A close game was in prospect between Reed 3rd X1 and Hertford 1V until the late withdrawl of three Reed players meant that the going was always going to be tough. Despite the disadvantage Reed, having lost the toss, restricted the home side on the artificial pitch to 204-9 of their 47 overs thanks to a late flurry of wickets and the small boundary making life slightly easier.  Hertford scored steadily with the main contributors being Ridley (41), Williams (60) and Pavey (33). Reed’s opening bowling pair of the excellent Kallum Ward (13-2-35-5) and Ian Roberts (15-5-44-4) the only wicket takers out of five bowlers used. John Kershaw (8-0-48-0), having not bowled competitively for some 17 years, stepped in to fill the void in the bowling department alongside regulars Peter Baker (5-0-19-0) and Marcus Baker (6-0-47-0).

Reed were confident that with some watchful batting a win was still on the cards. However, this was quickly dealt a blow when the openers of P Baker and Radford were both out for nought. With the score at 3-2 John Kershaw (62) had partnerships with Rob Willoughby (12), M. Baker (9) and Ward (15) but with wickets falling regularly and Hazard out for nought, the game looked like ending quickly. One final partnership between Kershaw and Ian Roberts (6) put on a stubborn 49 off 10 overs for the final wicket before Kershaw was finally caught behind with the score at 127-7. A closer finish would surely have been possible if Reed had managed to field a full team.