| Date | Saturday 9 January 2016 |
| Match | Royston Town v Aylesbury United |
| Competition | Evostik League Southern: Division One Central |
| Result | Won 4-1 |
| Attendance |
175 |
| Royston Scorers | Ingrey, De La Salle, Bradshaw, Robins |
| Crows MoM |
Ryan Ingrey |
Royston Town’s first fixture of 2016 was nine days into January due to the poor weather and saw the visit of Aylesbury United to Garden Walk. The Ducks are floating just above the relegation places and paddling hard to keep their heads above the water.
Steve Castle fielded a similar line up to that of the last game with the notable exception of Scott Bridges who would be serving match one of a four game suspension and we saw Erkan Okay brought in to step into the not inconsiderable boots of the club captain.
The Crows dominated this game and the win and score line was emphatic but their visitors showed determination right through the game and got a consolation goal near the end of the game to reward their perseverance.
Royston took the lead in the 7th minute following some neat work by Ryan Towner picking up the ball back to goal and executed a skilful spin and injection of two yard pace and slipped through a precise pass for the exuberant Ryan Ingrey to run onto and shoot low into the net under away keeper Zaki Oualah. 1-0
Oualah would have a busy period of play in the first twenty minutes and stood up to the pressure well, dealing competently with efforts from Rhys Hoenes and the continued good work from Ingrey and the majority of play was encamped in the Duck’s defensive third.
On 26 minutes Royston doubled their lead with a brilliantly worked corner routine. Swift interplay between Danny May, Hoenes and Ingrey led to Hoenes crossing low and firm for big Joe De La Salle to get in front of his bamboozled marker and tap in at the front post. Superbly constructed and cleanly executed. 2-0.
It was something of a mild surprise that the home side did not extend their lead further in the first 45 minutes mainly due to the good work of Oualah and the Ducks constructed a forward move of their own late in the half as Shiblu Miah jinked himself enough room to put in a shot that Ronnie Yates dove low to cover getting his kit dirty for the first time today.
Half Time 2-0.
It was more of a cancelling stalemate in the opening twenty minutes of the second period and Aylesbury were certainly more involved in forward movement than the first half and it meant Yates would be busier and ten minutes in the Crows’ stopper made a top class save diving full length to his right to palm a powerfully struck free kick from Jack Wood round the post.
Jack Bradshaw put a free-kick over the bar from a dangerous position as the Crows again maintained momentum and Hoenes was denied a 100% cast iron penalty when Oualah made a good stop from an effort from Ingrey and the ball fell centrally for the diminutive winger to strike in – but his back-lift was undeniably clipped and a spot kick was due, but not awarded by referee Porter leaving all concerned – including Ducks defenders – incredulously at this ill-judged decision.
On 65 minutes at an important time of this game Yates made another match clinching save that if converted could have given Aylesbury confidence to push on as he reacted with swift reflexes to a close in volley from Nathan Tshikuna – great stuff from the big man.
Castle made his final changes with Luke Robins and Liam McDevitt replacing Hoenes and Brathwaite and Royston pushed on again to seal this victory and the continuingly impressive Bradshaw again tested the visitor’s keeper after good dribbling work by Hoenes.
The Ducks defiance was depleted on 80 minutes when the hosts sealed the win with a penalty that this time was duly awarded. Substitute Reece Dobson – previously on for Rob Mason – was clumsily felled and skipper Bradshaw stepped up to power home for a 3-0 lead.
To their credit Aylesbury got one back 3 minutes later as striker Tyrone Taylor headed in a Wood shot cum cross. 3-1.
Undeterred the Crows got another goal in the 87th minute with Robins picking up a longer pass and challenging the last man defender Alvin Rajaram who looked to have done enough to thwart the fresh-legged attacker but Robins cleverly found enough opportunity to place a decent lob over Oualah to make it 4-1.
This was a controlled and deserved win for the Crows who sealed the important three points competently and confidently and sees them move into third place in the division in this tight and competitive season.
Team: Yates, May, Watters, Okay, De La Salle, Brathwaite (McDevitt), Bradshaw, Towner, Mason (Dobson), Ingrey, Hoenes (Robins).
Sub not used – Scott-Morriss.
