Kentish Town 0 Royston Town 3 South Midlands Premier Division ROYSTON S fine run of form continued as they made it nine wins from 10 games at the Barnet Copthill Stadium on Wednesday evening. The pitch was never going to encourage good football but to be

Kentish Town 0 Royston Town 3

South Midlands Premier Division

ROYSTON'S fine run of form continued as they made it nine wins from 10 games at the Barnet Copthill Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The pitch was never going to encourage good football but to be fair both teams played with good effort and made every attempt to get the ball down and play in the difficult conditions.

Royston needed to start the game well with the surface condition always likely to deteriorate and they did just that with a goal within four minutes.

Ryan Lockett's free kick was only half cleared to captain Ross Collins who struck in a sweet volley from 16 yards into the net via the post.

Royston continued to control the game from then but on a couple of occasions they got caught with brisk counterattack moves with one angled effort hitting the crossbar and another bringing a fine save from Jorden Gibson.

The visitors on three occasions were thwarted by very dubious offside decisions but still created an abundance of chances.

The trickery of Ricky Young created clear openings for Lockett and Will Turl but both shot weakly at the 'keeper and both had one-on-one chances with the Kentish stopper but he twice blocked while running from his line.

The second goal deservedly arrived on 30 minutes when Tom Malins reacted to some defensive hesitation to fire into the net off the 'keeper's body from 10 yards.

The second half continued in the same fashion with the visitors having more of the chances and possession with Kentish creating the odd good chance.

Collins shot over from close range from Lewis Endacott's long throw and Malins beat the 'keeper to the ball from Lockett's through ball but lobbed just over.

Will Turl also missed out when he headed Lockett's corner over from eight yards.

At the other end a free kick was headed off the line by Danny Apostolos and another free header from a corner went just over.

Despite those slight blemishes Royston always looked likely to score and they did again the 80th minute when Malins' long ball found Lockett who beat the 'keeper to the ball and lobbed into the empty net from 18 yards.

Carl Edwards was unlucky not to add a fourth late on but his crisp 25 yard effort was superbly tipped over the crossbar by the over-worked home 'keeper.

Considering the unsavoury conditions this was a decent three points for Royston against opposition fighting against relegation which sees The Crows move up to fifth with two, three and four games in hand of all sides above them.

Paul Attfield said: "The lads played with great enthusiasm and I felt played some decent football considering what that had to play on.

"The first goal was always going to be a big factor and to score so early after a brisk start was crucial.

"From then on we controlled the game with only the odd defensive blemish but I think the final outcome was a complete fair reflection of the game."

Royston: Gibson, Endacott, Apostolos, Hollingsworth, McElvoy (Mulvaney), Collins, Edwards, Young (Crosk), Turl, Lockett, Malins. Sub: Grinham.