READING rugby clubs London Irish and Rams each won their respective league last season, but it appears their marvellous achievements have not yet received the recognition they deserve at a local level.

They were true champions in every sense of the word and brought great enjoyment to thousands of fans with the oval-ball game the best-supported sport in the area after Reading FC.

The Madejski Stadium aces have regained their rightful place in the Gallagher Premiership, while the Old Bath Road men will be playing in the third tier of England rugby after winning National Two South.

At least, their heroics were honoured at national level with head coach Seb Reynolds being voted the 'amateur' coach of the year in The Rugby Paper's annual awards, while six players were named in the National Two South Dream team.

Rams and Irish have done Reading proud and surely they deserve some recognition from the Borough Council, if only if it's inscribed 'many congratulations' or 'you have done the town proud' plaque to hang in the clubhouse.

Reading Hockey Club's men's veterans may also feel they need some official acknowledgement for becoming the national 0ver-50s Tier 1 champions.

A Reading youngster making quite a reputation for himself in local cricket is 17-year-old Zain Ahmed.

The Saturday before last he set a new record for West Reading 1st XI when taking eight wickets for eight runs in their win over Ballinger Waggoners in the Berkshire, Mid Bucks and Chilterns Championship.

And his proud father, Mushtaq, came on the phone to remind me of the day when he took 10-17 in a Berkshire League game for Reading Allstars against Holyport.

Former Reading FC Academy coach Geoff Warner, who lost the manager's job at Bracknell Town despite guiding them to second place in the Bostik League South Central Division, has joined Hellenic League Premier Division side Burnham, where he will assist manager Paul Shone.

Burnham's owners include Nas Bashir, another former Reading Academy coach now with the Bisham-based FAB Academy, where Warner has also coached.