ROYSTON TOWN FC v COALVILLE TOWN FC

Saturday 20^th August 2022

A trip to the early league leaders did not faze the Crows, as they returned to Hertfordshire with a well-earned point, following a pulsating encounter at Coalville.

The Crows nearly took an early lead as Max Bustamante latched onto an Adam Murray flick, only to see his effort saved by experienced home stopper Paul White.

Overall, the first half proved a fairly even affair, but it was the home side that took the lead in the 26^th minute, as a cross into the box was misjudged by the Royston defence. The ball fell at the feet of Timothy Berridge who looked to have missed the golden opportunity presented to him as he dragged the ball back towards the recovering defenders, however, he kept his composure to finish past Dimi Kyriatzis.

Royston’s 2 best chances both fell to Jarid Robson, the first one looked easier to score, as he skewed the ball wide from the centre of the goal, after good work by Joel Nakatani-Brown and Ronnie Henry had set up the chance. The second one saw him head over from a Nathan Tshikuna free kick.

The second half remained fairly tight until the introduction of Matt Bateman, which led to a change of shape, opening the game up. The more open spaces created by the switch to 3-5-2 suited the Crows a lot better and began to cause the home side a number of problems. It didn’t take long for the Crows to reap the rewards, as Robson atoned for his earlier miss, with a far post header from Nakatani-Brown’s deep cross levelling things up just before the hour mark.

Despite being on top the Crows could not push their advantage home as Coalville re-took the lead. A surging run down the right by home skipper Joe Doyle-Charles ended in a cross that was expertly finished with a well-controlled left-footed volley by Ashley Chambers.

The Crows were not to be kept quiet though and the deserved equaliser arrived in the 73^rd minute. Skipper Adam Murray drew a foul 25 yards from goal and Nathan Tshikuna stepped up to drive an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

At this point, the Crows decided to sit back and try and protect the point on offer. Coalville started to gain some momentum as Luke Shaw saw a curling shot just clear the crossbar. Straight afterwards Kyriatzis turned a Chambers shot onto the crossbar before substitute Lewis Williams did well to block the follow-up effort. The Ravens thought they had won it in the 88^th minute as Shaw popped up in the middle of the 6-yard box, but he could only direct his free header wide of the goal. There was still time for Kyriatzis to save well from Thomas McGlinchey, and it was the away team that was the happier, as referee Simon Kavanagh brought proceedings to a halt.

Royston: 1-Kyriatzis, 2-Newton, 3-Nakatani-Brown, 4-Mensah, 5-Murray ©, 6-Henry, 7-Tanga (15-Ironton 78), 8-Mentis, 9-Robson (12-Williams 80), 10-Tshikuna, 11-Bustamante-Macaire (14-Bateman 54)

Unused: 16-Rolfe, 17-Rotimi

MOM – Joel Nakatani-Brown