| Date | Wednesday 29 August 2012 |
| Match | Deeping Rangers v Royston Town |
| Competition | Thurlow Nunn Youth League: West Division |
| Result | Lost 3-2 |
| Royston Scorers | Mullings(2) |
Royston made the long trip to north Peterborough as they played Deeping Rangers in the opening game of league campaign for the fourth season running.
Royston's new look squad showed plenty of signs of promise but three costly mistakes including one in a 90th minute winner for Deeping left the young Crows devastated.
Royston started nervously and often gave away cheap possession but as the game went on started to take control and moved the ball around nicely on a good playing surface. With both team creating chances either poor finishing or smart goalkeeping left the score level at the interval.
HT 0-0
In the second half Royston came out a lot stronger, however a weak back pass and a rushed clearance meant the home side went 1-0 up. Within a couple of minute Royston's determination got them back in the game when a superb through ball saw Dejon Mullings one on one with the goalkeeper to beat to level the score.
Both teams tried to play some attractive football but for Royston they tended to over-play in the final third.
Deeping again took the lead when a whipped cross that was not dealt with saw a free header from six yards to put them up 2-1. Again Royston showed great determination and equalised shortly after when a superb left foot cross saw Mullings score his brace.
On the 90th minute another defensive mistake saw Deeping take the lead and left Royston devastated.
Manager Jorden Gibson commented after the game "We weren’t great tonight but we played well in spells, this is a new side and will take time to come together, two pre-season games were not enough to prepare them but we showed what character we have, to come back twice after gifting goals can often see teams crumble but we didn’t. We don’t like losing but we all agreed there are a lot of positives and it will take time before we see the real potential, therefore making this a nice project for us".
Squad: Reynolds, Shilton, Araba, Staley, Robson, Steele(c) Brown, Geir, Mullings, Stratton, Hall Subs used: Turner, Booth, Jackson
