In the end the previous 2 weeks were decisive as a victory on the final day of the season wasn't quite enough.

Adam won the toss and a spirited bowling performance held their opponents to 170 for 7 from the full 53 overs. All of the bowlers were tidy although it was left (as usual!) to Tim Haydon to take the plaudits with 6 for 43 from 19 overs.

In reply there was an early scare as the returning Tom Woodbridge went for 2 and Doris for 0. It was time for a captain's innings and this came in the shape of Adam who ended unbeaten on 68. He got good support from Scott Alexander (32) Danny Becker (16) and finally from uncle Tosh who finished on 32 not out.

Despite the disappointment it was overall another good season seeing the return to Div 5 in a top 6 place where just one more positive result would have secured promotion.

Another game that could have seen the 2nd team game into the top 4, once again ended in disappointment as the failure to take some catches late on enabled Northwood II to win the game from the precarious position of 145 for 6.

Adam chose to bat first on winning the toss, and despite the early loss of Xav for 9 runs came quickly as Doris smashed 61 out of a partnership of just 67 with Shag. Late call up Shag, battled on at one end keeping the innings together as wickets started to fall at the other end. Ben Wood chipped in with a useful 22 and there were further contributions from Tosh Pigden (17) and Adam Blaby with 12. Shag was finally out for 49 in the 46th over and Fosters were all out for 192 in the 51st over when Roy HIll was run out going for a second run.

In reply wickets were difficult to come by early on with Chris Nickolls and Benny Hill failing to make the breakthrough - Benny in fact bowling the widest wide of the season at one stage. The introduction of Tim Haydon as usual slowed up the runs and the pressure soon brought wickets. Northwood II collapsed to 145 for 6 and the 30 points that would have moved the side into 4th place looked there for the taking. However some good batting, bad luck and an unfortunate drop from probably the side's top fielder Doris let Northwood off the hook as they won the game in the final over.

One game to go and promotion is still possible - Fosters must win and hope that other sides fail to win.

This was meant to be the game where a home game against the bottom club meant a jump into the top 4........

Adam won what looked like an important toss and inserted Hatch End on a damp pitch, and a few overs lost to allow time for said pitch to dry out a bit.

Despite the helpful conditions Fosters were unable to exert much pressure - Matt Hillier was the tidiest of the bowlers taking 2 for 51 from 16 overs. Ironically getting the stubborn opener out leg before was a clear mistake as it simply brought in players who were more prepared to take on the bowling. Although Xav took 3 wickets he was expensive going for 91 from his 17 overs, and Hatch End were able to declare on an imposing 218 for 7 from their allotted 48 overs.

In reply only Joe Clune looked comfortable (eventually dismissed for 53) and although initially the run rate was kept up with, wickets fell at regular intervals. As the chase got tougher too many chances had to be taken and both Tony Pigden and Matt Hillier were needlessly run out taking too many risks. Wellsy came in late on for a usual cameo of 36 before Hatch End deservedly won the game by 45 runs.

Victory would have taken the 2nd XI up to 3rd place in the table.....as it is the defeat can be tempered by the news that they are no worse off in the table and that promotion is still possible.

This was real frustration for the 2nd XI as a win was needed on a day when other top teams were playing against each other. In the end just one innings of the game was possible before the rain swept in from the west.

Langleybury reached 202 for 7 - Chris Xavier was the most successful bowler taking 4 for 60 and (C)hunks continued his Cricket Week form taking 2 for 36 from 12 overs (including a bit of a spat with one of the outgoing batsmen).

The chase never took place however, which was a pity for a side packed full of batsmen.

The first game against one of those sides in the bottom half did not go according to plan, with Baldock looking nothing like a struggling outfit and the Fosters top order failing to shine.

Baldock chose to bat first and openers Tony Sayers and Matt Hillier failed to make any breakthroughs with runs coming pretty easily. Only with the introduction of late replacement Andy Gregory did runs start to look more difficult to come by - Gregs ended up bowling 21 overs unchanged for figures of 2 for 67, with 5 maidens to bring about some much needed pressure. Spinners Joe Clune and Chris Xavier both took a wicket apiece but it was perhaps strange in the effort to pick up points that neither (C)hunks nor Cheesy were to get a bowl.

Baldock eventually declared on 233 for 4 from their full 53 overs and Fosters needed a good start to get 30 points. 111 for 6 was certainly not in the plan as only Dave Morgan out of the top 6 batsmen with 48, got a score over 20. Tosh Pigden and Matt Hillier then came together and against all the odds steadied the ship and with both batsmen approaching half centuries an unlikely victory became a possibility. It was not to be however as their efforts finished 8 runs short on 225 for 7. Tosh was last out for 54 and Matt finished on 53 not out.

