A beautiful day in RG30 saw Simon Johnson’s Cityzens enter the pitch for the final time this season as we welcomed play-off chasing Burnham.  Johnson opted to make three changes from the side that faced Bedfont two weeks prior with Harvey Collins, Lamin Sankoh and Lucas Wynn coming in for Josh Baines, Joel Valentin and Eddie Lazarczuk.

KICK-OFF: Reading City 0-0 Burnham 

The first half began with each side trying to crack the oppositions defence, with Burnham being the first to threaten, the hosts pushed down the Cityzens right forcing Jay Herbert to defend at the near post, before Wynn could flick the ball on for a counter-attack. Emery then got on the end of Wynn’s flick but having missed timed his turn was flagged offside, ending our attack.

The Cityzens were piling on the pressure in the early moments with a long throw being launched into the Burnham box, where a flick from a Cityzen flashed the ball towards Archie Cunningham’s goal.

Shortly after, Sankoh threatened with his effort going just wide off the far post. From the resulting goal kick, Burnham were able to force York into a smart save down low.

Jabir Laraba would be next to threaten for the visitors, having found his way into the box he was chased down by Baker & Cowd. Laraba did well to muster up any effort, but it flew over the bar.

A fairly even affair at the Rivermoor with both sides creating chances, with Burnham looking to cement their place within the play-offs. The visitors however were struggling to find the breakthrough they needed. It would be the Cityzens who would find the breakthrough, however. After a brilliant cross from Hagger, Wynn was on hand to stroke the ball home past Cunningham for his eighth goal of the season.

The goal helped to settle things down and a beautiful team move from the Cityzens almost gave Sankoh the chance for a quick second, however Lamin would be unable to convert on this occasion which our Captain’s Josh Baines & Phil Veal brought up in their light-hearted and brief takeover of the City socials.

As the half was coming to a close, a goal kick from York found Emery who after a lovely touch delivered the ball to Collins who unfortunately would have his effort blocked.

With the clock trickling over into added time. City drove forward, with a ball over the top which was knocked down by Wynn and laid off to Harvey Collins, who blasted the ball home with a smart finish leaving Cunningham no chance, to open his goalscoring account and double the Cityzens advantage.

Following the goal the referee brought the first half proceedings to a close.

HALF-TIME: Reading City 2-0 Burnham 

No changes were made in the interval, so the referee got us underway again. Burnham piled the pressure on early, with the ball falling to Laraba inside the City 18-yard box, only for this shot to whistle past York’s left-hand post. With Burnham continue to press, as they searched for a way back into the game, Hagger was the first to have his name written in the book, after committing a foul to halt a counter-attack.

In an attempt to regain some control of the match and relieve the pressure, Simon Johnson opted for a triple change pulling Ben Holder, Jay Herbert and Lucas Wynn and calling on Lucas Taplin, Joel Valentin and Declan Joyce.

With play back underway, Burnham launched another attack as Mitchell cut in and unleashed a curling effort which was comfortably dealt with by Charlie York at the near post.

With the clock ticking towards the hour point, City made their final two changes in the hope of seeing out and potentially extending their advantage. Harvey Collins after running his legs into the ground was replaced, allowing Josh Baines to enter the frame, Lamin Sankoh was also replaced with Joe Pilling being called in his place.

A foul in the box gave Burnham an opportunity to get back into the game, as the referee pointed to the spot. Abdel Sahnoun stepped up to take the spot kick and calmly placed the ball into the corner, Charlie York managed to get a hand to it, but not a strong enough hand on this occasion.

Three minutes after getting back into the game Burnham found another opportunity to mount more pressure on the Cityzens. A freekick whipped in is blocked by the wall before the cross from the rebound was hooked clear by Hagger.

Into the final fifteen, Despite Burnham continuing to launch attack after attack, laying siege to the city defence, they couldn’t find the elusive equaliser.

It was City who would come the closest on the counter with Taplin firing just wide of the far post after leaving Cunningham routed to the spot. Burnham eventually did find the back of the net but a handball by Dennis would chalk the goal off.

Before the final whistle, there was one last chance for City to put the game to bed. Johnson’s men charged forward but the effort was dragged wide and from the resulting goal kick the full-time whistle would blow bringing this afternoon’s game and the 2024/25 season to a close.

FULL-TIME: Reading City 2-1 Burnham

After a quick fire double right in the middle of the first half, a resilient City side were able to see out waves of Burnham pressure ending a disappointing season on a positive note.

Yesterday’s defeat leaves our visitors Burnham having to look at results elsewhere on Tuesday evening, to find out if their efforts this season will result in a play-off campaign or if today has condemned them to another season with us here in step 5.

we would like to wish Burnham the best of luck for the remainder of the season, in the event they qualify for the play-offs.

On behalf of everyone at Reading City Football Club, we would like to thank each and every Cityzen that has supported our First Team at home, on the road or interacted with us on social media whilst following our progress from a far this season. We are truly grateful for your support, as without you we are nothing.

Although our First Team Campaign has ended, if you need your football fix our Under 23s, Cityzens Squad, Under 18s and Youth Academy are still in action and supporting them in the closing stages of their campaigns, would be equally appreciated.

Have a great summer and we look forward to seeing you again in pre-season as we prepare for the new 2025/26 campaign. Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels as more information regarding pre-season will be released in the coming months.