Royston Town lost ground on the play-off places in Southern League Premier Central after drawing 0-0 with Bromsgrove Sporting at Garden Walk on Saturday.

Steve Castle named three new signings in the starting XI, with Dimitrios Kyriatzis in between the sticks, while Rhamar Garrett-Douglas and Carl Mensah lined up in defence.

With Bromsgrove languishing in the bottom half of the table and the Crows pushing the play-off places, the home side went into the clash favourites.

The first chance of the match fell to Royston and Bruno Tavares – making his debut for the club –whose close-range effort was deflected past the post by Aaron Clayton in the Rousers goal.

They came even closer from the resulting corner, with the ball eventually finding its way to Ronnie Henry, who was unlucky to see his controlled left-footed volley rebound off the crossbar.

It wouldn’t be the last time they hit the woodwork either, as on 38 minutes, a shot from Brandon Adams was diverted into the path of captain Adam Murray, who saw his effort rebound off the base of the post and away to safety.

Bromsgrove struggled to get a foothold in the game, but they did test Kyriatzis on a rare forray forward, with Jamie Molineaux’s well-struck effort straight at the goalkeeper.

It was certainly a day for the defence, with chances few and far between for both teams in the second half.

Bromsgrove thought they had scored when Connor Taylor turned in a Joseph Willis shot, but the linesman raised his flag for offside, cutting short the celebrations.

The best chance for Royston fell to Adams, who after latching onto Murray’s flick, was unable to beat Clayton, who saved his shot and left both teams having to settle for a point.

Royston are on the road this Saturday when they visit struggling Nuneaton Borough in Southern League Premier Central.

That league game is followed by a Herts Senior Cup tie at Garden Walk on Tuesday, with the Crows taking on Oxhey Jets.