2012 National Village Cricket Cup Winners Reed saw the road to a repeat Lords Final open up to them when they clinched the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Area Title with a 2nd win in two days against fellow Herts Championship League side Langleybury at Reed on Sunday.
Having beaten Langleybury in a scheduled Herts League fixture on the Saturday the pair met again, and again at Reed the following day in the Herts and Beds County Final of the 2014 Davidstow National Village Cricket Cup.
Reed skipper James Heslam won the toss and elected to field, but when Langleybury raced to 50 for no wicket after just 9 overs the decision looked questionable, and Langleybury looked destined for a big score. However, Reed opening bowler Jack Tidey had other ideas and proceeded to remove both openers in the space of the next 2 overs and brought Reed right back into the match with Langleybury reduced to 56 -2. A smart stumping by Sean Tidey off Tom Greaves saw the visitors further reduced to 69-3 and Reed were rapidly gaining the upper hand when Mitchell Cooper trapped Felton LBW for 5 leaving Langleybury struggling at 78-4 in the 22nd over.
The Reed stranglehold was firmly established and never really threatened despite a fine 47 from Soulsby and undefeated contributions of 36* from Godden and 24* from Oxley. The Reed outfielding was spirited and efficient, led by an outstanding exhibition from William Heslam. Two catching opportunities were gleefully and safely accepted by skipper James Heslam and the Reed machine refused to allow the Langleybury innings to accelerate at any stage. Jack Tidey 9 Overs 2- 33 and Tom Greaves 9 Overs 1 -22 restrained the visitors good initial progress and the final total of 177 for 5 off 40 Overs looked well within Reeds capabilities to chase down.
Langleybury made an early breakthrough when the batting hero of the previous rounds win Sean Tidey went caught behind for only 1. However this introduced Reed No3 Tom Greaves who looked menacing and authoritative before being seemingly harshly adjudged LBW for just 13. Chris Jackson came and went for 10 and at 50-3 off 9 Overs the Reed innings appeared in the balance. However the previous days Reed batting hero William Heslam was still at the crease and seemingly untroubled by the bowling. He was joined by Reed Village Cup stalwart Stuart Smith and the pair set about constructing a solid Reed recovery. Running well between the wickets the pair also punished anything loose and took the Reed reply past the 100 mark just after the 20 Over mark. Heslam matted with a calm maturity being particularly punishing on any legside deliveries, whilst Smith played a series of powerful shots that kept the Reed total well up with the required run rate. The pair had put on 99, and Reed seemed w ell set for a comfortable victory when the weary Heslam fell caught behind for a fine 66 off 96 balls. 2 Overs and 10 runs later Smith also fell for a fine 46 but at 159 for 5 it was surely too little too late for Langleybury?
Reed 2nd Xl captain Marcus Martin came to the crease and played some crisp and incisive shots and when joined by the powerful and destructive Kallum Ward the match was concluded in the 35th over when Ward struck the 2nd of his 2 powerful 6’s out of the ground to give Reed victory by 5 wickets with in excess of 5 overs to spare, and a final total of 182-5.
Reed will now entertain the winners of the Kent Group in the first of the “National Knock-Out Rounds” at Reed on Sunday 22nd June – 1.00pm start.
