Thanks to a battling 15 point draw on Saturday at Northchurch, Reed 1st XI hauled themselves up to 11th in Division 2 of the Hertfordshire League, in yet another close game for the North Hertfordshire lads.

Winning the toss, and electing to bat on a pitch renowned for its placid nature, James Heslam took the attack to Northchurch as he began caressing the ball to all corners of the ground on his way to a scintillating 118. Combined with Tom Fulk, in a patient knock of 54, the pair steered Reed to a commanding 116 first wicket partnership, before Fulk, in a moment of rashness, attempted to drive Northchurch’s Australian import, P.McGiffin, through the covers awarding gully a simple catch. Chris Jackson (19) assumed Fulk’s mantle by supporting anchorman Heslam towards the magical three figures, until he too miscued a drive off the Antipodean spin-king. Heslam was steaming forward towards his maiden Division 2 century, and Baz Curtis provided an effective batsman to bat in tandem with Heslam. Baz, in a recent rich vein of form, filled this role with ease as he grafted a supporting 39 before falling to McGiffin (22-0-94-4). When Heslam finally sacrificed himself on the boundary in an attempt to press the team’s overall total, it was left to Richard Jerome (17) to steer the ball around and help Reed to a challenging total of 261-5 off their 53 overs.

Reed knew that this was well within the hosts sights as they had batted with consitency throughout the season. McGiffin, opening the batting as well as bowling 22 overs, went about slaughtering some of Reed’s bowling with some blistering strokes. He played with a steady temperament to reach a score of 129 leaving Northchurch in a masterful position to close in on Reed’s target. Failing to even beat the bat once, and with only 1 false stroke throughout his innings, which Reed finally capitalised on. The balance of power swung to and fro throughout the match. McGiffin was ably supported at the other end by Harvey Cox (35) and T. Head (59) who together carried the hosts to 260-5 off their 57 overs, leaving the game drawn overall.

The match came to a head in the final over, as they required 7 to win, Reed looking for the draw. It took a gutsy performance from Reed icon, Peter Tidey (11-1-70-1), returning from a disappointing earlier spell, to hold Northchurch to 5 in the final over and snatch a wicket on the last ball stealing victory from Northchurch and awarding Reed with a winning draw as their innings ground to a halt on 260-5. Richard Jerome (21-1-78-2) was surely the pick of the Reed bowlers as claimed 2 vital wickets, especially that of McGiffin late in the innings thanks to a staggering high catch by Michael Berks. Berks also bowled with typical control and pace to end with highly respectable figures, in the context of the match, of 13-0-80-1.

Despite such an evenly balanced game, Reed managed to walk away with 6 more points than Northchurch, boosting their position in the tables, and frustrating the host’s promotional bid. Without doubt, McGiffin starred throughout the day, although perhaps to the detriment to the rest of the team, who between them played a minimal role in the game.