The smiles are back at Royston Town and they will head into their FA Trophy clash with Hythe Town full of confidence.

The Crows had begun the week with a record of five draws and a defeat in their opening six Southern League Premier Division Central games, but two wins, the first a 2-1 success at home to Hednesford Town on Saturday followed by a 2-0 victory at Hitchin Town on Monday, have suddenly changed the complexion of the season.

Joshua Williams and Jonathan Edwards got the goals in the first game while it was second-half strikes from Brndon Adams and Isa Rotimi that saw off the neighbouring Canaries.

And assistant manager Chris Watters is now eagerly awaiting Saturday’s Trophy match at Garden Walk.

Speaking to the club’s social media channels, he said: “What better way to go into it, on the back of two wins? Five draws and two wins looks a lot better than five draws and a loss doesn’t it?

“Wherever we are in the league we know we are a threat. We know we’ll be there or thereabouts. We know it hasn’t been as it should be but we knew it was there.”

An added bonus to the win at Top Field was the clean sheet, the first of the season in the league, but Watters revealed the entire performance went exactly to plan.

He said: “We said we needed the ugly win [on Saturday] and that gave us the confidence we needed.

“We came tonight really well prepared. We knew what to expect, we knew their quality and we knew how they played.

“We set up to nullify that. The idea was a clean sheet in the first half and then take it to them in the second half.

“And it worked, we were excellent.

“We’ve been craving [the clean sheets]. We were excellent at them last year. We have been defending really well in the last few games and it is only the set-pieces that have been our undoing.”

He also had praise for two of the more unsung heroes of the team.

“We’ve got knocks, we’ve got injuries and we’ve had to change personnel a little bit,” he said.

“Dan Newton moved into the centre of the park and was fantastic but we knew he’d be good in there.

“Isa was outstanding, got a great goal, and the lads at the back were solid in the second half.”