Hoddesdon 2 Royston Town 1 A LATE goal knocked 10-man Royston out of the SSMFL Division One Cup on Tuesday as boss Phil Snowden rued a host of missed chances. He said: It was a disappointing result and to be fair I think we deserved a bit more. We pas

Hoddesdon 2 Royston Town 1

A LATE goal knocked 10-man Royston out of the SSMFL Division One Cup on Tuesday as boss Phil Snowden rued a host of missed chances.

He said: "It was a disappointing result and to be fair I think we deserved a bit more.

"We passed the ball around and in parts we played some good football. But if you don't take your chances you're going to get punished."

Graham Tibbals was the sole name on the Royston scoresheet with a well-taken header, after he raced on to a mistake by the goalkeeper.

However, the in-form striker missed a couple of chances to put the Crows in front - although one effort did force the save of the game.

"On another day Tibbals could have had a hat-trick, but I can't complain because he's been banging them in recently," said Snowden.

"But he wasn't the only one who had chances, with Dave McMurrough and Lee Rogers also having good opportunities."

And it was just one of those days, according to the Crows boss, who saw four Royston efforts cleared off the Hoddesdon line.

Snowden also questioned the performance of Tuesday night's referee, and described the decision to send off keeper James Scott as a "joke".

He said: "Scotty's sending off was laughable. There were probably 20 odd players involved in the incident and how he was the only one to go is beyond me.

"Alright, he had already been shown a yellow, but there was a lot that went on that went unpunished.

"For me, it was a very harsh decision and a complete joke!"

Rookie keeper Sam Booth came on as a replacement on the 55th minute mark and for the next half hour the visitors dominated possession as Rogers and Stuart Snowden took control.

There was also an impressive return for midfielder Bradley Poole back after a brief spell at ­Potters Bar.

However, against the run of play, Hoddesdon's Peter Ulatowski pounced for his and the hosts' second with just five minutes of play remaining with a cool close range finish.

Snowden said: "It was a blow to lose in the last five minutes, especially as we played so well in the second half.

"And despite being a man down we looked like we might win the game."

On Saturday, the Crows make the short cup trip to face Standon and Puckeridge, with Snowden looking to field some of his reserve and A team players.

"It's a game we should win, but if the players go in with the wrong attitude then you never know.

"I'm looking to give a few players who haven't played so much a run out, so it will be a good opportunity for them to impress."

- Royston have submitted a seven- day approach for Sport London e Benfica's 22-year-old goalkeeper Fernando Seidi who is an expert at saving ­penalties.

Snowden said: "He's a big powerful keeper who has a lot of potential. He'll have to fight for a place because at the moment Scott has been playing well. He'll be a good signing for us.