Three more for Hammond as Royston turn on the style

Royston Town 3 Winslow United 1

THE Crows fought back after going a goal behind to claim all three points against a spirited Winslow side at Garden Walk with that man Craig Hammond bagging his seventh hat trick of the season.

Winslow took the lead after 18 minutes when Will Smith ran on to a through ball after a mix up in the defence which left David Cain injured on the floor and he neatly put the ball under the oncoming Jorden Gibson.

But the lead lasted all of 12 minutes after which Royston scored from a penalty which had to be taken three times after the gargantuan Kevin Marsh in the Winslow goal dropped the ball and stopped Royston's Tom Malins from latching on to it by giving him a bear hug.

Hammond stepped up and hit a low shot to the keeper's left, but somehow Marsh got down quickly to pull off a superb save palming the ball wide.

The Winslow players' jubilation soon turned sour however as the referee asked the kick to be retaken after a group of players had ran into the box before Hammond had had time to shoot.

Hammond stepped up again and this time hit the back of the net low to the keeper's right, but again the spot kick was called back for the same reasons as before.

Why nobody was booked for these infringements is anyone's guess.

Hammond finally stepped up a third time and this time hit the ball in exactly the same spot as his first kick and this time the goal stood.

The Crows pressed for the second with Jamie Morris looking deadly down the left flank and Ricky Young again with another intelligent performance, but they had to wait until five minutes into the second half before Hammond got his second.

Two minutes later he got his third as Winslow gave up the ghost and in the end it was a comfortable win with some notable performances from Danny Payne in midfield and Luck Robins' substitute appearance on the left.