Royston travelled to Bedford looking to bounce back after their disappointing performance against Cheshunt but quickly found that this would not be an easy fixture to navigate.
Bedford made the brighter start and quickly found themselves a goal to the good, as some poor defending allowed too much space for their forward to pinch the early goal. Royston's woes continued as Miles Jackson limped off soon after, forcing an early change to shape. Royston did eventually wake up and treat themselves to a good spell of possession deep in opposition territory, this allowed David Evans to find some space and dispatch the equaliser before the break.
Royston were extremely fast out of the blocks in the second half as they were able to bury 3 goals in the opening 15 minutes. Quick exchanges in the front lines unleashed James 'Moose' Biddlecombe to give Royston the lead before Toby Hall found Carl Taylor free in the D to take Royston's lead to 3-1. The Moose then slotted away a drag flick, following a well executed short corner routine, to take Royston's lead to 4-1. It was not all plain sailing for Royston however as they took their second injury casualty of the day with Josh Hughes limping off to join his fellow centre back on the bench.
The quick fire goals put a bit between Bedford's teeth as they rallied and found themselves a goal in the midst of Royston's re-organisation. They were further aided by a fog horn turning up on the sidelines as Royston looked to hold on. The combination of operating with no recognised centre backs and the increasing pressure from Bedford proved too much as Royston were unable to hold on to the lead. Royston sustained 3 green cards whilst trying to hold their ground.
The performance was mixed but Royston were deadly where they needed to be. If they had kept all men fit then they would expect to have seen the game out. Nonetheless, under the circumstances a point is not a bad result.
MOTM: John 'Princess' Gourd
DOTD: David Evans