Royston Town had a night to forget as they were beaten 3-0 at home by fellow strugglers Spalding United last night.

The defeat leaves the Crows 16th in the Southern League Premier Central table, only a single point above the bottom four.

The hosts were playing catch-up from the sixth minute when Spalding took the lead following some neat interplay, but they went close to equalising after 20 minutes when Tyrone Baker hit the foot of the post.

However, the visitors doubled their advantage after 32 minutes when an attempted clearance was blocked and Spalding capitalised on the opportunity.

Royston’s tough night got even harder three minutes after the restart when Eunis Lievins was shown a straight red card after appearing to win a 50/50 challenge, but the numerical disparity was evened up on the hour when Spalding also had a play sent off.

Charlie Johnson went close to halving the deficit after 65 minutes but he couldn’t quite squeeze the ball over the line, however it needed a great save from Tommy Dixon-Hodge soon after to keep his side’s hopes alive.

But the home side’s misery was completed in stoppage time when they were caught on the break after pushing forward and the visitors scored their third.

Royston in action earlier this seasonRoyston in action earlier this season (Image: Peter Short)

The defeat rounded off a disappointing few days for the Crows after they went down to a 1-0 loss at Stourbridge on Saturday following another late goal.

It’s been a much better week for Royston Town Women, who equalled their best FA Women’s Cup run by reaching the first round proper after a 6-0 drubbing of Bungay Town Ladies.

The victors made the breakthrough when Laura Mills calmly slotted the ball into the net after a great cross from Jordanne Sillitoe.

She turned from provider to scorer for the second, converting Emma Slater’s low cross to put Royston two goals to the good at the interval.

Slater claimed another assist for the third goal, setting up the unmarked Mills to fire emphatically home.

The fourth goal was another powerful strike, this time from Lily Hall after being set up by Tally Miles, and then Slater got on the scoresheet for the first time following a cross from Amy Reed.

Royston saved their best goal for last though, as Annie Georgiou struck a shot from outside the left of the penalty area into the far right corner.

The victory means Royston will host East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League Division One South Side Newport Pagnell Town Women in the first round on Sunday, November 3.

Royston Town Reserves picked up a big three points in the Spartan South Midlands League Division One when they beat London Colney 6-0 at Garden Walk.

The Crows’ goalscorers were Michael Baulk with a brace and one each from Jack Davis, Oscar Herd, Lucas Darby and Franco Ciuffa.