Colts crush away-day blues

Bassingbourn Youth U-11 1 Royston Town Colts A 6 COLTS notched their first away league victory of a frustrating season with a demolition job on local rivals Bassingbourn Youth. The visitors signalled their intent from the start, Jack Bailey rifling-in a low shot only to see his effort hit both posts without crossing the line. However, Colts were soon ahead when Lewis Harley was on hand to poke the ball home after great work from Bailey and Lewis Hunter. Victor Faletta forced an excellent save before Sam Hunter delivered a superb cross to the feet of Jake Benstead, who made no mistake to extended Colts lead. Faletta then made it three, getting the final touch in a goalmouth scramble from another wicked Harley in-swinger. Good work from Hall almost let in Lewis Hunter for Colts' fourth, his namesake, Sam, then going close after a terrific run and cross from Lucas Sekobawane. Neil Smith took over in goal in a half-time reshuffle which also saw Connor Saggers and Matthew Evans join the fray and Middlemass switch to midfield. Initially Colts struggled with the strong headwind, promptly conceding an own goal after a well-worked move from the home side. However, Colts soon restored their three-goal advantage, Benstead beating the keeper at his near post area after good work from Bailey and Sam Hunter. Lewis Webb came on for last quarter as Faletta made it 5-1 with his second of the day, picking his spot to fire home with great aplomb from the edge of the box. Colts then wrapped-up a superb all-round team display with a sixth as Youth put through their own net to keep alive Colts' slender survival chances. Hormead Hares U-8 Orange A 1 Letchworth GCE Whites 2 THIS was a great all round team performance by the Hares who dominated large amounts of the game, but failed to win the game. Hares took the lead with a stunning Jamie Saggers strike from the edge of the box. Despite further chances Hares fell behind in the second half, and went close in the last minutes. Hormead Hares U-8 Orange B 0 Letchworth GCE Whites 0 HARES had to play the same Whites side and again controlled a lot of the game, and created a number chances forcing the Whites keeper to make some good saves. Orange B defended well when required and keeper Penry Buckley made to outstanding saves. Potton Colts U-10 0 Hormead Hares 3 HARES ensured they will finish at least second after a victory at fellow high-flyers Potton. After just three minutes, a Craig Brett long throw, found Robbie Levy just inside the area, who controlled the ball well on his chest, turned and hit a sweet strike in the top corner. The second half again saw Hormead play some outstanding football and were rewarded with another Levy goal that was then quickly followed up with a neat finish from Luke Barker. Girton Colts U-12 1 Hormead Hares Girls 5 THE ever improving Hares produced another excellent all-round performance despite missing four players. Hares dominated most of the game, with some excellent passing throughout and good movement, but when necessary tackled superbly. A fierce 20-yard strike and first of the season for Megan Gilligan gave Hares the lead after 15 minutes and then Gilligan, again from 25 yards, this time gave the keeper no chance. In the last minute of the first half a lack of concentration at the back gifted Girton a goal. The second half was all Hormead again, with further goals from Gaby Hodgson, Katie Jennings and Summer Winkworth. Girton Colts U-13 2 Hormead Hares Girls 5 HORMEAD secured at least second place with a very strong performance from the entire team and an impressive win. Some good long-distance finishing from Amy Marr (4) and Vicky Hilton sealed an impressive victory against third-placed Cottenham. Royston Celtic U-14 2 Harlow Town Youth 5 A WEAKENED Celtic fell behind to a soft goal after only five minutes on Sunday and conceded again after 30 minutes to fall further behind. Ryan Waller delivered several quality corners throughout the match and from one of these Conor Barnard produced a trademark header just before the break to reduce the deficit. The second half started in similar vein to the first with Harlow scoring after five minutes and they then extended their lead further with another goal after 10 minutes of the half. The goal of the game came with 20 minutes remaining when Barnard won the ball by the corner flag, beat a defender and curled the ball past the keeper into the net. However, Celtic were unable to build on this and despite a strong performance from Mitchell Cooper in defence it was Harlow that scored the last goal of the game with seven minutes remaining. Knebworth A 4 Royston Celtic A 2 KNEBWORTH came into this match defending a fearsome reputation as one of the strongest sides in the league and Celtic knew they had to be on their game to have any chance of doing well. The early stages of the match were marked by some aggressive challenges and several over-enthusiastic tackles but there was no doubting the commitment from both sides. On the ball Knebworth always looked threatening and forced the Celtic defence into some excellent clearances with most of the game being played in the Celtic half. Knebworth scored first from a well-taken corner and powerful header crucially making their height advantage count. A second goal followed quickly after a misjudgement in the Celtic goalmouth and it was credit to Celtic that they scored one back with a well-taken shot by Sole. Once again it was Knebworth who gained the ascendancy with a third goal from a poorly defended short corner that was blasted past the keeper. A superb second goal from Ollie Sole should have seen Celtic pushing for an equaliser but it was Knebworth who killed the game off with a well taken headed goal to finish winners. Royston Town Colts U-14 0 Bishop's Stortford 2 Royston Town Colts U-14 1 Bishop's Stortford 3 A DOUBLE header fixture against high-flying Stortford proved too much for Colts as the visitors bagged all six points. Stortford applied pressure from the outset and once again Colts had keeper Tom Monti to thank for keeping them in touch with a series of outstanding saves. Despite his efforts Stortford soon took a deserved lead when the hosts failed to clear their lines. Colts tried to respond and came close when Dominic Oxenford latched on to a fine through ball, but he blazed his shot over the bar. In a better second half performance Royston went in search of an equaliser and looked to have secured one thanks to a blistering effort by Harry Noades, but play was hauled back. Stortford then capitalised on their good fortune, doubling their lead following a neat cut-back from the byline. Royston continued to battle hard and Craig Lucken came close with an effort that went just wide, but first blood went to the visitors. The second game was more even as Colts found a measure of cohesion, and they managed to take the lead when Ryan Ingrey neatly rounded the Stortford keeper and slotted the ball home. Stortford piled on the pressure in response and Royston were forced to defend in depth. Monti was repeatedly called into action and obliged with more breathtaking saves, but the prospect of an unlikely Colts victory faded when another cutback from the byline led to Stortford's equaliser. Colts refused to give up and the nimble skills of Skeggs troubled the Stortford defence, but their efforts could not prevent the visitors bagging two further goals and three more points.