Harwich & Parkeston 4 Royston Town 1 ROYSTON Town s dreams of FA Cup glory were shattered on Tuesday evening as they suffered their second 4-1 cup defeat of the season. The Crows had already crashed out of the Herts Charity Shield by the same scoreline a

Harwich & Parkeston 4

Royston Town 1

ROYSTON Town's dreams of FA Cup glory were shattered on Tuesday evening as they suffered their second 4-1 cup defeat of the season.

The Crows had already crashed out of the Herts Charity Shield by the same scoreline at Sawbridgeworth Town, but Tuesday night's loss on the Essex coast will prove much more costly.

Although a home tie against Harwich's fellow Ridgeons League Club Leiston in the preliminary round was hardly likely to make Royston rich, they stood to bank £500 for winning Tuesday night's replay, with a further £1,000 on offer if they progressed to the first qualifying round.

The sides had drawn 2-2 at Garden Walk on Saturday - full report on Page 55 - thanks to a second-half fightback sparked by a pair of Kojo Ofori goals.

But with the skilful midfielder suspended, they were always likely to struggle.

The Crows were also missing goalkeeper Scott Statham, who damaged his shoulder in Saturday's draw, and stand-in Russell Jones was forced to pick the ball out of the net twice in the first half as Harwich took control of the game.

A third goal early in the second half effectively ended the game as a contest, and Harwich added a fourth before Jason Nash added a late consolation following well-worked move. Crows boss Phil Snowden was unavailable for comment yesterday (Wednesday).

The Crows will be looking to kick-start their season when they open their Spartan South Midlands League campaign with a trip to London Colney.

In common with the Crows, Colney went out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, losing 1-0 at home against Raunds Town before opening their league season with a 1-1 draw against Leverstock Green.

Tuesday evening sees league newcomers Kingsbury London Tigers visit Garden Walk.

West London side Kingsbury Town were transferred from the now-defunct Ryman League Division Two, and merged with Herts County League team London Lions.

Having received a bye in the FA Cup extra-preliminary round, Kingsbury were due to open their season with a home league game against Broxbourne Borough last night (Wednesday).