Firsts lose out in another tight finish
Reed collapsed to 49-6 as Ollie Ilott (nephew of Mark) and Khalid Manzoor bamboozled the normally prolific scoring top order. However an exciting seventh wicket stand of 93 between the ever dependable James Heslam and belligerent Sean Tidey swung the game back Reed’s way. When Tidey was caught at the second attempt for 46 and Heslam went for 52 (his fourth fifty of the season) there was little hope, but Jack Tidey (41) batting with a gammy knee and Toby Fynn with a last wicket stand of 38 came tantalisingly close to securing an improbable win, but Ilott (7-81) had the last say as Reed ended on 194. It seemed an unlikely result earlier as Langleybury subsided to 201 all out with Ed Wharton (13-4-42-3) and Toby Fynn tying down the batsmen at first. Sean Tidey with an economical 13-2 -31-3 and Tom Greaves, who bought his 4 wickets for 87 runs, whittled out the later order. Richard Wharton again claimed another 4 victims behind the stumps. A disappointing result for Reed in a topsy-turvy game. Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley.