Barr hoping for final twist in the title tale

Pete Phillips • Published 2 Sep 2009 16:00 0 Comments

DAVID Barr is hoping there's one more twist to come this weekend as a remarkable Home Counties League season draws to a close with Reading still in with an outside chance of winning the Division Two West title.

A superb run of six wins from their last eight games has lifted Reading back onto the fringes of a title race that had seemed beyond them earlier this summer.

Leaders Aston Rowant remain strong favourites to lift the title as they entertain already relegated Burnham, but third-placed Reading, who entertain Falkland, will be hoping they slip up and second-placed Gerrards Cross also stumble at Beaconsfield.

Barr acknowledges it would take an unlikely sequence of results to allow his team to sneak the title on the last day of the season, but he has been delighted with their blistering form in the last few weeks.

He said: "Maybe our chance has gone but we'll keep fighting and you never know, maybe there's another twist to come yet.

"We were slow to get going this season when we had some poor availability and maybe there was still a bit of hangover from last year when we went down.

"But we've finished really strongly and won six out of our last eight.

"We can look back and think there were a few little 'ifs' and 'buts' that if they'd gone our way might have meant we were right in the thick of this weekend.

"If our game at Burnham hadn't been washed out earlier in the summer we might have picked up another win, but I'm sure all the sides at the top have had things like that over the course of the season.

"We have just to concentrate on beating Falkland this Saturday and then we'll have a look at the other results. To be honest, we're not expecting anything so if it happens it will be a bonus."

Reading maintained their impressive end of season form with an eight-wicket win against rock bottom Burnham last weekend.

Depleted Burnham were shot out for just 143 as Neil Saker (5-60) and Luke Beaven (2-29) did the damage with the ball.

Only a defiant 43 from skipper Shahid Nadeem saved Burnham from total disaster as he helped them recover from 50-6 to a more respectable total.

Reading initially looked as though they might make hard work of reaching their target as openers Benny Howell and Saker both departed cheaply.

However, Danny Housego (45no) and Simon Steel (68no) steadied the ship as Reading cruised to victory on 144-2 in the end.

Housego is a doubt for this weekend's finale against Falkland after being called into the Middlesex squad for their game against Northants, while Luke Beaven also looks set to miss out because of his groundstaff duties at Lord's as England and Australia continue their one day series. However, paceman Jamie Hoddle should be available to make his return.

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