Broxbourne Borough 8 Royston Town 2 THE Crows defensive woes continued on Tuesday evening as they were hit for eight at Broxbourne. It was the second time Royston have conceded eight goals this season, and the ninth time in 31 Spartan South Midlands Lea

Broxbourne Borough 8

Royston Town 2

THE Crows' defensive woes continued on Tuesday evening as they were hit for eight at Broxbourne.

It was the second time Royston have conceded eight goals this season, and the ninth time in 31 Spartan South Midlands League games that they have conceded five or more goals.

Phil Snowden's side have now let in 95 league goals this season as they continue their slide towards the drop zone.

To make matters worse for the Crows, their former striker Emile Aiken hit a hat-trick against them, with another former Royston player - Danny Ward - scoring a second-half penalty.

A quickly-taken free-kick gave Borough an early lead, but David McMurrough hit back to level the scores with a well-taken effort.

Having looked capable of taking something from the game during the first half-hour, Royston then suffered an all-too familiar collapse as they conceded four goals in 13 minutes to go into the dressing room 5-1 down.

With Stuart Snowden and Michael Bloss both coming off at half-time, things did not improve for the Crows as Broxbourne's pacy football proved too much for them and they added another three goals.

Substitute Gregg Jackson netted a late consolation for the Crows, but they will go into Saturday's crunch home encounter with sixth-from-bottom St Margetsbury knowing that they simply must win their first league game since December if they are to stand any chance of avoiding the drop.

n The Crows are also in action on Tuesday, at Tring Athletic.