St. Margaretsbury win by 1 wicket It was a David and Goliath fixture, as Herts Division 3 Reed faced full strength and 2nd placed Premier league St. Margaretsbury “the equivalent of an Arsenal v. Cambridge United football clash” in the National Village Cup semi finals on Sunday.

However, despite their sporting supremacy, St. Margaretsbury almost left with egg on their faces as they narrowly scraped an embarrassing 1 wicket victory on the final ball of the game, thanks to a nail-biting 24 carat performance by the local lads.

Winning the toss, St.Margaretsbury elected to bowl on a damp pitch offering considerable seam movement. Yet the conditions and technically superior bowling failed to faze Baz Curtis (22) and James Heslam (24), whose magnificent timing, seeing Reed to a solid 41 run start.

Chris Jackson followed up Curtis’ role as he grafted a patient 27 with Richard Jerome (42), and wicket-keeper Stuart Smith, fresh from a useful League knock on Saturday, smashed an imperious 33, including a blistering hooked 4 and 6. Left armed spinner, M.Fisher (8-0-37-4), was clearly the pick of the St. Margaretsbury bowlers.

Following a temporary shower, Reed registered a challenging 165 for 8 wickets in their 40 overs. Reed&Mac226;s reply shocked St. Margaretsbury as William Clarke (9-4-16-1) was taken for a mere 15 runs in his opening 7 overs, and Michael Berks’ (9-3-40-1) made an early breakthrough by frustrating B.Wallis (5) into playing a rash stroke to mid-on.

Despite being smashed for 10 in his first over by N.J.Anstead (21), Peter Tidey (9-0-60-3) came up trumps in conjunction with Smith who took a sharp catch and stumping opportunity to remove their highest run-scorer, T.Quirk (37).

Clarke finished off his final two overs at the other end for 1 run, removing their captain for a duck bowling him middle stump. Richard Jerome (9-1-18-4) contributed significantly with the ball as he tightened the run-scoring and removed a chunk of their middle order.

As runs became harder to score, and overs expired, the away side managed to obtain the 2 off the final ball to win, leading to a mini-pitch invasion, reminiscent of an FA Cup final victory, rather than what should have been a standard conquest of a division 3 side.

Simon Jackson, Reed’s skipper, commented: “Although clearly disappointed, we showed guts and talent beyond our ranking in division 3. We not only surprised them, but also feel that we made a significant point, from which we will all draw strength and apply to next year’s Cup and the league season ahead. I don’t feel we are the team walking away with our tails between our legs!”