For the third week running Reed were involved in a close match but this time they just fell short.

It came at home to Herts Cricket League Championship leaders Old Owens and means the Potters Bar-based side remain top, extending their lead to 48 points after second-placed Shenley Village suffered a shock defeat to bottom club Broxbourne.

Their winning margin was just five runs though and Reed will be kicking themselves for not picking up the win themselves.

With six needed and two batsmen set, they lost the last three wickets in four balls to slip agonisingly to defeat.

It was doubly galling as they had hauled themselves up from 64-6 at tea to give them the chance of winning.

That was mostly thanks to Mitchell Cooper (35) who was joined first by Bertie Scott (25) and then Rob Lankester (19) to double the team's score with aggressive stroke play.

What was more remarkable was Lankester was a late replacement and was still suffering from the thumb he broke over a month ago at Dunstable.

What's more he hit spinner Robert Sibley back over his head for two straight sixes.

Yet just as an unlikely win was on the cards, he fell to the penultimate ball of the 46th over followed by Cooper and Julien Fynn to the first balls of the 47th, giving Owens the narrow success.

Earlier, Reed had bowled exceptionally well as Zac McGuigan sent back the first four Owens' batters for 40 runs with Scott adding 4-19 in nine overs and skipper Tom Greaves mopping up the tail for 2-24.

Even then Old Owens felt confident that 133 was enough, but Reed's middle order so nearly proved them wrong.

The narrow results followed for both the seconds and thirds.

The seconds lost by two wickets against London Colney, Ed Garrott top-scoring with 43 as they reached 180.

Colney were cruising to victory at 142-3 when Karl Ward rattled through five batsmen to finish on 5-26.

However, Liam Frame and George Davies got the required runs without further loss.

The thirds though beat Preston by the same margin.

Oliver Tapsell was the pick of the bowlers with 3-18 and Joseph Graves starred with the bat, hitting 65.