Steve Castle has apologised to Royston Town fans after his side slipped to a 3-1 defeat at new Southern League Division One Central leaders Egham Town on Tuesday night.

Jack Bradshaw’s 15th-minute penalty, after a hand had blocked skipper Scott Bridges’ left-wing cross, gave the Crows the perfect start to the vital game.

However, despite leading at the break, things unravelled in the second period.

Goldy Capela’s low drive levelled on 62 minutes and the hosts were ahead five minutes later.

In similar fashion to the first half, a handball resulted in a spot-kick and Bajram Pashaj finished from 12 yards.

With Royston pushing forward, gaps were appearing and Egham completed the come-from-behind win four minutes from the end with Pashaj notching his second.

The only plus point from the horror show came as former leaders Kings Langley were held to a goalless draw at Fleet Town meaning the title race is still in Royston’s hands with five games to go.

That huge slice of luck masks what has been a poor week for the Garden Walk side with a goalless draw at Bedford Town on Saturday delivering just one point from two outings at a crucial time.

Nevertheless, with Langley slipping up, the manager wants Town to use the Egham defeat as a “wake-up call”.

Castle said: “The lads and I owe everyone involved with the club an apology for our dismal display at Egham.

“Too many individual mistakes led to poor team-play and although Egham weren’t exactly ripping us apart, their final third quality was far better than ours.

“We have no excuses. We were terrible. From the 15th minute onwards we were just not at it.

“Unbelievably the title is still in our own hands. The players need to use this loss as a massive wake-up call.

“Tension, nerves, whatever has to be dealt with and overcame quickly.

“The talent is there, we all know that. Calmer heads and regular bouts of quality will bring back the belief.

“Now we have to dust ourselves down and go again.”

Royston now have two home games - Godalming Town on Saturday and Potters Bar Town next Tuesday - to rectify their faltering title bid.