Royston II 3 West Herts 1 ROYSTON gave their survival hopes a major boost with a victory against West Herts. Captain Matt Allsopp urged the team to recognise the importance of this game calling it a true six-pointer" as Royston struggle to keep clear o

Royston II 3 West Herts 1 ROYSTON gave their survival hopes a major boost with a victory against West Herts. Captain Matt Allsopp urged the team to recognise the importance of this game - calling it a true "six-pointer" as Royston struggle to keep clear of the relegation zone. Unfortunately, the team was weakened through injury and unavailability, leaving the bare bones of a team to take the field. The game started briskly, with the outstanding Royston forwards shining with quality. The speed of thought and turn of pace of both Chris Leach and Chris Berry was too much for the West Herts defence. The first goal came after a pass from Andy Albert was expertly finished by Leach. This gave Royston some confidence to push on to gain a second goal. With the defence resolute, half-time came with the score still at 1-0 and plenty more work for Royston to do. They came out in the second half and continued to apply pressure. The introduction of Nick Ross in the forward line caused more problems for the tiring defence. A great short corner routine from the ever-reliable Pete Belcher, Nick Broadley and Leach, led to Broadley notching up the second. As has often been the case this season, Royston lost concentration, and a weak short corner from West Herts found its way into the back of the net to make the score 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining. Mike New and Robert Frost were stranded but made amends with good work to ensure West Herts did not equalise. Fortunately, the forward line kept going strongly and managed to force another short corner with five minutes to go. In spite of Allsopp firing wide after more great work from the short corner team, Leach was there to deflect the ball into the back of the net to secure the three points. - Royston's first team were hammered 6-1 at league leaders Broxbourne. Letchworth 1 Royston IV 5 A GOOD second-half performance allowed Royston to complete a comfortable victory over Letchworth. The goals came from Clive Biddlecombe (2), Keith Markham, Arnie Whittaker and Graham Smith.