Standon & Puckeridge 3 Royston Town 1 STANDON & Puckeridge upset the odds on Saturday and sent Royston Town crashing to their second cup defeat in five days. The Herts League side got off to the best possible start with two goals inside the first five mi

Standon & Puckeridge 3 Royston Town 1

STANDON & Puckeridge upset the odds on Saturday and sent Royston Town crashing to their second cup defeat in five days.

The Herts League side got off to the best possible start with two goals inside the first five minutes of this Herts Senior Centenary Trophy tie, with Steve Coughlan and Bradley Stamp taking advantage of sloppy defending.

The first came after Paul Barnes' clearance cannoned off defender David Daniels and out for a corner, with Coughlan making no mistake with a simple header.

Moments later Lee Rogers dwelled on the ball too long on the edge of the box and Stamp fired in a low shot that somehow found its way through both Rogers' and Barnes' legs.

The Crows hit back with Dave McMurrough and Bradley Poole going close, before Graham Tibbals restored a brief moment of pride with a well-taken strike.

From then on Royston began to dominate, but they failed to turn ­possession into goals as a number of chances went begging.

Standon showed Royston how it was done when Michael Debman broke free and added their third goal with a cool finish.

While it was a good all round performance by Standon, whose last derby match ended in a 6-0 defeat against Buntingford Town, the game ended a nightmare week for Royston who went out of the SSMFL Division One Cup last Tuesday, losing 2-1 at Hoddesdon.

Manager Phil Snowden said: "I'm very ­disappointed and embarrassed.

"We missed too many chances and defended terribly. But there's no excuse. We were more or less at full strength and they wanted it more. They deserved to win."

Standon & Puckeridge chairman Phillip Woodham said: "It was nice to beat a team from a higher division. We wondered about the difference in standard, but we more than matched them.

"We have a very good manager in Steve Ratcliffe and he's really turned things around.

"We've beaten possibly the strongest side in the competition so hopefully that will bode well and we can progress even further."

Royston Town: Barnes; Rogers, Daniels, Reid, Geldart; Edwards, Snowden, Poole, Purkiss; McMurrough, Tibbals. (Subs); Julu, Davenport.