LADIES?FOOTBALL Peterborough United Ladies 1 Royston Town Ladies 1 ANOTHER battling performance saw Royston snatch a vital point as their fight for Eastern Region Premier Division survival continued on Sunday. Once again Town manager Kevin Foulger was l

LADIES?FOOTBALL

Peterborough United Ladies 1

Royston Town Ladies 1

ANOTHER battling performance saw Royston snatch a vital point as their fight for Eastern Region Premier Division survival continued on Sunday.

Once again Town manager Kevin Foulger was left with just the bare 11 and had to face second-placed Peterborough with a makeshift defence of Siobhan Firman, Gemma Barlow, Marie Miller and Charlotte Foulger.

Royston might have been a goal down inside five minutes, but the effort was disallowed.

Further pressure by United forced two outstanding saves from Royston keeper Amy Walker, and great covering tackles from Foulger and Firman.

Then after 30 minutes The Crows conceded a somewhat bizarre goal, with Barlow coming back onto the pitch from being injured only to inadvertently play a United striker onside, and she lobbed the ball over Walker.

Town hit back immediately, with Claire Draper forcing the Peterborough number one into a fine save, before Emma Chaffey also went close with a confident strike.

After the interval, Royston gave everything in search of the equaliser and as a result looked the better of the two teams.

An excellent run down the left by Foulger created a great chance for Sharon Pinner, before Foulger provided Draper with another opportunity.

Then with 15 minutes to go, Clare Ratty's clever play down the left flank found Miller, whose great delivery picked out Pinner, who stole in at the back post to head home under pressure.

With five minutes left, The Crows could well have taken all three points, when Chaffey broke free of her marker, only to see her chipped finish skim the top of the bar.

Manager Foulger said: "I was very pleased with the way two of our youngest and most inexperienced players, Charlotte and ­Siobhan performed - with their battling spirit they set a great example to the rest of the team.