Royston Men 2 Saffron Walden 5 A POOR first half display gave Royston too much of a mountain to climb as they sunk at home to Saffron Walden on Saturday. Although looking strong in the opening stages, Royston eventually fell away as a positive Walden side

Royston Men 2 Saffron Walden 5

A POOR first half display gave Royston too much of a mountain to climb as they sunk at home to Saffron Walden on Saturday.

Although looking strong in the opening stages, Royston eventually fell away as a positive Walden side pushed forward.

It was not long until the visitors found themselves two ahead with very little resistance offered to them and the Hosts lost all composure, playing a large part in their own downfall as they looked nervous on the ball with even basic passes falling short of the mark.

When Chris Welding was sin-binned for violent conduct Walden took a three goal lead into the break.

The second half saw a massive improvement by Royston who dominated for large periods as they injected spirit and intensity into the game, and they were awarded with Owen Russell and Chris Welding both netting goals.

Royston became more than a match for Walden and if they had began with the confidence they had finished with the result may have been entirely different.

Royston II 2 Harpenden III 2

EARLY Royston pressure led to chances but no goals and Harpenden went 1-0 up after 10 minutes.

Just before half time there was a goal mouth scramble at the end of which Neil Rogers scored his first goal for Royston.

The second half, though, began with Harpenden going 2-1 up and left Royston hearts tingling.

They managed to claw a goal back and eventually shared the spoils as the match finished 2-2.

Bedford IV 4 Royston III 4

ROYSTON IIIs had a tough away game at Bedford and with only the bare 11 players available it was going to be a long one.

Both teams started well and it was the visitors who took the lead with a close range shot from Markham but shortly after Bedford equalised.

Royston pushed forward and excellent link-up play between Brynjollffson and Noble down the right was supported well by Yow and Lewis in the middle.

A straight shot from Markham restored Royston's lead but moments before the break a 16-yard hit got cut out by Bedford's centre forward who scored despite a despairing dive by Berry in an attempt to stop it.

Bedford came out of the blocks very quickly in the second half and were soon 4-2 up but Novle and 15-year-old Edward Weatherhead evened things up late on for a deserved point.

Royston V 2 Southgate Adelaide IV 7

THIS result flattered the winners after Royston had taken the lead through Simon Hughes in the first 15 minutes and went in to the interval at 1-1.

Gallant defensive work from man-of-the-match Miles Jackson could not deny the strength of some high quality Adelaide passing and although Royston created plenty of chances through Josh Hughes, Josh Montague Fuller and Toby Hall they went down fighting 7-2.