| Date | Tuesday 3rd October 2017 |
| Match | Barton Rovers v Royston Town |
| Competition | BigFreeBet Challenge Cup: 1st Round |
| Result | Won 3-0 |
| Attendance |
58 |
| Royston Scorers | Murray, Frendo(2) |
| Crows MoM |
John Frendo |
Royston progressed to the next round of the Big Free Bet Challenge Cup with a comfortable victory against old foes Barton.
It took until the 24th minute for the game to come alive, when John Frendo burst into the box and fired a shot off that lacked venom, as he did well to honestly ride a challenge that could easily have resulted in a penalty. The resulting corner saw pinpoint delivery from Gus Scott-Morriss onto skipper Adam Murray’s head, unfortunately for the Crows the effort was straight at home stopper Adam Harpur, who made the save without knowing much about it. Immediately though he launched Barton onto the attack and Royston were indebted to an excellent save from Joe Welch as the home attackers exploited a large space in the away defence.
The next chance for Royston resulted in the opening goal and it was again the Scott-Morris/Murray combination as an expertly whipped in free kick was glanced in by Murray. The quality of the delivery, run and header giving the Barton defence no chance of stopping the breakthrough.
Royston continued to have the lion’s share of possession but the young Barton side were constantly harrying them and forcing them into misplaced passes as they were unable to build on their lead going into half time.
The second half started with Barton on the front foot and it took a well-timed block from Ryan Ingrey, playing in an unfamiliar right wing back position, to prevent what looked like a certain equaliser for the home side. This was as good as it got for Barton, as Royston resumed control of the game that they never looked like relinquishing.
Adam Marriott saw a header hit a post and a fierce shot well turned away by Harpur before the game clinching second goal arrived as John Frendo chased a long ball forward and poked it past the on-rushing goalkeeper into the bottom corner.
The final goal arrived with 5 minutes to play as Scott-Morris played in Frendo who confidently despatched the ball home to ensure Royston a place in the draw for the next round.
Royston: 1-Welch, 2-Ingrey (12-Castiglione 58), 3-Alomenu, 4-Asafu-Adjaye, 5-Murray ©, 6-Kennelly, 7-Corcoran, 8-Scott-Morriss, 9-Frendo, 10-Ives (15-Potton 64), 11-Marriott (16-Vasey 64)
Unused: 14-Powell, 17-Oyinsan
