Haringey Borough 1 Royston Town 2

ROYSTON TOWN will travel to Wessex Premier Division side Bournemouth in the fourth round of the FA Vase after beating Haringey Borough on Saturday.

The tie will take place on Saturday, January 21, and their opponents currently sit in 10th place in their respective league table.

Tommy Malins was the hero for Royston on Saturday with his two goals doing enough to seal the win despite a late consolation from The Borough.

It was always going to be a difficult test for Paul Attfield’s team, with Haringey going into the match on a six-match unbeaten run, while the playing surface was poor at best.

There were a couple of selection problems for the Crows manager with Jack Bradshaw being ruled out with a thigh injury sustained during last week’s win over Colney Heath while top scorer Kaan Fehmi served a one game suspension. Ryan Lockett and Ashley Grinham got the nod as replacements and the game started at a fast pace.

Haringey had much the better of the first half and it took some excellent defending to keep the score goalless.

Royston attempted to play through Haringey with their normal attractive game but this put pressure on themselves as too often the pitch or poor passes let them down.

For all of Haringey’s advances, clear-cut opportunities were at a premium with Lewis Endacott, John McGrandles, Jason Beck and Grinham all outstanding in defence.

In open play the closest Haringey came was one of the very few times they got behind the Royston defence. The powerful Richard Worrell slipped his marker and burst into the box and it needed a fine save from Will Norris to keep him out.

Around the 30-minute mark Royston started to get the grips with the conditions and they took the lead following a concentrated spell of pressure around the Haringey box. Good build-up play culminated in Ricky Young wriggling into the area before setting up an unmarked Malins who fired inside the ‘keeper’s near post from 10 yards.

It could have been two just moments later when Matt Standen had the ball in the net after breaking free but he was pulled back for a tight offside decision.

Royston took the advantage into half time and returned the much better of the two sides after the interval. While, again, clear-cut chances remained sparse, the Crows made life difficult for the home side by pressuring their back line.

Matt Standen and Malins both went close with half chances and a 25-yard Lockett volley was directed straight at the ‘keeper. Haringey were now firmly on the back foot but one moment of quality again saw Worrell break free but Norris came to his team’s rescue with a superb block.

Royston then got a break in the 72nd minute as they had the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot after Malins was brought down. However the winger took the spot-kick himself but saw his effort well saved by the ‘keeper – much to the relief of Haringey who felt aggrieved with the decision.

Despite the miss, Royston remained on top as Haringey struggled to concentrate while continuing to berate the referee for his previous decision. And it cost them dearly as Royston did double their lead two minutes later when Malins placed a header into the far corner from Young’s floated cross.

Haringey’s full-back was sent off for his relentless protestations towards the linesman, while one or two others were fortunate not have been shown red as well.

However Haringey pulled a goal back from the spot after McGrandles was harshly adjudged to have handled in the area, but the Crows held out for an important victory to take themselves into the last 32 of the competition.

Royston Town: Norris, Endacott, Grinham (Clemo), McGrandles, Beck, Martin Standen, Edwards, Malins, Lockett, Matt Standen, Young (OBrien).