The 9 points from this game dropped the team to 6th in the table when a victory would have meant 2nd place! It remains really close, and with the top teams all due to play each other, a few more wins should be enough to secure promotion.

Another difficult fixture for the 2nd team and an absolutely crucial win.

Hatfield Hyde won the toss and couldn't insert Fosters quickly enough! Xav and Joe Clune looked good early on before falling and then Dave Morgan sacrificed his wicket for 22 following injury. This brought Tony Sayers in to join skipper Adam Pigden and they put on a vital 90 runs for the 4th wicket. Tony secured his first ever league half century with a quick fire 58 whilst Adam held things together at the other end.

Tony's wicket - going for one shot too many - brought a bit of a collapse as skipper and vice captain were soon back in the hutch. It didn't take too long for Tony Pigden (a blinding catch) and Chris Nickolls to join them. With the score on 161 for 8 it looked like the hard work would be thrown away, but then Gareth Hooper (27*) making his seasonal debut and Matt Hillier (16) made a run a ball partnership for the 9th wicket to take the score to 200 for 9 before Matt's wicket hastened the declaration.

After a tasty tea, Hatfield Hyde's openers got after the opening bowling of Matt Hillier and Chris Nickolls. Tony Sayers replaced Chris and steadied the run rate before Matt took the opening wicket. 76 for 1 then soon became 100 for 3 and then remarkably 139 all out as Matt Hillier bowled almost unchanged for 17 overs to take 4 for 49, and Tim Haydon did his usual job at the other end winkling out batsman after batsman with 5 for 35 from 11 overs. Gareth Hooper showed what we've been missing behind the stumps with an excellent display with 4 dismissals. It was left to Xav to come on to take the final wicket.

30 points to 4 was absolutely vital in the league as this win takes Fosters above both Hatfield Hyde and St Albans West Indians into 3rd place. With the remaining fixtures all against sides in the bottom half of the table, confidence of a second successive promotion remain high.

Another tough looking fixture and another strange line up as a number of unexpected cry offs led to a number of recalls as well as a debut for Daniel Smith and a seasonal debut for Anthony Levy despite the fact that he was meant to be on holiday in Bournemouth!

After being asked to bat first Xav made things look easy scoring a rapid 34 in the first 8 overs before he mistimed one and skied it to the incoming mid on fielder - who made a good effort to try and drop it! Although the runs then dried up somewhat, no further wickets fell as Joe Clune and Dave Morgan showed their years of experience to play themselves in properly on a pitch that was always doing something for the bowlers.

Eventually they started getting after the bowling and Dave caught and then overtook Joe to reach a well deserved 100 in the final over of the innings. Joe was to also carry his bat for a well made 85 as Sam Penny developed significant pad rash on the boundary. The pressure was now very much on Harpenden to go for the runs having failed to secure a bowling bonus point.

This they did despite a terrible start that saw them 3 for 2 after just 2 overs. Tony Sayers' inswinger was too much for the opening batsman and then Dan Smith found the edge and (eventually) the gloves of the keeper to see off the number 3. Runs continued to come quickly, although wickets were started to come to leave Harpenden on 143 for 6 - Dan Smith took an excellent low catch off the bowling of Xav and then Tim Haydon took 3 quick wickets, including the dangerous opener for 80 to a fine catch by Sam Penny, having hit the previous delivery for 6.

Tim's 3 wickets included another catch by Sam but then vitally he stepped back on to the boundary whilst taking another catch off the number 6 bat who was to remain unbeaten. Harpenden kept going for the runs and in the third last over the number 6 batsman managed to be dropped 3 times in successive balls from Xav - Dan Smith and Cheesy being made to look bad by skiers to the deep. Probably no impact on the result as Harpenden no doubt would then have blocked.

In the end the runs and wickets required were too much for both sides but Cockfosters will feel better for 17 points as against 5 for Harpenden.

Another tough looking fixture was made to look rather easy by a very experimental side featuring youngsters Matt Shore and Adam Blaby, as well as 3rd team skipper Andy Gregory.

Stand in skipper Mark Viner was also unable to get the Gregory formula to work as Cockfosters were asked to bat first. This proved no problem at all as all of the top 4 batsmen made runs. It was a welcome return to form for most of them with Chris Xavier (61), Sam Penny (59) and Dave Morgan (44 not out) each making their highest scores of the season. A flurry of wickets at the end when looking for quick runs left the side on 223 for 8 when the declaration came.

