Royston Town lifted themselves up to seventh in the Southern League Premier Central table with a convincing win over Redditch United.

There was only one goal, Brandon Adams getting it in the second half of the 1-0 success, but there was so much more to delight manager Steve Castle

And as their season draws to a close, the boss wants to see more of that confidence and belief among his squad as they approach the two-legged Southern League Cup final against Taunton Town.

Castle said: “It did look like it was going to be the one goal that decided it. We had an opportunity in the first half where we hit the bar and I think we slightly shaded it.

"We made slightly hard work of it once it went 1-0 but I think it's probably just our confidence levels and we need to have more belief in ourselves.

"We've had a tough year. We've got nine games left which includes a cup final and that's going to be our biggie.”

"But for me, I want to get ourselves in a situation where we’re healthy in the league and have a good amount of points that we can take forward and kick on for next season."

The game at Garden Walk started slow as both teams looked to figure each other out.

Redditch got the first chance when Daniel Sweeney was found with a cut-back cross but he hit it straight at the keeper.

Royston then come close to scoring themselves with Isaac Galliford’s attempt hitting the bar.

Adams was introduced at half time for the injured Tom Newman and that created a more threatening Royston attack.

He could have had a goal before his 66th minute winner, lofting a one on one chance over the keeper but wide of the post.

But he made no mistake as the Crows sprung the perfect counter attack. It was started by Galliford and spread wide to Finlay Titchmarsh.

He simply squared the ball to leave Adams with an easy tap-in and a deserving lead.

Royston continued to create chances throughout the second period and a solid defence performance allowed them to close out the win with a clean sheet.