Reed restored their pride on Saturday by beating 10 man Northwood Town at home to place themselves 11th in the Hertfordshire League and revive their batting which had suffered in the past fortnight.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Reed opener Baz Curtis (13) and James Heslam (85) got the hosts off to a solid start with a platform of 23, but a short delivery that hurried Curtis into a misjudged hook allowed Northwood Town to make an early inroad. Without key batsmen Tom Fulk and Chris Jackson, Reed’s line-up looked fragile, but fledgling top-order number 3, William Clarke (27), stepped up to Chris Jackson’s role as he dug in to score a grinding 27 off 66 deliveries supporting Heslam who was now getting into his stride with some damaging pulls and drives that ensured Northwood’s morale was unerringly dented. As Northwood stared at a potential total well in excess of 200, Heslam’s dominance continued against their second string of bowlers until he too misjudged a pull stroke 15 runs short of his century, ending his welcome return to form with a simple chance to mid-on. Simon Jackson (10) then came in to support Clarke, who tried to open his shoulders, but ended up offering a sharp chance to first slip off Doling (11-3-42-5). The middle order then all chipped in, with notable performances from 15 year old 1XI debutant Ed Garrott (10), as well as Marcus Martin (12), Richard Johnson (20*) and Peter Tidey (8*), to help accumulate 223 for 9 off their 53 overs.

After a refreshing tea, Reed’s bowlers then put to work at trying to dismiss Northwood’s ten man team, weakened by their wicket-keeper’s absence for personal reasons. Reed’s youth and athleticism in the field paid immediate dividends as James Heslam completed a chanceless run out after a mis-field by Andrew Emms to reduce the visitors to 28-1. The Reed bowlers toiled until the introduction of Will Clarke (5-1-13-2) accommodated for dangermen Ahluwalia (27) and Piper (29). However, this only allowed Doling (45) to the wicket, as he took grip of Reed’s bowling and accelerated the run-rate to an alarming level which threatened a loss for the local team. However, the first over after drinks saw Andrew Young (13-2-62-2) take two wickets of Doling and Naqui (19) to reduce Northwood to 146 for 5. Further tight bowling from Andrew Emms (8-3-20-2) and debutant off spinner Ed Garrott (9-3-24-2) saw Northwood’s effort fizzle out as their weaker lower order was slowly exposed. Just as it seemed Reed would not have enough overs to bowl out Northwood, Ed Garrott showed his maturity as he deceived Biggs (17) into a shot that left him plum LBW to award Reed their 30 points as Northwood limped to a meagre 199-9 (effectively all out).

Simon Jackson commented afterwards: “With Chris and Tom missing, and after our recent form with the bat, I was concerned that we would not have the depth batting this week, but everybody stepped up to post a decent total, and despite some wayward bowling early on, we stuck to the task well to dismiss them. I was particularly pleased with Ed Garrot’s commitment in the field as well as his controlled and responsible bowling in tough circumstances.”