As with most teams this week, rain was to intervene so that St Albans WI had less overs than they hoped for. After some quick runs off openers Tony Sayers and Chris Nickolls - the only blow being the opener being retired by Tony - it was left to old hands Xav and Gregs to put the brakes on and to make the necessary inroads, taking 5 wickets to leave the opposition in some trouble. Further rain though put paid to any hopes of a victory chase as the game finished in a winning draw.

The only blemish on the day was finding out that 2 teams just below in the table had somehow managed to secure 30 points to drop the side down to 5th, but within touching distance of all those teams ahead of them.

A difficult match on paper ended up as a stroll in the park for a second team that is starting to look good for a second straight promotion

Adam chose to bat first and Scott Alexander (27) and Joe Clune (41) put on a good opening partnership. The first wicket saw the introduction of Doris (sorry, Andy) Stokes up the order and this turned into a very good decision as he hit the bowling to all parts of the ground for his maiden ton in all forms of cricket. He received ample support from Ben Wood (30) and Dave Morgan (17).

Skipper and Vice Captain steadied their averages at the end as the innings finally closed on a massive 262 for 6.

In reply the decision not to declare early looked initially dubious as wickets were hard to come by. However after the initial wicket from Matt Hillier, Tim Haydon then got going taking 5 for 37 in 14 overs. Xav then came on to carry on where he left off last week finishing with 3 for 7 from just 5.4 overs. Luton Town & Indians subsiding to 124 all out with over 8 overs still remaining.

Fosters remain in third place thanks to this result but are starting to pull away from the chasing pack.

Although Holtwhites were actually playing with 10 men, their innings - having been put in to bat by skipper Adam Pigden - was a one man effort. As the 3rd XI were crawling along on the other pitch, the ball was flying everywhere on the top pitch as the Holtwhites opener made 87 out of 102 for 2.

His dismissal by Wellsy - who bowled a fiery spell of 4 for 73 from 16 overs - brought about such a speedy collapse that this correspondent barely noticed what had happened while he was batting on the other pitch! The late arriving Xav finished with 4 for 6 from his 7 overs, with Adam picking up 3 dismissals behind the stumps after taking over from the injured Doris....sorry Andy. In fact the end came in just 32 overs and tea was not yet ready!

In response, despite the early departure of Adam, Waseem Dar quickly built up momentum easily outscoring Xav, which is usually a difficult feat, and quickly brought up a half century. Xav was then unlucky to be bowled by one that kept low, although he was lucky to have survived an earlier stumping appeal. Waseem continued on after tea finally falling for a well made 82. Dave Morgan and Doris saw the side home to victory by 7 wickets with almost 40 overs left in the match.

Another fine 30 points moves the side up into the top 3 in the table as the club chases promotion on 3 fronts.

A rather fortunate outcome for the 2nd XI after making a pretty poor effort after Adam had won the toss and, much to the delight of the opposition skipper, had chosen to bat first.

Fosters soon found themselves on 52 for 6 as batsmen came and went, with only the skipper with 23 and Dave Morgan with 11 reaching double figures. Tosh Pigden and Wellsy set about giving the score some form of respectability by taking the score to 90 before Tosh fell for 20. Wellsy didn't get much support at this stage but managed to top score with 45. Tim Haydon remained not out on 4 having run out of partners.

Old Albanian were always in command but soon the skies turned black and their startled skipper left the field to replace his metal spikes having seen a flash of lightning! Soon the rain fell and the square was quickly covered in water and the match had to be abandoned.

10 minutes before the scheduled start the general view was to call things off and head back home. However the realisation that the pitch had covers and that if play started before 3pm a valid game was in the offing persuaded both sides to stick around.

In the end around an hour was lost and Millhillians, having decided to bat first, found the going tough thanks to excellent opening spell by U17 openers Tony Sayers and Chris Nickolls. In fact control was exerted by all of the bowlers and they were backed up by a solid effort in the field - in particular Tony's later run out of their top scorer.

In the end Millhillians had to settle for 153 for 4 from their maximum 46 overs leaving Cockfosters 40 overs to chase this down. This was for more than was required as Tommy Hutton feasted on the bowling, with skipper Adam Pigden providing the support from the other end. The runs were knocked off with plenty of overs to spare with Tom just missing out on what would have been a well deserved century, finishing undefeated on 98, and Adam remaining on 52 not out.

