Battling ladies earn a point

Royston Town Ladies 0

Barking Ladies 0

TOWN continued their fight to escape the lower regions of the Premier ­Division with a heroic performance against a highly skilled Barking.

Long term injuries and unavailability forced Town manager Kevin Foulger to start with just 10 players, with the back three of Leanne Buchanan, Gemma Barlow and Amy Barlow holding firm in front of stand in keeper Claire Draper.

In the middle of the park, Laura Foulger was influential in orchestrating a number of attacking moves.

As their pressure grew, Royston's best chances fell to Foulger, Buchanan and Sharon Pinner following Emma Chaffey's pin-point corners.

In the second half Barking started to make their player advantage felt.

And the visitors almost broke the deadlock after 55 minutes when one strike slammed against the Royston crossbar, before Draper made the save of the game tipping another effort over the bar.

But Royston kept their shape and began to mount a series of counter attacks, with Claire Ratty, Wendy ­Webster, and Sophie Boval creating chances for both Chaffey and Pinner.

In the dying minutes Royston were given one last scare, but had Gemma Barlow to thank, with the defender following her sister Amy's example with a last ditch crunching tackle.

Foulger said: "Not only did the whole team battle for every ball, they also managed to play attractive football against the odds - I'm very proud of them all.