Langleybury find themselves just one place above the Herts Division One relegation zone after a disappointing away performance at mid-table Flitwick on Saturday.

Rhys Williams’ half-century set the visitors on their way to a decent total with 15 overs to go but they could only muster 170 for seven.

Following a disappointing performance with the bat, they produced a patchy display with the ball as they gifted Flitwick easy early runs.

But for Khalid Manzoor’s (five for 67) five-wicket haul, the scorecard could have had a more dominating home feel but the four-wicket defeat will still have hurt the away side in their battle against relegation.

Division Two Kings Langley maintained fourth place after a five-wicket win over Cockfosters.

On a good batting pitch, Cockfosters recovered from 42 for four to finish on 245 for six declared. Otterley hit an unbeaten ton (104), while Andrew Burnell took four for 47.

A second-wicket partnership of 93 between Duncan Fleming (60) and Tom Sambrook (57) helped the away side on their way.

Mark Brazier (38 not out) and Burnell (41) continued the run chase and the target was eventually reached in the 45th over as Kings wrapped up an emphatic victory.

Hemel Hempstead Seconds drew with Northwood Firsts.

Winning the toss, Hemel elected to bat first and set a target of 217 for eight from their 50 overs, with John Pearson (40) and Chris Blunt (43) top-scoring.

Stuart Reeve took three for 58 and Justin Darbon claimed two for 41.

Northwood got off to a good start in reply, with Danny Rodgers (33) and Cameron Unicomb (58) putting them in good shape at 120 for one before five quick wickets went down.

But a partnership of 46 between Steve Hussey (18 not out) and Paul Richardson (25 not out) took Northwood to 186 for five at the close.

Abbots Langley are inching ever-closer to a quick return to Division Two after a comprehensive 139-run win over Redbourn on Saturday.

Asked to bat first by the home side, Abbots soon made them pay for that decision as emergency opener Ben Barmforth and Aussie Chris Chellow put on 80 for the first wicket inside 15 overs.
Barmforth’s patient 82 held the innings together as the visitors reached a challenging 233 for six declared from their 53 overs.

Chellow was a rock in Abbots’ opening partnership and he then delivered a mesmerising display with the ball to take six for 32, tearing into Redbourn’s frail batting order.

Skipper Mathew Dunstone was also in miserly mood as he picked up three for 16 as Redbourn were bowled for 94 to complete a comfortable victory.

Second-placed Met Police Bushey went down to Chipperfield Clarendon by 57 runs.
Opening the bowling with Alex Carter, Simon Hamilton made life uncomfortable for the Chipperdons batsmen and it was he who struck first.

Mark Parkinson was brought into the attack and got his breakthrough just before drinks, with Harry Blagden taking a good catch in the gully.

However, the Met were disappointed to allow their opponents to finish on 188 for eight after making the good start. The batting from the Met was poor.

Steady innings from Andy Fish (26) and Laurence Holmes (23) could not make up for a poor showing from the middle order, as they were bowled out for 131.

Bushey stayed top of Division Four as they disposed of a spirited Cheshunt by 44 runs.
Having won the toss and chosen to field, Cheshunt were quick out of the traps and started superbly as they dismissed both Bushey openers for ducks.

The away side steadied the ship though, as Lahkmir Singh top-scored with 37 and Shaid Ashraf scored 33 as Bushey posted 139 all out off 51.3 overs.

In reply, the hosts did well in difficult conditions but the bowling of Farooq Hameed (two for 24) and Singh (four for 25) did the damage as Cheshunt were all out for 95 runs.

Rickmansworth continued their fine form with a seventh win in eight games as they beat Bayford and Hertford by 26 runs.

The home side chose to bowl after winning the toss and it looked to be a good decision as they dismissed their mid-table opponents for 112 in 39.4 overs.

Malcolm Areington top-scored for Ricky with 25, while Maz Shah (24) and Majid Khan (21) also added useful knocks.

Having posted an average target, it was down to Ash Shah (four for 16) and Ben Cutler (two for 22) and they soon had Bayford floundering on 25 for seven.

The hosts did show some grit when up against it but Ricky skipper Ray Collins ended their resolve, taking the final two wickets to finish off Bayford for 86 runs.

Northwood Town beat Ampthill Town by 14 runs with Sangeet Patel’s 66 the highlight for the victors.

Having won the toss, Northwood elected to bat first and set a target of 238 all out, Patel and Mike Lister (45) top-scoring for the visitors.

Danny Thompson took three for 69, recording six maidens from his 14 overs.
Ampthill’s middle-order spared their blushes, Jason Dimond’s 56 and Colin Ruddick’s 42 the pick for the hosts as they were dismissed for 224.

Ray Kotecha took three for 53 and Viraj Manek claimed three for 58 to help secure the win.

Langleybury Seconds eased to a six-wicket win over Southgate Compton in Division Five despite being understrength.

An excellent bowling display laid the platform for the win with Tom Brall, Andy Stone and Andrew Cheeseman all taking three wickets as Southgate were dismissed for just 84.
Bury did lose four wickets in pursuit of the total but 46 from Andy Felton got them home.

Northwood Seconds crushed Hemel Hempstead Thirds in Division Six by an impressive 139 runs to all but end their opponents’ hopes of promotion.

Put into bat first, Northwood set about making a competitive total of 242 for five with Keith Watson’s 105 and Nigel Hussey’s 63 going a long way to setting the target.
Charlie Hoskins was the best of the Hemel bowlers, taking two for 51 in 14 overs.

All out for just 102, Hemel only had four batsmen make double figures and only Anjam Khan (34) got more than 15 runs on the board.

Ram Nandiraju enjoyed a very productive innings with the ball, claiming seven for 54 from just over 13 overs.

Kings Langley Seconds ended their losing streak with a tightly-contested 19-run defeat of Old Finchleians Seconds.

Batting first, Langley scored a modest 186 all out with Tony Morton top-scoring with 52.
Morton then turned his attention to the ball and took five for 55 as the visitors stumbled.

Richard Whitlock added a further three wickets with Tony Thompson and Duane Smith grabbing the other two as they bowled Finchleians out for 167 in 51 overs and moved back into a mid-table berth.