Headlines – 13th / 14th August
SATURDAY: It was a day for chasing which turned out to be 75% successful! Unfortunately, the 1st XI were the 25% unsuccessful portion. Having kept Hoddesdon to 191, four of the wickets to Toby Fynn, Reed's chase ended just 12 runs short at 179. Mitchell Cooper scored a fifty and Will Heslam 37. Back on The Green, Julien Fynn went one better than his brother by taking 5 Hertford wickets in their 192 for 9. Two of Reed's silkiest batsmen, Richard Johnson and Ed Garrott, then recorded half-centuries as the Seconds won by 8 wickets. There was a welcome victory up at Freman College when the Thirds overhauled St Albans' 154 all-out with 3 wickets intact. Zac Conley's 34 was top-score but Mike Robertson and Ben Moody chipped-in with twenties in their mission to avoid the "dreaded dotted line of demotion". Martin "Ton-up" Johnson broke records whilst compiling a third successive hundred in the 4th XI's fixture against Letchworth. All his centuries have been undefeated and this effort was supported by veterans Garrott, P and Baker, P, in using just 30 overs to chase-down Letchworth's mammoth 274 for 6. Whilst the wickets had been shared round, most satisfying were the two wickets deservedly taken by the persistent Steve Hughes. He bowled the high-scoring Pond for "only" 130 this time - in the previous encounter, Pond had scored 230. SUNDAY: Chasing runs again. Despite MJE Baker's 71, Reed's "Friendly" XI were all-out for 172 and were 95 runs behind at the end of the match against Ashwell. Ah well! Expect Match Reports to follow shortly. PGB.