Crows miss out at Old Grammarians

Old Grammarians 32

Royston 31

Herts/Middlesex 2

ROYSTON lost by the narrowest of margins on Saturday against high-flying Old Grammarians.

The squad travelled with a backline boosted by the return of several youngsters from university, but a depleted pack due to injuries, work commitments and holiday.

The home team’s experienced front five applied huge pressure early on and scored two early tries from well-driven scrums. Royston hit back through a powerful burst from Louis Dummett with Deards adding the extras.

Grammarians continued to dominate, but the visitors looked dangerous on the counter-attack. However, they allowed the home team to add five points before half-time while Hillman was in the sin-bin.

Stern words about using the width of the pitch were spoken by coach Billy Richardson at half-time and Royston responded superbly – firstly Schurch powered over with a defender clinging to his back, then Smith added two tries.

Grammerians hit back with a try of their own but after Dan Ritsema picked up a loose ball to score another converted try, it looked like Royston would take the spoils with a few minutes to go with their four-point lead.

Unfortunately a lapse in defence allowed Grammerians to put pressure on the Royston pack just outside the try-line, and they held brilliantly until the Grammarians No.8 broke blind and Royston were forced to give away a penalty. The same No.8 tapped a quick penalty to himself before bursting over the line to seal a narrow victory.

Royston received two bonus points for scoring four tries and losing by less than seven points. However the manner of the defeat was still hard for them to take after coming so close to winning all six points.