Struggle for runs sees Woodhouse Grange miss out at Lord’s

Hertfordshire club Reed, making their first appearance in the final, comfortably overhauled Woodhouse’s 184-9 in the 40-over match

Tom Young (42) led Woodhouse’s scoring, while all-rounder Tom Greaves (51 and 2-22) and Chris Jackson (37) were outstanding for Reed.

Woodhouse, who won the competition in 1995 and 2007 and were also losing finalists in 1999 and 2008, made an excellent start to their fifth Lord’s appearance.

Openers Mike Hattee and Nick Hadfield put on 55 after Reed won the toss and elected to bowl.

Hattee struck 19 before he was caught by wicketkeeper Shaun Tidy in the 11th over.

Chris Bilton was quickly off the mark with a boundary, but Woodhouse suffered a double setback when he and Mike Burdett were out in quick succession. Andrew Bilton hit two boundaries before he was caught behind and Hadfield (29) was then dismissed leg before, reducing Woodhouse to 87-5 in the 22nd over.

That became 109-6 when captain Steve Burdett became the third batsman to be trapped leg before, just after he had hammered the game’s first six.

Young and Chris Suddaby (32) led an excellent fightback with a 43-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

Woodhouse’s top scorer Young, attempting a big hit, fell to Stuart Smith’s spectacular catch with six overs remaining and Chris Suddaby was dismissed off the first ball of the final over.

When Reed replied, brothers James and Will Heslam put on 42 from 10 overs for the first wicket before the former was caught and bowled by Tom Quinn after hitting a brisk 28.

Reed continued to make good progress, with Greaves in impressive form as they reached 109-2 from 25 overs.

Greaves, who shared a 42-run stand with Jackson, reached his half century off 48 balls before he was bowled by Andrew Horner.

With 10 overs remaining, Reed were firmly in the driving seat, needing 53 for victory with seven wickets in hand. Although Horner dismissed Jackson with the score on 169, it wasn’t enough.

Woodhouse had better luck on Saturday when they clinched the York and District Senior League Premier Division championship for the 13th time by beating Dunnington by nine wickets in a title decider.