Reeds good run of performances came to a holt away at high flying Flitwick on Saturday. Reed got off to a rare poor start, seeing themselves struggling at 24 for 4. Phil Frenay and Will Dobson then set about adding some stability to the innings. Dobson with some first class shots and Frenay showing resilience in getting Reed going before Frenay went first for 25 and Dobson shortly after for 27. A few boundaries from Jack Tidey (19) and some stubbornness from Simon Jackson and pinch hitting from four hitting Graham Wilson saw Reed limp to 118. Jason Twist was the pick of the Flitwick bowlers taking 4-28.
After a lovely tea which even involved sledging from new Flitwick cheerleader Big Phil, Reed went out hoping to get an early breakthrough to make the game interesting. However captain Ferguson and Underwood had other ideas. Ferguson was made to jump around by the Reed bowlers however put away the bad ball away very well indeed. Whilst Underwood scratched around for dear life. Drop catches again were Reeds downfall and if they had managed to take one of the tough chances, it may have exposed the rest of the Flitwick line up. Ferguson raced to 70 out of their first 92 before Underwood was beaten by the pace of Lee Johnson with Jackson taking a diving leg side catch.
Johnson got wicket number 2 and then clean bowled Ferguson shortly after but with the wickets coming too late, Flitwick went through their target in less than 21overs. Disappointed Reed captain James Heslam, “felt that the game was a slight blip in our recent very good batting performances. They bowled well, whilst we could have been slightly luckier whilst batting. Lee (Johnson) bowled well, with some good pace however we just did not have enough runs on the board. I expect us to bounce back Saturday against Hemel Hempstead.”
