Reed III’s travelled to Cockfosters to play Southgate Compton in their first away game of the 2019 season. Winning the toss, Reed elected to bat, with Paul Garrott and Peter Baker opening. Tight bowling from Southgate openers Bilal Yousaf (9-2-23-1) and Mark Willis (7-2-14-0) saw a slow start to the innings, with Bilal picking up the wicket of Baker (0) with Reed on 17. Garrott was joined by left hander Michael Robertson and the pair began to add to the total, until Robertson (35) was bowled by left-armed Cameron Wallis, leaving Reed 74-2. Captain Rhodri Hughes joined Garrott and again the total crept up, until Hughes scooped a loose ball to David Brandon off the bowling of David Malleson (9-1-29-1). Reed looked comfortable at 97-3 with 12 overs remaining, however accurate bowling from the home side led to a catastrophic collapse. Wallis (9-2-34-3) picked up the wickets of Julien Fynn (1) and Owen Hughes (4), while Brandon (5.4-0-8-5) tore through the Reed batsmen, first cleaning up Garrott (46). Lloyd Bowman (1), William Mansfield (0) and Ian Roberts (0) were all bowled in quick succession, giving Brandon a hattrick. The final wicket to fall was Kieran McKinna (6), again a victim of Brandon’s, leaving Steve Hughes 0 not out, with Reed on 121.
Southgate Compton’s response was steady and controlled. Reed had high hopes when Owen Hughes (8-2-23-1) clean bowled Willis (6) in his first over, however this was to be the only breakthrough. Despite some tidy swing bowling from Fynn (7-0-20-0) and Roberts (8-0-30-0), Brandon and Andrew Grayson remained sturdy. The most troubling bowling came from McKinna (4-1-15-0) and Steve Hughes (4.5-1-15-0), however neither could pick up the much-needed wickets. Southgate Compton cruised past Reed’s total to win the match by 9 wickets in 31.5 overs, with Brandon scoring 53 and Grayson 51.
Report submitted by Michael Robertson.
