Playing away to Potten End, the division winners by some distance, Reed Third’s season came to a rather unremarkable finish with a disappointing loss. Nothing was resting on the outcome but Reed still put in a dedicated performance in the field. Joe Graves (2 for 35) and Julian Fynn (2 for 21) started superbly creating early pressure. Matt Yates (2 for 43) and a short burst from Michael Robertson backed this up. But the positive Lee (58) and Akhtar (68) formed a frustrating partnership. Steve Hughes (1 for 36) finally removed Lee meaning he finished the season with 21 wickets. Younger son Owen Hughes chipped in removing Akhtar allowing Reed to apply pressure towards the close of the first innings as Potten End lost further wickets.
234 was the target but unfortunately Reed gave a poor account for themselves in the second innings of the dead rubber. With only Fynn (30), O.Hughes (17) and M.J.E. Baker (12) reaching double figures.
Despite this disappointing finish Reed captain M.J.E. Baker said “ Its been real pleasure captaining the team. It’s a side that blends experience and enthusiasm. We’ve endeavoured to stay positive no matter what the outcome and although this year our results have been mixed, it’s been such a competitive division and there have been plenty of matches which could have easily gone in our favour. We certainly have things we want and need to work on but next season we will back ourselves to be big contenders.”
Report submitted by MJEB.
