REED lost out in a hard fought battle against promotion contenders Hertford on Saturday.

Having won the toss, Hertford inserted Reed into bat and the Heslam brothers started well at the top of the order.

Both batsman got good starts but both lost wickets at key times when they were both set, and eyeing up big scores.

This was the story throughout the Reed innings, with all bar one top six batsman making it into the 20s or 30s, but failing to make Hertford pay, losing wickets at key times.

As a result Reed finished prematurely on 179 all out in 49.1 overs, knowing that this was 20-30 runs shy of a par score.

In reply Reed knew they had to exert early pressure on the Hertford batsman, and that is exactly what they did.

Jack Tidey, returning to opening the bowling in light of Mitchell Cooper’s absence, bowled with pace and movement, causing the Hertford batsman trouble throughout.

Ably supported by Lee Johnson and Tom Greaves, Tidey (2-86) bowled a mammoth 18-over spell, picking up two prized wickets.

The ever reliable Tom Greaves (2-38) played with the Hertford batsman, and was unlucky not to have picked more wickets in an excellent spell of tight, patient spin bowling.

At 76-5 Hertford were on the rocks, but Ray and Bancroft batted stubbornly, and with the assistance of a fair amount of luck they put themselves into a strong position.

When these two departed, Hertford surely could not lose and despite Reed making them work very hard for the win, Hertford knocked the winning runs with an over to spare with just two wickets remaining.

This finished a tight, hard fought game by both sides. Reed will feel that with a bit more luck they would have won the game, however on the day they were 30 runs short with the bat and failing to bat their overs proved key.

Reed will however take a number of positives from the game; Jack Tidey bowled excellently, the fielders all took their catches, and Toby Finn, making his first team debut, certainly didn’t look out of place at this level.

On Saturday Reed play host to Langleybury, and with strong availability, selection will be tough for the selectors.