That just left the only downside of a 10 wicket victory - lots of batsmen not getting a bat. 30 points though on a day when most games got washed out, leading to a dramatic rise up the table to 4th place.

A winning draw for the 2nd XI this week saw a much improved display. Lots of useful contributions were made at the top of the batting order as runs were easy to come by. Tommy Hutton at the top of the order made 54 and then later Joe Clune finished top scorer, unbeaten on 56, but he was well supported by Doris (49) and Mark Viner making a welcome return to runs with 46.

With the fall of Doris's wicket the declaration came and the attempt to take 10 wickets. This turned out to be anything but easy thanks to Tony Sayers injuring his ankle after 3 overs, Roy Hill hurting his back after 8 overs and Wellsy proving expensive despite a jaffa of a dismissal.

It was left to the spinners to bowl most of the overs and to do most of the damage. Hutton and Clune capped a good day by taking 7 wickets between them. Tommy took 4 for 47 from 19 overs and Joe took 3 for 19 from just 8 overs, aided by batsmen insisting on swinging across the line and missing! View from the skipper was that the fielding could do with some improvement as well as some reduced questioning of his field placings!

In the end the last was not forthcoming and 19 points had to be settled for.

A lot of important losses in this game. First off there was the rather bizarre effort by many of the team to find the Croxdale Road ground in Borehamwood - including Doris.....sorry, Andy finding his way south on the M1. In the end though a whole team arrived by 12-45, just in time to see what turned out to be the most vital moment of the day - the toss.

Adam called wrong, Fosters were inserted and life became difficult!

Foster reached an ugly 26 for 3 from the first 17 overs (including a 26 ball duck from the skipper) and later, following some blows from Stokesy (22) and Jamie O (36) on his return to the side, found themselves 79 for 6. Some useful efforts down the order from the aforementioned Jamie O plus a top score of 38 from Tony Sayers saw the side to the reasonable score of 171 for 8. Shag finished with 28 not out (in reasonable time for him!) but unfortunately was the side's Inzaman, with a degree (much debated!) of contribution towards 2 run outs.

The problem was that as the day wore on the wicket got drier and easier to bat on. The Old Habs opener (over 1200 runs last season), feasted on the Fosters bowling after a slow start induced by Tommy Hutton's 2 for 22 from 14 overs. The side were not helped by an injury to stalwart bowler Tim Haydon who managed just 1.5 overs before he had to come off. In the end just 2 wickets fell as Old Habs reached their target with just under 4 overs to spare. 

Hertingforbury won the toss and chose to bat and were pegged back by some tight opening bowling from Wellsy and Tony Sayers. In fact all the bowlers on the day bowled tidily and were well backed up in the field, in particular by Doris Stokes who engineered 2 run outs (although he did miss a difficult catching chance off of Wellsy) and early on by sub fielder Michael Levy - described by skipper Adam as having the best arm in the club.

Tim Haydon as usual took the bulk of the wickets finishing with 4 for 50 from just short of 15 overs. Tommy Hutton took 2 for 30 from his 13 overs, thus ruining his bowling average which had previously been less than one.

In reply just 2 overs were bowled before the players left the field, never to return. Although it became clear as the evening wore on that this was the correct decision, there was some disappointment from the Cockfosters camp that the opposition captain and umpire looked a bit too eager to secure the 10 points from an abandoned match (only 2 having been taken so far) rather than to make a genuine effort to play.

On winning the toss on a pitch he later described as 'worse than my back garden....and I don't have a back garden' Adam decided to insert the opposition and take a look. In the end a total of just 148 runs were scored in this match in nearly 83 overs of play - that'll bring back the fans!

Fosters openers bowled well with Tony Sayers unlucky to remain wicketless despite 6 good overs for as many runs. At the the other end Wellsy's first 5 overs went for 15 runs.....his final 7 overs brought just reward with 3 for 4 - although oddly a wicket maiden saw him taken off! In the end all the bowlers had a great time, in particular Joe Clune who 'did a Hutton' and came on at the end to take 4 for 6 from 5.1 overs. Tim Haydon took 2 for 21 and Scott Alexander made his seasonal bow with 1 for 15 from 10 overs.

Despite the target being just 81, Fosters were already wary and this became much more so when the innings subsided to just 32 for 7. At this point everyone dug deep and scores of 2 from Mark Viner, 3 from Joe Clune and 1 from Wellsy don't tell the story of a gutsy effort. In the end Adam (23 not out) ran out of partners when perennial number 11 Tim Haydon backed away from a straight one and the side were bowled out for 68.

Hands up how many facilities marks for the wicket.......