ROYSTON TOWN FC v COALVILLE TOWN FC
Saturday 3rd December 2022
A stunning Adam Murray strike was cancelled out by a late Ashley Chambers goal as both sides had to settle for a point for the second time this season.
The early afternoon kick-off resulted in a below par attendance and in truth the quality of the football matched the cold, drab seasonal weather and didn’t provide much festive cheer to the crowd.
The first half was an even affair as possession was shared, although it was Coalville who looked the more threatening going forward. Luke Shaw saw his early shot saved by debutant Crows keeper Louis Chadwick, who also had to be alert to save from Tendal Chitiza and more impressively from an Eliot Putman free kick.
The highlight of the half came right at the end of the period, as Adam Murray opened the scoring. In contrast to what had been served up before, an unstoppable sweetly struck low drive from the edge of the box arrowed into the corner of the net, leaving the Ravens stopper Paul White no chance as he was left rooted to the spot.
The second half served up more of the same as both sides cancelled each other out and chances were at a premium. Putman saw another long-range effort turned away by Chadwick before a long stoppage in play saw goalkeeper White helped from the field, looking rather groggy after a coming together with Murray.
The lengthy stoppage affected the Crows more, as straight from the restart Coalville equalised. Persistent play from substitute Connor Smith saw him pull the ball back from the bye line where the lurking Ashley Chambers made no mistake from 8 yards out. With 17 minutes left and striker Billy Kee in goal for the away side, Royston sensed they might be able to find a winner, but dogged play from Coalville and a lack of quality from the Crows meant that he was never properly tested, and the game petered out to a draw.
Royston: 1-Chadwick, 2-Da Silva, 3-Nakatani-Brown, 4- Mentis, 5-Murray ©, 6-Henry, 7-Bell-Toxtle, 8-Williams (12-Hinds 82), 9-Bateman (18-Barnwell 73), 10-Tshikuna (15-Furlong 85), 20-Hall
Unused – 16-Keane, 17-Cane
MOM – Joel Nakatani-Brown
| ROYSTON TOWN | COALVILLE TOWN | |
| 1 | EFFORTS ON TARGET | 4 |
| 5 | EFFORTS OFF TARGET | 6 |
| 2 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 5 |
| 7 | FREE KICKS AWARDED | 7 |
| 1 | CORNERS | 5 |
| 1 | YELLOW CARDS | 1 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
