The Heroic Hold off at Harpenden!

Royston Men’s 1st XI were back in action this week in a thrilling replay of a preseason trip to Harpenden. Royston looked unsteady from the off, possibly attributed to the lack of training balls, with a few dodgy passes being made up and down the pitch. The boys soon settled into the game with some structured pressing from the front line with the strong verbal presence of Toby “Chairboy” Hall, Carl “Paper Thin” Taylor and the bodacious Sam “Sebastian” Miles. It wasn’t, surprisingly, any of these players who scored Royston’s only goal of the game.
The heat of the battle was to be seen in the centre of the pitch with a makeshift crow’s midfield, anchored by none other than the captain himself Josh Hughes. A strong display from Hughes and the players around him, George “The as of yet unnicknamed” Bradley and Troy, led to the Men’s 1st XI seeing out the half even with a man down.

Royston’s backline struggled in the second half for fitness as Dr Pete (Fat Pete) seemed to be suffering from a bout of illness, inevitable considering his proximity to the keeper’s malodorous kit. Also, rather hilariously, Miles “The Body” Jackson managed to trip over thin air in the first half resulting in a rather hefty fall with his cranium and possibly contributed to a lack of courage towards his usually devastating aerial bombardment. This was just the beginning of Royston’s struggles as the pressure mounted with attack after attack from Harpenden. Up stepped the stalwart man of the match performance from Andy “Bullet” Drage who was destined to make headlines as he, almost singlehandedly, carried the transitional play for Royston.

The game ended after a string of good defensive play from all on the pitch and Royston look forward to next week’s clash against a handy Cheshunt 1’s side. Will the boys remain on course for the title? Only time will tell…

Also, Lyndon Scored.