I feel let down, fumes angry skipper

REED seconds salvaged a draw at Northwood Town seconds, despite some inept batting that left captain Jason Archer fuming.

A dismayed Archer said: "I feel completely let down by our batsmen, some of whom I have shown an awful lot of faith in.

"We have so much talent within what is a very good young side.

"We are, on paper, one of the best teams in the division, but every week my players seem to do their best to prove me wrong.

"I hope that the team will reflect on their displays and perform better next week.

"If not, then perhaps it is time to see if someone else can get more out of this team."

Losing the toss, Reed were put into the field by the Northwood captain, and both Richard Johnson (0-40) and Graham Wilson (2-28) caused the Northwood batsmen no end of problems.

Wilson's canny and probing line snared an early wicket, with Reed continuing the pressure.

Wilson then took another wicket, and combined with three from Archer (3-29) and two from Karl Ward (2-60) the home side were in big trouble at 110-7.

And despite a late surge, spinner Ben Bowles and Rupert Martin saw off the Northwood lower order, with the home side all out for 189.

And the Reed reply got off to a good start, with Ben Bowles (21) and Stuart Smith (26) looking good and progressing nicely.

However, when Smith was caught at mid-off, their batting collapse got under way.

Michael Robertson went, then Ben Bowles edged behind, with Ward, Johnson and Matt Bowles all following suit.

At 42-0, Reed had now stumbled to 86-7.

Luckily for Reed, Fergus and Rupert Martin kept their heads to help see off the bulk of the remaining overs. Fergus Martin eventually departed for 11 in somewhat acrimonious circumstances, before Rupert Martin was out late on for a well-made 24.

It was then left to captain Archer and Graham Wilson to block out the remaining two overs, and they saved the game for Reed to secure 10 points.