| Date | Tuesday 26 December 2012 |
| Match | Biggleswade Town v Royston Town |
| Competition | Evo-Stik League Southern: Central Division One |
| Result | Lost 2-1 |
| Royston Scorers | Fehmi |
| Attendance | 205 |
| Crows MoM | Kaan Fehmi |
Ten Man Royston Fall Just Short At Biggleswade
By Jez Izod
A brave second half performance from the Crows was just not quite enough as 10 man Royston fell to defeat at Biggleswade.
The opening five minutes set the scene for this scrappy match as a hefty challenge from Lewis Endacott on Jim Woolf gave the Waders the opening chance with Steve Gentle blasting just over the cross bar. Biggleswade returned the favour in foul terms with a terrible challenge on Tom Malins seconds later in which Max Yorke should have felt grateful of just a talking to.
On four minutes the impressive Craig Daniel ghosted past Endacott and found Steve Gentle unmarked in the area where he easily found the back of the net. Fortunately for the Crows this was disallowed for a foul on Jack Bradshaw. The Crows did not heed this warning and minutes later Gentle burst down the wing where his pin point cross was diverted for a corner by Bradshaw.
It was Biggleswade's match for the taking with efforts from Gentle, Donnelly and Allinson all testing the Royston defence.
Although not a bad tempered match, Captain Ross Colins earnt a needless booking for a foul on Woolf with the clock hitting ten minutes. At this point of the game the referee had issued 14 free-kicks which shows how stop start this game was.
On 19 minutes after a terrific goalmouth scramble, a goal bound shot from Donnelly was superbly saved by Will Norris. As Norris was attempting to distribute the ball he was cheekily kicked over by the not so gentle Steve Gentle with the Biggleswade player pleading innocence to the refereee.
The pattern of the match continued with clever overlaps from Biggleswade on both flanks causing problems for the Royston defence. Worst was to follow on 32 minutes when a cross was lamely punched away by Norris and the resulting volley from O'Brien superbly saved by Liam McDevitt. Only problem here is that McDevitt is a defender not a goalkeeper. After a brief discussion with the assistant referee, the expected red card was shown and Royston were down to 10 men for the remaining sixty minutes. The resultant penalty was confidently dispatched by Allinson to put the Waders 1-0 up.
With the Crows out of sorts and in need of some organisation, the Waders took full advantage and a lightning strike from the excellent Craig Daniels powered into the back of the net to give Biggleswade a two goal advantage going into half time.
A rejunvenated Crows team re-entered the fray and Robins burst through into the Biggleswade area on 49 minutes only to be blatently shoved over by Alex Taylor. This was missed by the officials.
One minute later and Kaan Fehmi saw the goal keeper off his line and attempted to lob from 30 yards this produced a top class save from the Waders stopper.
Royston continued to press forward with Robins, Fehmi and Lockett going close several times. With Lee Wilson providing the ammunition from corners the Crows continued to knock on the door of the Biggleswade goal. Success followed on 79 minutes after excellent build up play between Wilson and Robins who found the striker in space and he coolly fired past Taylor to give the Crows a glimmer of hope.
The Crows continued to press forward but could break down the Waders, who resorted to time wasting at every opportunity.
A game that saw 78 free kicks within the 90 minutes ended with another booking, this time for Fehmi for dissent after he had been heavily knocked in the back by Gentle.
Overall a good game of football ruined by over officious decision making, the Crows will be looking to bounce back this saturday against Chalfont St Peter.
Team: Norris, Parr (Standen), Endacott (Edwards), Bradshaw, McDevitt, Spencer, Collins, Malins (Wilson), Fehmi, Lockett, Robins. Unused Subs: Ingrey, Howard.
Attendance: 205 (72 From Royston)
Man Of The Match: Kaan Fehmi
