Royston Ladies I 4 St Albans Ladies II 1 Royston had a tough match against top of the table St Albans this weekend but came out victorious with a 4-1 win. The match started evenly with both teams moving the ball around and trying to penetrate the oppon

Royston Ladies I 4 St Albans Ladies II 1

Royston had a tough match against top of the table St Albans this weekend but came out victorious with a 4-1 win.

The match started evenly with both teams moving the ball around and trying to penetrate the opponent's defences. Royston broke the deadlock first when Wendy Holt slipped the ball past her defender to Sophie Gathercole who picked up the ball, moved past her player and found the back of the goal.

Royston continued to fight hard but unfortunately conceded a goal from a well worked St Albans short corner. Royston's defence were strong and made it difficult for St Albans to create any more chances though.

Royston came out positively in the second half and took the lead when Ruth Askham excellently struck a short corner from the top of the D which took a slight deflection off one of the defenders into the net.

Royston grew in confidence and found the goal again when a well positioned Kirsty Penfold slotted the ball passed the keeper.

Royston's fourth goal was a well deserved goal for Sarah Buckerfield who intercepted a stray St Albans ball, calmly played it around the keeper and fired it home. Royston came away with a well earned, hard fought win.

Royston Ladies II 2 Hertford II 1

With just four points separating Royston and St Albans, it was essential that the home team picked up points in this fixture.

The team made a lively start, buoyed by the addition of new player Deryn Doyle. Some excellent runs down the flanks by Sarah Warren and Laura Simpson showed promise, but Hertford stood firm and took the lead after 10 minutes against the run of play.

Royston however again showed their determination and team spirit - a feature of all of their matches, and fought their way back into the match.

Player-of-the-match Michelle Clement worked well down the left side, causing the away team all kinds of problems. Great play by Sarah Farmer and Lucy Davidson earned a penalty corner for Royston, which Lucy duly converted to equal the scores with a well struck shot.

Continued pressure by Royston was again rewarded with another penalty corner 10 minutes from time. Lucy repeated her earlier goal, again with a rifle of a shot through the defence.

Despite a couple of scares the defence held firm to hold on to the win.

Royston Ladies III 2 Bedford IV 3

This was a disappointing loss for the ladies and one they should not have lost as Bedford only had nine players without a goalkeeper.

It took time for the team to adjust and they found themselves 2-0 down within 15 minutes.

They managed to pull a goal back with a well worked one-two from Jess Woodhouse and Caroline Yarrow who made the perfect pass to Lisa Thompson who cracked the ball into an open goal.

In the second half Emma Whitaker came up to play RW and was man of the match and she made a lovely cross to Leanne Keane who slotted the ball home.

Bedford came back five minutes later with another goal.

Royston were unlucky not to score a third when Lisa Thompson hit a ball up the pitch towards the goal and Emma Whitaker was unlucky not to get a touch on the ball to convert for a third goal.