There will be no repeat of Reed’s 2012 National Village Cup heroics at Lord’s this year as they were cruelly beaten by just one run in the area final by visitors Langleybury on Sunday.

Reed defeated Woodhouse Grange by six wickets in the Village Cup finale three years ago but their hopes were dashed this time by late drama.

Having got to within five runs of victory after seeing off Reed for 156 all out in the first innings, Stuart Knox (23) and Lee Stafford snaffled the winning runs for Langleybury with two balls to spare to inflict Village Cup heartache on Reed.

Suffering from injuries and unavailability in the build-up to the contest, the hosts handed a number of youngsters starting places.

Langleybury won the toss and chose to field on a wicket that had been covered for the past two days due to the damp conditions.

Runs were not easy to come by for Reed despite a decent opening partnership of 43 between James Heslam and Mitchell Cooper.

After an opening flourish, the home side lost Cooper (13), Chris Jackson (5) and skipper Tom Greaves (5) all to the impressive Richard Oxley (4-29), and then Stuart Smith (6) as they slumped to 91-4.

However, the dangerous Sean Tidey joined Heslam, scoring 25 in a partnership of 28 with the opener.

Another tricky spell followed though as the loss of Tidey (25) and then Heslam for a fine 66 caused the Reed innings to lose momentum.

The hosts’ tail only managed an additional 15 runs, with Marcus Martin top-scoring with 11 before being bowled by Steven Carter (3-23).

Reed’s end total of 156 left the visitors to chase a below-par target.

Tom Walsingham opened the bowling for Reed and was immediately successful, bowling Mohammed Manzoor for three.

However, Nahim Amin and Will Oxley then got their teeth into the attack, taking the score to 73-1 after 17 overs. A Langleybury victory seemed a formality.

Nevertheless, spinners Greaves (2-28) and Reece Fitzgerald (2-29) then put the breaks on and Reed looked to be back in the hunt.

Kallum Ward (1-26) and Tidey (2-12) continued Reed’s quest for victory, and with nine wickets down and 152 on the board, Langleybury needed five off the last over.

Stafford survived a run-out and the away side stole the deciding runs to secure progression.