Bishop s Stortford Athletic U-12 3 Royston Town Colts A 3 ON A wet and heavy pitch, and with just a point separating the two sides in the table, this was always going to be a very close game. Stortford started the quicker and put Colts under early pressu

Bishop's Stortford Athletic U-12 3

Royston Town Colts A 3

ON A wet and heavy pitch, and with just a point separating the two sides in the table, this was always going to be a very close game.

Stortford started the quicker and put Colts under early pressure, hitting a post in the fifth minute. Colts rallied with some good passing moves and looked dangerous.

Athletic took the lead on 10 minutes from a headed corner.

A chipped free kick from stand-in skipper, Jordan Hall, set up John Middlemass for a long-range shot that just went wide.

Five minutes from half time saw a through-ball by John Middlemass set-up Jack Bailey for his sixth of the season.

Right on the stroke of half time a speculative shot from a very acute angle managed to restore Stortford's lead.

The second half started well, with two excellent saves from the ever-improving Ashley Chapman in Colts goal.

The game was tight and a long-range effort from Middlemass was well saved by the keeper.

Colts restored parity 10 minutes from time, Jack Bailey latching on to the ball from a long clearance to slot home his second of the game.

Mitchell Kilroy and Matthew Cooney pushed forward from the defence looking for a winner, each having long-range shots saved.

In a rare second-half attack Athletic restored their advantage once again believing they had bagged the points but, in the dying seconds, Colts equalised for the third time, Lucas Sekobawane connecting sweetly with a corner from Hall to give both sides a well-deserved share of the points.

Royston Town Colts U-12 5

Austen Arrowheads 4

COLTS battled hard throughout this tough encounter against a much-improved Arrowheads side.

The visitors opened the scoring in the early minutes of the game when a through ball beat the Town defence.

Colts countered immediately with Kieran Willis-Wright breaking through the defence and forcing a good save.

The spilled ball was collected calmly by Jacob Leighton and fired home through a gap in the covering defence.

The next goal came when Arrowheads worked the ball wide down the right and shot from long range. Again Town's counter was swift and decisive.

Willis-Wright fought for and won the ball then fed man of the match Ellis King in the box. King's shot was scrambled but effective and pulled Town level.

In the next phase Town were often second to the ball and seemed set on rushing their passes. In contrast the opposition were aggressive and fought hard for any scraps on offer.

An over aggressive tackle gave Colts a free kick on the right. The initial in-swinging shot was cleared, only to be met and drilled home by Victor Falleta putting Town ahead for the first time in the match.

The lead was stretched further when King delivered another superb corner met and hammered home by Lewis Hunter.

Whether Town sat back or Arrowheads pushed harder is hard to tell but the following period saw Colts on the back foot.

Brennan, Sartinin, Green and Townsend all battled hard and this together an excellent cover tackle by Leighton and a solid save by Seabrooke kept Arrowheads out for the remainder of the half.

In the second half Town played with the sun in their eyes and after only moments gave away a free kick on the left side of the pitch.

The shot when taken came out of the sun left Seabroke little chance of seeing the ball let alone catching it. A long period followed in which the midfield battle continued.

From the midst of the fray King broke free down the left wing rounded his man and crossed past the Arrowheads keeper. Leighton arrived like a bullet and reached the ball with just sufficient angle left to slide home for his second of the match.

Again Arrowheads came back first forcing another good save from Seabroke before again breaking the Town back line and finishing confidently. Town continued to battle and held on to a well earned league win.

Royston Town Colts U-14 A 0

Potton Colts Blues 4

A SPIRITED performance against higher division Blues could not prevent Town slipping out of the league cup on Sunday.

Both teams had chances before Potton took the lead after 10 minutes following a defensive error.

Jamie Gibbs in the Royston goal was called upon shortly after to make an excellent save, preventing the visitors from going further ahead.

Royston rallied and a Dan Cobb shot looked destined for the net only to be denied by another excellent save, this time from the Potton keeper.

Calum Chapple had two good chances denied by the keeper, and after some good work and a cross from Steve Archibald, Chapple eventually beat the keeper, only to see his shot rebound of the crossbar and away to safety.

Potton stepped up their performance in the second half and added two goals in the first 15 minutes.

Royston continued to press and battle against a physical Potton side. Archibald went close having been put through by Charlie Stafford.

Matt Cooper's drive from fully 40 yards nearly caught the Potton keeper off-guard. Charlie McDermott also went close, but it seemed that whatever Royston tried the ball was not destined for the net.

Jamie Gibbs was called upon to make further good saves before Potton scored their fourth and final goal following a miss-hit goal kick which fell straight to one of their attackers.

Royston are out of the cup but the scoreline flattered their opponents.

Royston Town Colts U-15 1 Stansted Juniors 1

AFTER comfortable wins in their previous two matches, Colts faced a much tougher test on Sunday when they played host to a strong and determined Stansted side.

Early exchanges were fairly even but it was Colts who seized the lead. Dominic Oxenford met a corner with a powerful header which seemed goalbound until headed off the line. Fortunately for Royston the ball fell to the feet of Jake Woodford, who blasted it home.

Although Stansted countered strongly the hosts looked comfortable, helped by some strong interventions by Harry Noades in front of the defence, plenty of effective backing up by Woodford and an authoritative performance by Richard Chapman and the rest of the back line.

However the referee spotted an infringement in Colts' area and the visitors converted the resultant penalty, despite Keeper Tom Monti diving the right way.

A spell of strong Stansted pressure followed but Royston held firm and came close to regaining the lead before the break.

Connor Barnard hit a post and the hosts had a decent shout for a penalty waved away after Ryan Ingrey, who had made a blistering run to the byline, appeared to be brought down by a defender well after the ball had gone.

The second half offered plenty of end to end action but no further goals. Oxenford fed Barnard some good passes from the right wing but the normally prolific striker couldn't quite find the net.

Colts' best effort of the half came from Adam Jinkerson, who capped a fine performance on the left by cutting inside and loosing off a looping shot that skimmed the top of the crossbar.

Further frenetic exchanges in the final moments came to nothing, leaving the points shared.