Hayes & Yeading United kept their 100% record with a second Allied Counties victory at Reading Town on Tuesday evening, coming back from 2-1 down to gain a winning 4-2 margin despite the home side hitting the woodwork three times.

On a pitch with extremely long grass it was United who started the better and with just two minutes played Mohammed Bashley found room on the left flank and crossed to Michael Bryan who had come in from the opposite wing but he was blocked out by a duet from keeper Ben Coleman and defender Bradley Archer.

Within a minute United were once more on the charge as Esmond James outpaced his marker but sadly fired wide of the target. Reading then found some momentum of their own, albeit brief, as Lee Cliburn fed the ball through to James Clark but his shot across the face of Matthew Faley's goal was wide of the far stick.

Eleven minutes had elapsed when United took a deserved lead, James playing a perfect throughball that Dan Mehmet ran onto before clipping the ball over the advancing Coleman and into the Town net.

The home side took going behind as a kick up the backside and were soon putting Faley's goal under pressure. Josh Warren fired a free-kick to the far post, but despite climbing highest, Warren Baxter could not keep his header down and then the United goal was breached. Referee Mr Harris awarded a free-kick just outside the United area that Chris George stepped up to, firing past the wall and beyond the reach of Faley into the bottom corner.

With equality restored in the goals department the game started to move from end to end, Bashley crossed to James but his header was caught by a diving Coleman and almost immediately play switched ends and a loose ball was fired past Faley by Sam Cripps only to be denied by the upright as James Walters hacked clear. With play constantly switching, Coleman did well to save at the feet of the on-coming Bryan and then was well positioned to hold onto a Mehmet header from Ollie Fayed's free-kick before the home side went ahead. A cross from the right was weakly punched away by Faley and fell perfectly to Daniel Jewell who volleyed past the defender on the line from 20 yards.

United's response to going behind was perfect and five minutes later we were "tied at two" as the Americans would say. Mehmet won the ball in the middle of the park before playing the ball through the James who beat his marker before tucking the ball under the advancing Coleman.

United started the second period brightly, Bashley picked up a loose ball from the Town defence and fired across goal and wide while left-back Tajveer Seehra was allowed to advance from his own half unchecked and even given space to shoot from 20 yards but was just off target.

The home side then had a purple patch which saw the United crossbar come to the rescue, not once, but twice in a ten minute spell. Firstly, a right wing cross was superbly brought down by Cripps but his volley crashed back off the woodwork and then with twenty minutes remaining a short Josh Warren free-kick fed Clark who could only watch as his 25 yard power drive also cannoned back off the crossbar.

The impressive Josh Warren was then denied inside the six yard box by a well timed Abdula Nsubuga tackle before United moved forwards and took the lead. Fayed held the ball well before sending substitute Alex Harris through against Coleman whom he duly beat to put United in the ascendancy once more.

With the game still having ten minutes remaining the result was far from certain, a right wing run by United substitute Hasib Saeed saw a cross that Bryan connected with only for Coleman to put up a strong arm and pull off an excellent stop. Reading then broke forwards themselves, Clark beating off two challenges before disappointingly firing wide of Faley's goal, much to United's relief.

United appeared to put a seal on the game four minutes from time, emergency left-back Dominic McAuley who had replaced cramp victim Seehra only a few minutes earlier, took a quick throw that Bashley flicked back to him beyond the defender and he duly cut inside and beat Coleman from just inside the area.

There was still time for the home side to cause panic in the United defence, Stephen Warren raced away down the right side before picking out Josh Helmore in the centre who was denied by the outstretched leg of keeper Faley.

Report by Kevin Watts.