Heslam’s men are almost there

REED are on the verge of promotion after ­battling to a draw in a dour match against ­Potters Bar seconds.

Having won the toss, Reed batted first, and some aggressive play from skipper James ­Heslam immediately put them in the driving seat. Supported by Baz Curtis (14), he made 64 before being caught on the boundary. Curtis and in-form Chris ­Jackson (6) had already fallen to the spin of Luke Owers, but Phil Frenay continued to punish the Potters Bar attack with a flamboyant 57.

Tom Fulk (43 not out) and Simon Jackson (26 not out) both made useful runs at the end of the innings with some hard running between the wickets, as Reed finished on 228/5 from 52 overs.

Peter Tidey and William Clarke took the new ball after tea, and bowled a good line to restrict the runs of the Potters Bar openers. The tactics eventually paid off, with the visibly frustrated Hodge ­offering a simple catch to Richard Johnson at mid-on. Tidey bowled out Pett shortly afterwards to leave their hosts on 25/2.

Two more quick ­wickets looked to have put Reed in command, but some uncharacteristic lapses in the field, which saw several catches put down, meant they were unable to force home their advantage. Potters Bar always looked content to play for the draw, and Owers and Evans dug their heels in despite some enthusiastic bowling from Ed Garrott and Andrew Emms. A clutch of wickets in the closing overs gave Reed hope, but in the end they fell just short and had to settle for a draw.

Reflecting on his side's performance, which saw them pick up 18 points, James Heslam said: "it was a frustrating game for us and we came close to a win, but Im delighted to have put ourselves in a great position to get promoted.

"I'm very happy we are consistently scoring over 200 and our bowlers are hitting good line and length.