Royston back on winning trail

Royston 9 Bishop's Stortford 2

ROYSTON got back to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over Bishop's Stortford.

Controlling the game from the onset the hosts soon found themselves ahead through a goal by Mike Welding.

With pressure building on Stortford's back line, further Royston goals were inevitable and they eventually came courtesy of James Yarrow and Nick Hurd.

The visitors did manage to lift their game halfway through the first half and enjoyed their only spell of pressure on the Royston goal, forcing Chris Markham into a couple of good saves.

The visitors did manage to pull a goal back through a short corner, but this setback forced Royston into life and their reply was swift when Andy Drage ended a quick spell of passing with an excellent finish.

The youthful Royston side continued to dominate in the second half and scored a handful of goals through Hurd, Welding, Ralf Louwers and a brace from Nick Ross.

Stortford were able to pull one goal back but found themselves playing too many long balls.

The impressive performance by Royston lifted them to second in the league.

Royston II 5 Letchworth IV 1

ROYSTON have put in some impressive performances in recent weeks but had to put in a gritty show to outfox Letchworth in this local derby.

In fact, it was Royston's opponents who went 1-0 up in the first few minutes of the game when they capitalised on a weak back pass to score what would be their only goal of the game.

As the half progressed Royston began to work the ball better across the pitch but the stubbornness of the Letchworth defence left them with few opportunities to level the scores.

When they did equalise their goal came courtesy of a howler by the Letchworth keeper who bundled a shot by Nick Freeman across the line.

Royston scored a second before half time through Chris Watson, but were showing signs of problems in the middle of the park.

The second half saw Royston reshuffle their team to shore up these gaps, and this paid dividends as Letchworth rarely showed signs of being capable of breaking down the defence.

Royston went on to score three more goals in the second period through Arnie Whitaker, Ian Harper and a second for Freeman.

Cheshunt II 0 Royston III 2

ROYSTON'S third team travelled to Cheshunt hoping to put last week's thrashing at the hands of their colleagues in the second team behind them.

From the off they put Cheshunt on the back foot but were unable to find an early goal to merit their good play.

They remained patient, passing the ball around with confidence, and finally made the breakthrough with a team goal finished off by Arnold.

Royston continued to put pressure on the Cheshunt defence and were rewarded when Pete Belcher finished off a short corner move to make it 2-0 at half time.

Niether team were able to find the back of the net in the second half, and Royston went home with a deserved three points.

Winchmore Hill and Enfield III 2 Royston IV 8

EVEN with one man short Royston's third team were able to inflict a heavy defeat on their bottom the table hosts.

The visitors smashed five goals in the first half and appeared to be responding well to Colin Smith's pre-match team talk of keeping their shape and passing hard.

Nigel Phillips and Colin Bateman bagged themselves two first half goals each, with teammate James Dilley scoring the fifth, and in the second half Phillips scored one more to claim his hat trick and Paul Bloomfield scored a brace.

Although Enfield did score two of their own, there was only ever one team in it.

Royston V 0 Southgate Adelaide IV 2

ROYSTON came into this match with only nine players, and did extremely well to hold off their opponents throughout the entire first half.

Being two men short the team eventually tired in the second period and they conceded a couple of goals.

The defeat could have been much worse but for some excellent saves by Gary Pinner.