Royston Town boss Steve Castle heaped praise on Adam Murray after the centre-forward’s header helped crack the Crows’ Garden Walk jinx with a 2-1 victory over AFC Rushden and Diamonds.
The Crows were still waiting for their first home victory of the Evo-Stik Southern Central season ahead of Saturday’s clash, but a Murray header and Sam Corcoran smash saw Royston break the three-game winless run in a gripping contest.
Murray - usually deployed as a powerful centre-back - provides a towering presence when Castle sends him forward, and dominated the Diamonds defence from the start.
Speaking after the game, Castle said: “Ask defenders at the end of the season who the toughest centre-forward they’ve faced is and I reckon they’ll choose Adam.
“He flued up this morning but you wouldn’t have known it, he ran around like a teenager.
“We’ve done it before and he loves it up there. Last season we didn’t have another defender as dominant in the air when we threw Adam up front but now we have with Ben Martin, who’s a five-foot-seven colossus.
“It was a brilliant finish for the first goal and he was a complete hindrance to them.”
Murray’s goal was a towering header from Jordan Norville-Williams’ floated free-kick after 10-minutes, answered by Jack Bowen on 60-minutes.
Bowen’s tap-in ignited a frantic period which saw Corcoran power home a reply less than a minute later - a chance created after Murray hit the post.
The Crows dominated the first-half and coped well under pressure, delighting their boss with their drive, fitness and discipline.
Castle said: “We had a big dip after going out of the FA Cup and I was looking for a reaction from the players.
“We’ll play prettier football, but there was a response. The determination was outstanding.
“With less midweek games there will be be a lot more preparation for games so the standard of play will be better.
“We’ve got a lovely pitch and a group of quality, skillful players. Sometimes it it’s not always about that in non-league though, it’s about group determination and attitude. We had it today.”
After moving up to sixth, the Crows will be playing to extend their unbeaten away start to the season with a trip to 12th placed Tamworth in their next league game in two-weeks time
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