Old Merchant Taylors 8 Royston RFC 12

ROYSTON RFC maintained their charge at the top end of the table with a hard-earned win over Old Merchant Taylors on Saturday.

Taylors are themselves enjoying a successful season and this win could well prove vital come the business end of the campaign.

Tailors attacked straight from the kick-off showing there pace and skill but with excellent tackling from Tegg and Collins they were un able to break through the solid Royston defence.

Royston then showed there power in attack with strong running from Louis Dummet and Robert Turner but with a mix up in defense OMT’s were able to slice through to score there only try of the game.

This only spurred the visitors on even more until captain Damien Fouracres put his body on the line in a try-saving tackle which ended his season with a badly broken arm.

With Scott Easy now at the helm, Royston were showing there skill with some excellent breakaways upfield and after a short while they were in complete control of all aspects of the game knowing a score was near. Billy Richardson, in trademark fashion, smashed into the Taylors defensive line which led to Tegg to score Royston’s first try at the end of the half.

The second period started the same as the first with both teams giving everything and unfortunately Tommy Dummet became the second Royston casualty of the afternoon with a dislocated his shoulder.

Taylors were given a penalty which they turned into a 8-5 lead.

Royston stuck to there game plan, though, and took the game to the hosts for the remainder of the match.

With minutes left in the game the powerful Royston pack took it upon themselves to smash through the Taylors defence once again only to have two tries disallowed but their persistence paid off when a foul on the try line from Taylors led to a penalty try in the dying minute of the game which was converted by full-back Santos to make the final score 12-8 to Royston.

Royston welcome London French at the Heath on Saturday

Meanwhile, Royston IIs lost 27-3 at home to Harlow in their first match back in six weeks.

Royston started brightly and were quick to the initial breakdowns through Billy Payne and Paul Rabbetts. The first points came after a good drive from the returning Dan Fox was offloaded for Jamie Green to take on a few more yards before Mark Woodall expertly struck Royston’s first drop-goal of the season.

This galvanized Harlow who started using their massive pack to make serious inroads into Royston territory and the home side started to leak points and struggled to keep the ball for sustained periods. Harlow scored 24 unanswered points, as Royston’s pace dropped as lungs were pushed to breaking point.

The second half kicked off with Royston playing down the slope with the wind behind them and they used the elements well with stand-out performer Simon Kiwi making some telling breaks and using a good kicking game to keep Harlow pinned back but time and again the Royston support failed to help the line-breaker to take the ball on again.

The only points of the half went to Harlow who scored a long-range penalty after an indiscretion just inside Royston’s half.