After all the blisteringly hot weather in recent weeks Sunday 19th July proved frustratingly generally overcast with a large number of mercifully mainly light showers peppering the Langleybury ground throughout the day. However none of these ever forced the players from the field in any of the 4 matches completed during the day.
Semi Final: Reed v St Albans:
The Reed v St Albans pairing lost the toss for pitches and played out their match on the 2nd ground. After the heavy rain of the day before the pitch was damp and slow and the ball would need to be powerfully struck to make it to the boundary over the  slowish outfield with its uphill rise on both sides.
St Albans won the toss and not surprisingly asked Reed to bat. As expected the ball proved difficult to get away and against the tight bowling of Bloomfield and Goddard Reed made a cautious start before losing opener Benham LBW to Goddard for 5 with the score 7-1 off 3 overs. Sam Deville joined Will Heslam at the crease and the pair started to build a solid partnership with Heslam in particular playing some powerful and fluent strokes. Deville 9 fell bowled by a ball that kept low at the start of the 12th over with the score on 47. Reed skipper Sean Tidey joined Heslam at the crease but almost immediately suffered a pulled hamstring which caused him to call for a runner and restricted his fluidity. The Reed pair took the score to 72 in the 16th over before Heslam was caught trying to drive Kentish over the top for an excellent 44 off 52 balls faced, including 6 well struck boundaries. 2 further quick wickets saw Reed reduced to 77-5 as the late dash for every possible run ensued. Tidey fell bowled for 10 but Keiran Willoughby struck a useful 12, and 16 extras saw Reed eventually total 101 for 8 off their full 20 overs. Not at all a bad total given the ground conditions. Goddard 4 overs 2-25 and Kentish 2 overs 3-11 were St Albans main wicket takers.
The St Albans reply saw Reed wicket keeper and captain Sean Tidey significantly struggling with his hamstring injury but he elected to play through the discomfort rather than deploy the Reed 12th man. An early run out saw St Albans struggle to dominate against the very tight opening bowling of Deville and Heslam who both bowled a good length with little width being offered. 2 wickets for Deville (4 overs 2-17) and a miserly spell from Heslam (4 overs 1-9) saw St Albans slipping behind the required rate at 26 – 4 after 8 overs but number 5 Stunt was looking threatening and beginning to build a useful score. The total moved to 41 for 4 after 10 overs but when Bowskill fell adjudged LBW for 8 the pressure of the tight Reed ground fielding and accurate bowling really began to tell. 41-4 dramatically slumped to 49 -7 in the 13th over and when Stunt 22 struck a rare loose ball from Benham to mid wicket and was victim of a magnificent diving catch by Heslam the writing was on the wall for St Albans at 49 – 8.
Will Kirby Reeds “split bowler” bowled 2 overs 2-17 and Luke Cox bowled a nagging 3 overs 2-13. The St Albans innings finally closed on 51 all out in the 15th over when the lively Benham bowled Rogan and a very tidy Reed display in the field, unusually for them conceding only 8 extras, saw Reed go through to the final courtesy of a 50 run winning margin.
FINAL: Reed v Berkhamstead.
Things seemingly started well for Reed as they won the toss and asked Berkhamstead to bat. Reeds Sam Deville (4 overs 2 -15) bowled a tight line and good length and backed up by incisive fielding Reed recorded an early wicket caught Cox bowled Deville which together with a run out saw Berkhamstead slightly on the back foot at 10 – 2 off 3 overs. However, O’Dair and Steed steadied the Berkhamstead innings and took the total to 43 in only the 7th over before Reed struck a double blow with Steed run out for 19 and the incoming Smith caught for 0 making the score 43 – 4. Another Berko spurt saw the score rise to 73 – 4 in the 12th over at which point Reed again put on the brakes with Beard caught for 5 and a smart piece of work by Nick Green producing the 3rd run out of the innings making the score 73 – 6 and the match advantage seemingly in the balance. O’Dair however, having survived a couple of difficult chances remained defiant and in good form. Reed then applied the brakes and at 78-6 after 15 overs the scoring rate had significantly slowed. O’Dair though stepped up another gear and assisted by No. 8 Barnett the pair added 29 in the next 3 overs before Kirby bowled Barnett for 12. Antonelli 7* stayed with O’Dair who closed with a vital 49* as Berkhamstead totalled an acceptable though not rampant 122 for 7 off their full 20 overs.
At the changeover Reed, having been free scoring themselves all season in their earlier qualifying matches, were by no means intimidated by the Berkamstead total. However 4.1 overs later the match was effectively over as the only 4 truly front line batsmen available to Reed on the day were all back in the pavilion dismissed by the very pacey, aggressive and effective Berkhamstead opening attack of Harrison and Steed whose level of pace would not have been out of place in relatively high grade adult cricket. Will Heslam was adjudged LBW to the 5th ball of the innings and soon after Sam Deville was needlessly run out for 1. Ollie Benham fell victim to the pace of Steed and Sean Tidey skied a defiant drive attempt to cover point. The Reed top order having been blasted away the remaining batsmen battled bravely but vainly with nobody in the Reed side reaching double figures and the 12 extras of 10 Wides and 2 No Balls representing a third of Reeds eventual total. Keiran Willoughby top scored with 6, U13 Tom Walsingham, Nick Green and Luke Cox bravely stood their ground against the pace attack and Matthew Naeem sought to stay to the close to secure a parental bribe! After suffering a violent bout of illness Will Kirby padded up and went in at No11 but never faced a ball as Josh Conley skied a catch again to cover point. After only 12.5 overs it was all over with Reed dismissed for just 36 and Berkhamstead running out clear and deserved winners by 86 runs.
36 teams entered the competition – Reed finished Runners Up (not “Losers” as described in the post match awards ceremony!) and the list of the Reed boys victims reads like a whose who of Hertfordshire cricket. Hertford, Bishops Stortford, Sawbridgeworth, Broxbourne, Hoddesdon, Letchworth, St Albans!!!
Many thanks to all the parents, players and other club members who came on the day and gave Reed the largest support base of any of the teams involved.
Many thanks are due to Langleybury Cricket Club who hosted the day magnificently and provided the match officials, as well as an ongoing cafeteria service, a lunchtime BBQ and a well patronised Bar! A high standard of Cricket was displayed in all the matches played and it was an immensely enjoyable day for all the young men involved who were well and sportingly supported by a large number of parents and well wishers from all the 4 clubs involved.
