Royston Town’s dream of reaching the first round of the FA Cup is over, as their fairytale run was ended with a 3-1 defeat to Maldon & Tiptree at Garden Walk in the fourth qualifying round on Saturday.

The Crows had already made history with their longest cup run, but their unbeaten opponents proved too strong.

They fell behind on 20 minutes when Daniel Brathwaite put through his own net, and it got worse on 31 minutes when Danny Parish added a second.

Royston got one back when Dan Martin headed home 10 minutes into the second-half, but the comeback wasn't to be as Jorome Slew made it 3-1 to send the Jammers through.

It was a double blow for the Crows as they also missed out on the chance to host the draw for the next round.

The performance disappointed boss Steve Castle, who said: "We started brightly enough and we were on the front foot, pretty much right up until they got their first goal.

"We were the team pushing things but I have to give our opponents full credit they weathered the early onslaught from us, and then added another before half-time to give us more problems.

"We are really having issues at the moment, at times in games playing ok, competing with whoever we play but then we kill ourselves with sloppy and poor play that often leads to a goal for the opposition."

Castle was quick to thank the 1,152 strong crowd that flocked to Garden Walk on Saturday, adding: "I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you so much from all the players and staff.

"The atmosphere was really good starting the game and with our reasonable beginning, it made for a good amount of noise and excitement. But, sadly it was not to be.

"Let's hope we can create similar exciting times in the future."

Royston are enduring a difficult spell as of late having been knocked out the FA Cup and seen their league form slump, with Castle keen to see his side get back to their best.

"There's still plenty to play for this year," he said.

"We have had a hard start to our league campaign, playing most of the top teams, but now we need to get points and get our belief back.

"We have to pick ourselves up and get points."