Little village Reed join the big boys in the Premiership.
Having finished runners-up in the Championship, Reed hosted Luton Town & Indians, who had come ninth in the Premiership, in the play-off match for the right to play in the top tier of Hertfordshire cricket in 2020.
For the first time in their history, Reed with a population of only 300+ have reached the Premier division, joining sides such as Radlett and Welwyn next year. However, the play off against Luton was not without some nervous tension.
Once again Reed’s bowlers didn’t let them down. Jack Tidey, bowling economically his 10 overs straight through took out two batsmen, finishing with 2-25. Then Tom Greaves (1-28) and Ed Wharton (2-29) followed suit, leaving Luton 89-5 with only 20 overs to play with. Although they battled hard, Sean Tidey mopped up the tail finishing with figures of 4-34 as their opponents ended on 157 all out in the 48th over.
This seemed 50 runs short as Reed set off with their usual gallop. Luton’s opening attack of Manzoor (2-37) and Gittens-Browne (3-42) proved too hot to handle, though, as five of the top order perished for a mere 58 runs in 12 overs. Only Zac Mcguigan (28) survived the onslaught partnering Matt Sampson before he was bowled by Fayaz Homyoon. Tom Greaves (23) helped Sampson to what looked to be a match winning stand of 46 until he was stumped charging Homyoon with 15 required, As the spectators held their breath in case Reed imploded like last week Sean Tidey pulled and straight drove Sajjad Homyoon for 4 and 6 to take Reed home. The “man of the match” however, was Matt Sampson, who successfully marshalled the innings after the initial carnage to carry his bat for 46 scoring 5 boundaries and a six from a free hit.
As Tidey’s drive crashed over the ropes, the Green erupted to acknowledge a tremendous achievement by the team, who won 13 games and lost only 4 this season. How will they fare amongst the ‘big boys’ next year?
Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
