Royston Town 5 Basildon United 3 FA Vase First Round A SCINTILATING second half performance from Paul Attfield's young Crows saw them progress to the second round of the FA Vase with a victory against tough Essex Senior League opposition. The first signs

Royston Town 5 Basildon United 3

FA Vase First Round

A SCINTILATING second half performance from Paul Attfield's young Crows saw them progress to the second round of the FA Vase with a victory against tough Essex Senior League opposition.

The first signs of vigorous autumn conditions didn't help the players as vicious gusty winds made things difficult, but Royston always looked to get the ball down where possible and started the game well.

An early Lewis Endacott free kick was turned inches wide by Luke Jones and a quick one-two on the edge of the box between Ryan Lockett and Ricky Young saw Lockett denied by the 'keeper.

With the gusts behind them the visitors were looking to explore set play opportunities with their physical strength and they took the lead in the 23rd minute with a controversial goal.

A long throw saw a push on full back Endacott but the flicked header after the push bounced into the net with no whistle.

Royston may have felt aggrieved that the goal was given, but they didn't let their heads drop and within a minute had pulled level when Young crossed for Luke Robins to head over the goalkeeper and in off the underside of the bar.

A bad foul by a Basildon midfielder on Ross Collins moments later saw a fracas break out that eventually saw four yellow cards issued, three to Basildon players and one to Royston's Carl Edwards.

The incident affected Royston as they lost concentration on the ball in a few sloppy positions and invited some unnecessary pressure towards the end of the half.

Royston had a good second half and continually looked dangerous when breaking from defence. The confidence became evident after an early second goal from Endacott in the 49th minute.

Using the brisk wind behind him Endacott drilled a fee kick goalwards from just inside his own half which eluded the keeper's judgement and thudded into the net via the crossbar for an unbelievable goal.

Basildon had two opportunities to draw level from neat approach play but both efforts were wastefully put wide of the target, and they were made to pay when Lockett scored a third Royston goal midway through the half after reacting to a loose ball on the edge of the box to fire home with his right foot.

Moments later Lockett's fine run was brought to a halt on the edge of the box with a deliberate trip and Arin Fehmi curled a sublime 25-yard free kick over the wall and into the top corner for his first goal for the club.

Four could have been five but Young was unlucky when he reacted to a poor back pass but couldn't quite get the ball around the diving keeper and Josh Bronti also went close with an angled effort.

A statuesque piece of defending saw Basildon scramble in a second with Royston falling asleep from a quick set play with eight minutes left but just two minutes later the move of the game from Royston ended with Collins volleying in from 18 yards.

There was still time for more fragile defending to allow a cross to be converted a the far post but Royston had done more than enough to secure a place in the next round.

Paul Attfield said: "I really liked our second half performance. It was just the required tonic for a cup game - desire, pace and lots of quality.

"It was particularly good to see five different goal scorers and that pleases me immensely.

"Some of our second half attacking play was unplayable and in particularly to do it in difficult and gusty conditions the players deserve great credit."

Royston: Gibson, Endacott, Fehmi, Jones, Cain, Collins, Edwards, Malins (Bronti), Young (Crosk), Lockett, Robins (Morriss). Unused subs: Apostolos, Cook.