Joe Cooke’s century stand wasn’t enough to prevent Radlett falling to a five-wicket defeat against Welwyn Garden City on Saturday.

Radlett’s number three hit eight sixes and eight fours on his way to a stand of 125 as he led his side to a score of 255-8 from their 45 overs.

The away side would surely have had more to show from their innings had it not been for the failure of the rest of the Radlett order to make an impact.

Only three more members of the Radlett XI managed to even make a start with Will Wright (27), Randeep Sanghera (26) and Tom Jenkins (20) all making some sort of contribution with the bat.

A duck for Joseph de Caires, two from Chris Arul, four from Matthew Rose and five from Charlie Nicholls undermined the Radlett effort.

Regardless, the total Radlett managed to post gave them a chance to come away from the game with a victory.

They would ultimately fall short of their 10 wicket target, however, as Welwyn Garden City reached the required total in the 45th over.

Having led the way with the bat, Cooke carried his form into the field and was Radlett’s most productive bowler as he took two wickets from his seven overs to finish with 2-43.

Josh de Caires managed to do more while bowling than he did batting to collect 1-37, while Anthony Hill (1-50) and Sanghera (1-57) also contributed to the Radlett cause.

The defeat is the latest in a tough season for Radlett and they currently sit seventh in the Hertfordshire Cricket League Premier Division with three games left to play this season.

Their hopes of returning to winning ways on Saturday appear to be limited as they take on league leaders Totteridge Millhillians on home soil.

Totteridge are five points clear at the summit of the table and have lost four games all season.

Radlett season sees them play Harpenden away from home before concluding the season with the visit of Hertford on September 1.