Skipper Bowman won the toss and opted to ask Hoddesdon to bat on what appeared to be a rather green wicket. The decision to bowl look justified as Reed made some good early inroads as Sam Dawson (8-1-37-1) picked up the opening wicket following a good cash by Aaron Nash. Hoddesdon were soon reduced to 44-5 as Matt Yates tore through the middle order. However, skipper Dan Hawkins (72) and Reece Jones (29) began to counter attack and upped the run rate until the excellent spin of Stanley Cooper (7-1-16-1) made the break through following a sharp catch by Chris Cooper. The tail then all chipped in until, Matt Yates (8-0-35-5) completed his first ‘5 Wicket Haul’ for Reed and Josh Heslam (8-1-37-2) picked up 2 late wickets as Hoddesdon finished their innings on 197-9.

In reply, Dave Saunders (20) and skipper Bowman made a bright start and took Reed to 55 before Saunders was bowled in the 13th over. Hoddesdon responded with some tight restrictive bowling and Chris Cooper (11) was then unfortunate to be run out following a direct hit. Soon the run rate was increasing and Bowman (31) was then out trying to up the run rate and Reed were 91-3 in the 26th Over.
From this, Reed then failed to keep up with the required rate as they finished up on 132-8 – 66 runs short.

Match Report by Lloyd Bowman