has joined Holyport, while Scott Allen has signed for Reading YMCA.
The other two who have left are Matt Collis who is joining the Marines and Carl Reeve who has retired.
This has left a huge gap in Clarke’s resources and having been at the top end of the table for the past decade they may well find themsleves involved in a relegation battle.
Reading YMCA are another side who value stability and they can be confident of another successful season under the shrewd guidance of Mark Lemm.
YM ended the campaign in fourth spot and Lemm has considerably strengthened his squad particularly in the forward department.
Strikers Matt Seymour has joined from Westwood Utd while Martin Abery has made the move from Mortimer.
Defensively they should also be stronger with the vastly experienced Scott Allen making the move from Cookham Dean.
Only two players have departed with Dan Newman and Andrew Heath both moving away from the area.
Woodley Town made huge strides last season to finish in fifth place and under the shrewd guidance of manager Andy Abrahams they can expect a further improvement.
All of last season’s squad have signed on and Abrahams has captured Carl Davies who has senior experience with Brackla FC from the South Wales League.
Cyril Fairchild has been appointed as assistant to Abrahams. The pre season has gone exceptionally well with a 6-1 defeat of Finchampstead which was followed by a 3-3 draw with Penn & Tylers Green.
Frilsham & Yattendon were defeated 3-1 and their latest success was a 6-0 drubbing of Reme Arborfield.
Abrahams is looking for an improvement on last season and this ambitious club are targeting a top three finish and to reach a cup final.
Highmoor/Ibis boss Martin Law will be assisted by the experienced Paul Hamilton for the forthcoming campaign and once again they have not been slow to bolster their resources including the entire squad from the now defunct Bell & Bottle.
It is likely that the long serving Rob Williams will play his football for Henley Town this season but Law has recruited Danny Seward who was with Reading Town last season as well as Casey Green and Barry Elmore from South Reading.
The talented Aaron Baker, who was with Shinfield last season, has also signed forms.
Highmoor’s pre season has gone well with the highlight a 2-1 win over Hellenic League Flackwell Heath while they went down by 2-1 to Finchampstead and 3-0 to a much fitter Marlow Utd side.
Law’s is very confident his side will make a large improvement on last season’s very disappointing sixth place.
After a poor start to last season, Berks County Sports showed a marked improvement after the New Year and if they can make a fast start they could secure a top half finish.
They already boast a very strong forward line in Ian Bradshaw and Stuart Stone and the addition of the experienced Nathan Broad will only add to their firepower.
Mortimer are another side with a new man at the helm and the much travelled Albie Stevenson has taken over the reins from Mark Vincent, although it is likely Vincent will be on hand to assist.
Stevenson has been disappointed in the attendance at pre season training although the friendlies have gone well despite defeats at the hands of Binfield (0-2) and Henley Town (1-2).
Stevenson has added James Weston to his squad from Shinfield as well as Lawrence Holmes who has left Woodley Town. Eddie McKenzie, Adam Cayzer and Jermaine Williams have also signed on.
But a number of senior players have left the club including keeper Dave Lyons, striker Martin Abery and winger Ben Dunk.
Lyons has been replaced by veteran John Bates who was with Stevenson at Forest Old Boys in their heyday.
Stevenson is realistic about his side’s prospects believing that a mid table position would be an achievement.
Rabson Rovers endured a desperate first half of the season last term and propped up the division until the New Year. But once manager Tony Warwick was in a position to field a full strength side they managed to haul themselves clear of trouble and finshed two points above the relegation zone.
Warwick is once again struggling to finalise his squad although most have signed on again however it looks as if the influential Mattie Brown will not be involved.
Mark Brown has moved over from Royal Mail while talented youngsters Ben Bonner and Darren Luff have also joined the club.
Warwick’s viewpoint is that any improvement on last season, when they finished third from bottom, will be seen as a success.
Woodcote/Stoke Row and Royal Mail occupied the bottom two positions last term and it was rumoured that Mail might fold following the retirements of Secretary Jock Masson and Manager Chris Ward.
But through the persistence of Stewart Corp they have turned things around with Morlai Dumbuya taking over as manager. Dumbuya will be assisted by Donato Lambressa and Corp but another difficult season could be on the horizon.
They will be operating on a small squad with only 13 players signed on at present but they have played four pre-season games and won all of them.
Corp is optimistic about their chances and the feeling within the club is that a finish just below mid table would be satisfactory.
Woodcote will be all the better for last season’s experience and despite losing 14 of their 20 games few were by margins of more than one goal.
Manager Pete McAllister is still at the helm and he has made a number of new signings including goalkeeper Nick Hancox who was with Burnham last season and Simon Benham who has come over from Newbury FC.
He also expects to make three further signings before the campaign begins.
On the managerial side Paul Meakin has left Reading YMCA to take on the role of reserve team manager. On the debit side keeper James Small has returned to Westwood Utd while Michael Butcher is starting the season at Henley Town.
He will also be without Frank and Jake Dillon, James Worsfold and Johnny Clark until September 21 which will mean that they will miss four games.
There are two new sides in the Division with Sandhurst Devels joining from the Aldershot & District Senior League and Taplow Utd, who despite only finishing in fourth position, have been promoted from the Premier Division.
It is a huge step up for both clubs but Taplow in particular look to have the set up to consolidate in the section while Sandhurst may take longer to adjust.
Taplow have recruited extensively over the summer under the guidance of manager Billy Jawandha with Guy Rapley joining from Holyport, while Lee Turner has made the short move from Cookham Dean.
Stephen Jones and Rob Gilder have joined from Beaconsfield while Mark Schmull and Craig Skitt have been bagged from Amersham.
They have played four friendlies enjoying three victories and a draw and the clubs expectation is to establish themselves in the Senior Division this season.
Sandhurst finished as runners up in the Aldershot District League last season and manager Chris Reid is well aware that the task facing him is going to be much tougher.
He has signed on five new players from the local area as well as retaining all of last year’s squad.
They have met Cookham Dean Res and Waltham FC in friendlies winning 2-0 and 6-2 respectively while they battled to a goalless draw with Marlow Utd.
Reid is confident his side can consolidate this season in mid table as well as enjoying a good cup run.
See this week's Reading Chronicle for a look at the rest of the divisions in this year's Reading Saturday League.
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