Hillingdon Borough 4 (Marotta 21, Lansiquot 33, Hughes 39, Hawkins 69) Royston Town 2 (Malins 28, Lockett 43)

ROYSTON TOWN suffered a disappointing defeat away at Hillingdon Borough on Saturday.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Paul Attfield’s side who never really got going and a combination of poor defending and wasteful finishing condemned them to a fourth defeat in five games in all competitions.

Hillingdon started the match on the front foot as Royston struggled to implement their usual passing game on what was a far from perfect playing surface.

Centre-half David Cain had to be alert to clear a shot off the line 15 minutes in when goalkeeper Lee Robinson was caught in no-man’s land but the home side did find the net a few minutes later when Gianni Marotta headed home from close range after Robinson had failed to get a decent punch on a corner into the six-yard box.

Royston restored parity on 26 minutes, though, when a corner was cleared only as far as Carl Edwards who squared to Cain, who had adopted an unfamiliar position on the right-wing, before picking out Tom Malins at the far post who nodded into the bottom corner.

George Brinkman had an excellent chance to put Royston ahead a minute later but his header was well saved by the Boro ‘keeper who pushed the ball wide for a corner.

Arron Welch was the next Crows player to try his luck at goal but his stinging left-foot shot from the edge of the area was again parried away by the Boro stopper.

Hillingdon re-took the lead just past the half-hour mark when Aaron Lansiquot burst down the right-hand side before cutting past stand-in left back Ross Collins and slotting past Robinson from just inside the area.

And things got worse on 40 minutes when Royston were again carved open far too easily by Ethan Hughes who slotted past Robinson for number three.

Royston didn’t roll over, though, and had the chance to pull a goal back two minutes later when they were awarded a penalty when Josh Bronti was brought down in the box by the Boro defender who was shown a straight red after being deemed the last man by the referee. Collins stepped up to take the kick but his effort was saved by the Boro ‘keeper.

However, just seconds later, Royston did have the ball in the net with a goal of real quality. Welch played a measured chip over the Boro defence from the edge of the area to Ryan Lockett who executed a superb volley across goal into the bottom corner from an acute angle.

It really was a great goal and one which looked like acting as a springboard for Royston to haul themselves back into the match after half time.

The Crows bench was up in arms 10 minutes after the break when Lewis Endacott appeared to be upended in box but strong calls for a penalty fell on deaf ears.

And to make matters worse, Boro then went up the other end and scored a fourth after Endacott had given away possession on the half-way line following a slip. The Boro winger strode down the left wing before sending an inch-perfect cross over the stranded Robinson to Oliver Hawkins at the far post who nodded home.

Attfield introduced Ricky Young for Edwards with 15 minutes to go and it was all Royston from there on in with the home side content to see out the victory.

Both Bronti and Malins missed their side’s best chances to give themselves a chance of snatching something from the match as it became increasingly clear it just wasn’t going to be Royston’s day.

Royston Town: Robinson, Endacott, Cain, McElvoy, Collins (c), Bronti, Welch, Edwards (Young 75), Malins, Lockett, Brinkman.