London Colney remained top of SHCL Division Six A after a fourth victory of the season.

Only rain has got the better of Colney so far this year and Northwood 2nds never got close as they fell to a 174-run loss.

After winning the toss Colney started with a stutter, losing Mitch Bradley and Graham Seymour early.

Matthew Bristow’s arrival steadied things somewhat, combining well with Rick Zeiderman, but when he fell, Colney were 61-3 off 23 overs.

This is when the direction of the game changed. Skipper Scott Hadley went in at five and played with freedom and aggression.

He bludgeoned the Northwood attack to all parts of the ground while at the other end Zeiderman was playing the perfect foil and accumulating runs.

When Zeiderman was adjudged LBW for 69, Colney were in a very strong position at 169-4.

This enabled Colney’s middle order to come out and play freely and have a hit.

Hadley fell nine runs short of what would of been a deserved 100, but 43 from John Pinkham, assisted by Ade Fisher, saw Colney to a total of 274-7.

It always looked like being an unbeatable score but the margin of victory was a surprise.

Colney’s opening bowlers were a little wayward and Northwood set off at five an over, albeit still behind the rate required.

Tim Fretter then finally got it right with a couple of deliveries and had both openers caught behind.

The introduction of Bristow and Pinkham slowed the run rate further and wickets started to tumble very quickly.

The pitch was suited perfectly to Colney’s slow bowling options and between Bristow (4-7) and Pinkham (3-43) Nothwood surrendered to 101 all out.

Saturday sees Colney take on Rickmansworth in the change of format. The 2nds were also victorious, beating Kings Langley 3rds by five wickets.

A good,tight bowling display from Colney saw them restrict Kings Langley to 165-5 with the pick of the bowlers being Trevor Ray (3-22) and Paul Hadley (1-11). Daniel Pedder also impressed.

Colney knocked off the 165 were relative ease with all batsman contributing a score. John Gibbons (40) and Mark Compton (21) set the platform and it was left to Paul Seymour (36*) to see the side home.