Royston i and IIs top respective divisions

ROYSTON IIs moved to joint league-leaders after a convincing win against Hitchin III at the Heath on Saturday.

The game kicked off with Royston attacking strongly using evergreen No.8 Scott Easy and second row Simon Gladwell to carry the ball up and Colin Letch’s cultured boot to control field position and, as has been the case this season, the Royston scrummage was excellent.

Scott Easy scored Royston’s first try after a good break by Turlais before Letch converted. The second try came from a piece of audacious skill from Simon Rees who sold an excellent dummy which completely fooled the Hitchin backline before Man of the Match Cameron Murdoch scored the third try before half time.

Royston kicked off the second half and almost scored directly from it when Easy raced from the half way line only to be pulled back by the linesman who had seen a foot in touch during play. It made little difference though as Jason Downes robbed Hitchin of their lineout and the ball was spun to Steve Clay won the scrum which led to Turlais touching down the fourth try of the day.

This spurred Hitchin on and they scored a try from a penalty shortly after but Royston stuck to their task of putting Hitchin away and a good break from Rabbetts saw a ball slipped inside to Easy who scored his second of the afternoon.

Young Axel Rose scored the final try after getting on the end of a great passage of play where the ball went through five pairs of hands before he touched down in the corner to get the biggest cheer of the game.

Next up for the IIs is a tough trip to Wendons Ambo on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Royston cemented their place at the top of Herts/Middlesex 2 Division with a 13-7 triumph away at London French.

Again the Royston pack looked powerful with old head Steve Mills back into the pack to balance the exuberance shown from the youthful players from the previous week.

A reshuffle in the backline, due to injuries from the week before to Pars Parslow and Jack Therat, saw a debut for Craig Sheperd at centre and a first start for Rob Morris at full-back.

Royston were camped in the French 22 for large periods of the first half but were unable to convert pressure into tries. This was partly down to the poor weather which caused a number of knock-ons and turnovers but they finally managed to kick the first of two penalties to make the half-time score 3-0.

Royston continued to dominate after the break but it was not until the 60th minute that Billy Richardson powered over the line beneath the posts after a 25-metre driving maul set up the youngster.

The crows then suffered further injury blows that led to a change around in the pack with Sam Morris and Will Sparkes coming onto the pitch. It didn’t seem to affect them as they scored a penalty to go 13-0 in front before a lapse in concentration meant the hosts scored a late try which prove to be a mere consolation.

Next week Royston welcome old rivals Belsize Park to the Heath for a 3pm kick-off in what promises to be an exciting match.