ROYSTON TOWN FC v STRATFORD TOWN FC
Saturday 14th January 2023
An entertaining encounter saw Royston run out 4-2 winners and move into the top half of the table.
Right from the off the game was an open affair and the tone was set as early as the 4th minute. A through ball found Matt Bateman who drew away keeper Liam O’Brien before intelligently squaring to Kian Harness leaving him the simple task of shooting into the open net.
Bateman nearly doubled the lead as he saw his header from Nathan Tshikuna’s corner rebound off the bar. The Crows where not to be denied a second though as O’Brien could only palm out Tshikuna’s long range effort straight into the path of Shomari Barnwell, who turned the rebound into the open net in the 24th minute.
It was against the run of play that The Bards pulled one back, as Hamilton Bunga finished from close range after the home side had failed to clear a corner in the 35th minute. The comeback was short lived though as The Crows restored their two-goal lead on the stroke of half-time. An outrageous bit of skill from Harness saw him create space and his clipped cross was volleyed home by Bateman at the back post.
The second half continued along the same vein as both sides showed an attacking intent. Harness was denied three times by O’Brien, whilst Louie Chadwick in the home goal thwarted Callum Ebanks twice in quick succession. It was Stratford who grabbed the fifth goal of the game in the 84th minute as Jesse Akubuine strode through the midfield before setting up substitute Jamie Molyneux to fire home.
Stratford sensed the chance of a point and pressed hard for an equaliser, but after forcing 3 corners in quick succession were caught out in the 89th minute. Connor Furlong collected the ball on the edge of his own box and drove forward, an exchange of passes with Tshikuna saw him race clear and confidently slot the ball past O’Brien to give The Crows a deserved 3 points.
Royston: 1-Chadwick, 2-Da Silva, 3-Townsend-West (16-Nakatani-Brown 77), 4- Williams (17-Hinds 68), 5-Murray ©, 6-Henry, 7-Furlong, 8-Tshikuna, 9-Bateman (15-Bell-Toxtle 46), 10-Barnwell, 11-Harness
Unused – 12-Keane, 13-Kyriatzis
MOM – Nathan Tshikuna
| ROYSTON TOWN | STRATFORD TOWN | |
| 11 | EFFORTS ON TARGET | 6 |
| 4 | EFFORTS OFF TARGET | 4 |
| 3 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 6 |
| 12 | FREE KICKS AWARDED | 18 |
| 7 | CORNERS | 6 |
| 2 | YELLOW CARDS | 1 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
