ROYSTON TOWN FC V ST MARGARETSBURY FC
Tuesday 31st October 2017
Royston recorded a comfortable victory in the first round of the Herts Senior Cup as St Margaretsbury were despatched by 5 goals to nil.
Steve Castle took the opportunity to fully utilise his squad, which included Harry Darling, a centre half brought in on loan from Cambridge United, along with a couple of players promoted after promising showings in the reserves.
The opening half hour of the game was uneventful, bar an early Dan Brathwaite header that was cleared off the line, as both teams struggled on a bobbly surface. With both teams flooding the central areas of the pitch, neither side was able to take control of proceedings amongst the congestion.
A tactical change from the Royston bench just before the half hour mark, that saw Josh Castiglione moved into a wide area and Ryan Ingrey dropping into midfield reaped immediate reward. With a little bit extra space Castiglione drove infield and after evading one centre half’s attempt to stop him, the other one succeeded offering the Crows a free kick in a dangerous position. Cue Scott Bridges, who stepped up and curled a trademark effort over the wall and past an unmoving home goalkeeper.
Almost immediately the task became harder for St Margaretsbury as their skipper, who had been involved in a private battle with Josh Oyinsan, appeared to bite the Royston man in an off the ball incident, well spotted by the linesmen. The referee had no hesitation in brandishing the red card.
From this point on Royston took complete control and just before half time doubled their lead as Martell Powell timed his run into the box to perfection to fire home from Oyinsan’s knock down.
The one way traffic continued into the second half as the Crows fully utilised the man advantage, although to St Margaretsbury’s credit, they continued to defend resolutely and didn’t stop working all round the pitch. Despite their best efforts, Oyinsan added a third in the 57th minute as he converted from close range. Jack Vasey then got himself on the score sheet twice, as first he received a pass from Ingrey and following a sharp turn despatched the ball home, before a close range finish from an Ingrey cross completed the scoring.
A good work out for the Crows squad, with their reward in the next round being another away trip to Spartan South Midland opposition, this time at Berkhamsted, who currently sit on top of the division.
Royston: 1-Tewkesbury, 2-Bridges (c) (12-Taylor 57), 3-Alomenu, 4-Canham (15-Kennelly 52), 5-Darling, 6-Brathwaite (14-Thomas 62), 7-Castiglione, 8-Powell, 9-Oyinsan, 10-Vasey, 11-Ingrey
Unused: 16-Chappell, 17-Potton
Crows MOM: Josh Castiglione
| ROYSTON TOWN | ST MARGARETSBURY | |
| 9 | EFFORTS ON TARGET | 2 |
| 3 | EFFORTS OFF TARGET | 1 |
| 2 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 0 |
| 9 | FREE KICKS AWARDED | 5 |
| 8 | CORNERS | 1 |
| 0 | YELLOW CARDS | 2 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 1 |
