Crows up to second

TWO GOALS a piece from Matt Turl and Craig Hammond set Royston on the way to a convincing 5-1 victory at Bedford Town Reserves.

The Crow's are now back up to a second in the Molten Spartan League Division One table, and can snatch top spot tomorrow (Tuesday) night when they travel to Amersham.

Manager Paul Attfield said: "The game was pretty much sealed in the opening 25 minutes so we were able to play within ourselves without having to play with great vigour."

Turl has been out of action for two months following a hernia operation, and marked his return to the side with a goal after just two minutes. David Cain played a long angled pass into the box, and the striker reacted well to volley home.

Bedford's backline struggled to cope with movement of Turl and Hammond throughout, and the latter doubled Royston's advantage on 16 minutes, latching onto Allan Reid's through ball and finishing confidently.

The match was effectively over seven minutes later, when Turl looped a header into the net from a Tom Malins cross.

The home side pulled one back just before half time through Stacey Field, but in the second half Royston added two further strikes.

Another excellent cross from Malins was headed in by Jamie Babbage, who celebrated his first goal for the club, before Hammond wrapped things up with his 24th goal of the season, following up after a free kick into the box was partially cleared.

Attfield added: "Once again we showed our ability as an attacking unit with some quality team goals, and it was another excellent victory for us."

Royston Town: Sam Booth, Lewis Endacott, Peter Chappell, David Cain, Jamie Babbage, Allan Reid (Greg Jackson), Carl Edwards, Tom Malins (Liam Beaumont), Craig Hammond, Matt Turl (Ashley Townsend, Luke Robbins. Sub not used: Duncan Easley.