ROYSTON TOWN FC v LOWESTOFT TOWN FC
Wednesday 1st January 2020
Royston kicked off the New Year in style as a five-star performance put Lowestoft to the sword and in doing so moved themselves to the fringes of the play-off places.
The first half-hour of the match gave no indication of what was to come, as Lowestoft largely bossed proceedings, creating all the notable chances. Within the first ten minutes visiting skipper Travis Cole headed narrowly over, whilst home skipper Dan Brathwaite was forced into a goal-line clearance. Chances continued to come for the Trawler Boys as Jacek Zielonka blazed wastefully over before Louis McIntosh saw his low free-kick rebound off of the post.
It was therefore somewhat against the run of play that the Crows took the lead in the 31st minute. Having just replaced the injured Brathwaite, Ben Martin was on hand to drive the ball home from 8 yards out, with his first touch, as Lowestoft failed to clear a corner.
Lowestoft still continued to press with Malachi Linton shooting over and Cole heading another opportunity over the crossbar, but it was Royston who doubled their advantage just before the break. Picking the ball up midway inside his own half Claudio Ofosu drove fully 70 yards into the away team’s penalty area before his storming run was brought to an end by Dylan Ruffles for a stonewall penalty. Matt Bateman stepped up and calmly dispatched the penalty, to give the Crows a welcome, but barely deserved 2 goal half-time lead.
With their tails up, Royston went for the jugular at the start of the second half and were rewarded with a further 3 goals in the opening 17 minutes, as a shell-shocked Lowestoft struggled to contain the rampant Crows. Ofosu was first on the second half score sheet, as he rose to head home an Adam Watkins cross in the 47th minute. Watkins then got in on the act, despatching a low cross-shot into the corner of the net following great perseverance from Bateman, before completing his brace, as he cut inside and finished powerfully from inside the box.
A defensive lapse from the home side gave Jake Reed the opportunity for a consolation goal, which he calmly took in the 67th minute, but by then the game was well and truly over as a contest. Substitute Brandon Adams should have made it 6 from a Watkins cross but headed wastefully over, whilst Scott Bridges tried to get in on the act, being particularly unlucky to see his audacious 40-yard effort tipped over by Luis Tibbles.
The remaining 5 minutes were played out without any further opportunities, as the Crows sequence of 1 defeat in the past 16 games was extended.
Royston: 1-Welch, 2-Scott-Morriss, 3-Warner-Eley (14-Brighton 55), 4-Bridges, 5-Murray, 6-Brathwaite © (16-Martin 30), 7-Mentis, 8-Watkins, 9-Castiglione (12-Adams 55), 10-Bateman, 11-Ofosu
Unused: 15-Joseph, 17-Green
MOM: Adam Watkins
| ROYSTON TOWN | LOWESTOFT TOWN | |
| 8 | EFFORTS ON TARGET | 2 |
| 5 | EFFORTS OFF TARGET | 7 |
| 3 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 0 |
| 19 | FREE KICKS AWARDED | 16 |
| 5 | CORNERS | 4 |
| 1 | YELLOW CARDS | 3 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
This match report is kindly sponsored by Lounge India.
Lounge India is an exceptional Indian Restaurant based in Royston. They take great pride and care in every aspect of producing the food from their wide an varied menu and also the service. The authentic cooking methods used by their highly skilled and experienced chefs guarantee mouth-watering and memorable dishes. Lounge India insist on using only the finest natural ingredients in their dishes and each is cooked fresh to order. For more details visit Lounge India
