Tom Brown tom.brown@archant.co.uk ROYSTON Town boss Phil Snowden was straight to the point after his side s shock defeat at Standon & Puckeridge, describing the defeat as a disgrace . He also slammed Saturday s performance with a rant that Alan Hansen

Tom Brown

tom.brown@archant.co.uk

ROYSTON Town boss Phil Snowden was straight to the point after his side's shock defeat at Standon & Puckeridge, describing the defeat as a "disgrace".

He also slammed Saturday's performance with a rant that Alan Hansen would be proud of - claiming The Crows' defending was "comical" and their finishing "diabolical".

Snowden told The Crow: "It was a very disappointing performance and most of them had the wrong attitude right from the off.

"I think they thought they were going to win the game easily and they just never got going.

"We got off to a bad start, and thanks to a couple of comical errors we were 2-0 down after five minutes. Defensively we were terrible, and at times completely hopeless."

Snowden also highlighted Royston's lack of conviction in front of goal, as he and his assistant Rob Henry watched a host of chances squandered at an alarming rate. "We had so many opportunities to win the match, and when we pulled a goal back I really thought we would get back into the game. But it never happened and we missed too many chances," said Snowden.

"Our finishing was diabolical - I counted five open goals that were missed. That's not good enough, and it's no wonder we didn't win."

Royston's work ethic also came under the spotlight, as only a handful of players stood out for their manager.

Snowden said: "Graham Tibbals worked hard up front and two or three more did all right. But on the whole they just didn't work hard enough and overall the performance was a disgrace.

"I always say that football is 90 per cent hard work. We didn't even show half that and as a result we were beaten. And having a team that was near enough at full strength - there really is no excuse.

"They need to work harder - it's as simple as that. I looked around at full time and I couldn't see any sweat or steam, it was if they had been for a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park!"

And after crashing out of the Herts FA Senior Centenary Trophy and the SSMFL Division One Cup in the space of five days, Snowden will be hoping his side raise their game ahead of Saturday's Challenge Trophy clash with Luton-based The 61 FC, where he will be without his son and club captain Stuart, Dave McMurrough, Peter Chappell, and goalkeeper James Scott, who has left the club after re-locating to Norwich.

However, as much as the cup games are important to the club, the cup exits mean the Crows will have more time to focus on their indifferent start to their league campaign.

As it stands, Royston have played the least amount of league games, with Brache Sparta having already played double the fixtures.

"We've only played seven league games so far, while most other clubs have played between 10 and 14. Because we've had quite a few cup matches we've slipped off the pace of those around us," said Snowden.

"Hopefully when we get a few more league matches under our belts we can start moving up the table.

"It's good to be playing in the cup, but as I've said before, the league is our priority.

"We've taken a few steps back recently, but hopefully we can get some confidence back and get a few wins ahead of the FA Vase game in a couple of weeks' time."

- On Tuesday Royston visit Cheshunt Reserves in the league, 7,45pm.