Reed were trying to put two disappointing draws behind them as they travelled to Rickmansworth II. Skipper Baz Curtis again won the toss and had no hesitation to bat on a wicket that look white and full of runs. Within 2 hours he was proved right, but unfortunately for 3 out of top 4 it had no runs in it for them at all. Curtis himself being the first duck of the day quickly followed by William Heslam and Richard Johnson. At 9-3 and 57-5 it looked like a terror track thanks to a fine opening spell from the home sides skipper. Andy Milner taking 4-28 from 9 over at one stage. Fergus Martin and old brother Marcus tried to steady the ship and managed to see some shine of the new ball, but both feel to good catches when looking set.
This brought together a mixture of youth and experience. William Clarke was the experience and Sean Tidey was the youth. Tidey had been in this situation before this season and again managed to repeat his heroics. Both to a shine to Rickmansworth second string and started to find the boundary at regular intervals. Tidey soon outscored his seniour partner and the first to his 50 with 6x 4s and 2 big sixes in that 50. It wasn’t all big hitting and some excellent running kept the board ticking over. Tidey finally went for an excellent 86 when a ton looked their for the taking. The pair had put on 153 for the 6th wicket. It was now just a matter of how many overs Reed wanted to give the home side. Clarke was now in full flow and decided it was time to try to hit his first ever six. Unfortunately his straight drive fell just a yard short. Mitchell Cooper had joined Clarke and scored a brisk 21 not out and pushed total over 250. The declaration came immediately. Clarke was 77 not out, a league best. The home side set 254 to win in 52 overs. Milner ended with 5-63 from 16 overs.
The track still looked flat and Reed knew that 250 was gettable. Opening bowlers Kallum Ward and Chris Peckett had over ideas. Ward struck with the score on 5 and again on 16 when he bounced Flynn out for just 2, Peckett taking the catch. Peckett struck in the next over to leave the home side 16-3. Reed having been in a similar position were still weary of a count attack, but Ward took a good caught and bowled and a Freney type runout from Richard Johnson saw Rickmansworth 24-4. Ward struck again at the end of his 7 over spell and at 35-7, the only hope for the hosts was a long rear guard action. The two Molloy’s held out for a few overs moving the score 46 when the every dependable Peter Tidey bowled T. Molloy for 8. He then had A. Molloy caught behind for 25 and it was almost all over. Ward returned and wrapped up the innings with his 2nd ball back. He finished with 5-16 from 7.2 over, another league best for the youngster. Reed won by 184 runs.
