ROYSTON TOWN 2 BARTON ROVERS 2: FULL MATCH REPORT...

Royston Town 2 Barton Rovers 2

Referee Steel Steals the Show

I half-expected the coin to bounce over the referee's head, for the ground was bone hard...

A rather inept and unfortunate performance by the officials affected this game's outcome more than the hard, uneven, high-bouncing surface. I had noticed a simple bounce fly over the crossbar during Barton's warm-up session and home goalie Nick Thompson was to suffer twice from the conditions in the opening stages of the match, the second time fatally. An early sending-off left Barton to battle out the vast majority of the game a man down but they were only pegged back to parity during the closing moments. Royston, urged by manager Steve Castle to show 'tempo' in the first-half, must have been livid at the languid approach play demonstrated by his Crows after the interval, when they trailed by 0-2, but a disputed goal and a Reece Dobson header finally rescued a fortunate point for the hosts. Barton defended their goal like the ancient Britons must have defended the Sharpenhoe Clappers, a hill-fort near Barton-le-Clay but although a point was acceptable in the end, Rovers must have been incensed with a number of whistled decisions, which went against them. 

Steve Castle thinks: "Tempo..."

Barton began in lively fashion but their only strike at goal came from Luke Knight, who slammed a shot against the roof tiles of a house behind the goal. Knight, reminding me so much of Trevor Hockey, ex-Forest, Villa and Small Heath (the nasty B'ham City), with the beard, the flowing hair and the combative streak which all teams need in midfield, was a driving force for the visitors, who took the lead in bizarre circumstances. A Royston pass by Kaan Fehmi went astray, no change there perhaps but a Barton defender banged a high ball forward for the eager, physical, tattooed Kim Forsythe to chase; Thompson had already misjudged one bounce and he raced from goal to fly-kick this ball away but it bounced sharply and awkwardly for him, he sliced it upwards and slightly backwards, then backpedalled, allowing Forsythe to spot his chance and win a header against the hesitant Ryan Wharton and nod a 19 yarder, which bounced almost apologetically into the Royston net. 

Forsythe (10) celebrates his opportunistic goal...

A Dobson free-kick brought an infringement near the left upright by a Crow, which left the home players puzzled but then a long Barton clearance was challenged for by Rovers' striker Bobby Dance and the ball sounded like it had struck him in the face but then as he moved to tackle Royston's Ryan Ingrey, Dance's challenge was more clog-dance than River-dance, leaving Ingrey writhing in apparent agony. The official responded by brandishing an immediate and emotional red card, Dance trooped off the field, Barton were down to ten men and the Royston physio' suggested a jog along the sideline for Ingrey, whose pained expression had now become merely a frown and he was granted a quick re-introduction to the fray, with no sign at all of the horrendous injury. It had been an unwise challenge by Dance, however.

Ah, the emotion of the game we love...
The not-so-merry Dance (9) is dismissed from the disco...

Tempers had begun to boil in the pleasant March sunshine but Dobson's free-kick for Royston was merely nodded across the face of goal by Scott Bridges, who found little scope for creativity before the break. Royston were really struggling, unable to find any openings at all, despite being a man to the good and all that ensued from some bobbling passes and unimaginative play was a wild 24 yarder from Dobson, which flew well over the Barton crossbar. Knight did manage to tread on Ingrey in centre-field, missed in a moment of incompetence by the referee, then the ineffective Fehmi cut infield from the left, only to fire a dreadful, sliced cross-shot, which swung away for a throw to Barton, 6 yards from their corner-flag. Dobson tried another shot from distance but ballooned his shot, the ball dropping from a great height onto the huts well behind the goal-frame, the only surprise being that a parachute wasn't involved.

Royston finally looked like they might manage a shot on target as skipper Ross Collins found himself inside the penalty-box on the right but his left-footer from an angle bounced horribly into the side-netting, without Rovers' goalie Kyle Forster being troubled. Collins then escaped a booking for a foul on the irrepressible Knight, not exactly Sir Galahad himself, before Fehmi was badly fouled but the referee chose to ignore the incident and then, to sum up a really poor first period, Royston's Jack Bradshaw turned on the defensive left and swung a high cross-field delivery towards Lewis Endacott , who was forced to turn to deal with the 'pass'; unfortunately however, he chested the ball back towards Thompson, who had advanced a little too quickly, and embarrassingly the ball rolled out for a corner, which proved fruitless. The break arrived, the sun shone, a pram appeared, but only one dog and I thought about  the red millstone grit boulder, once the base of Roisia's Cross in Royston's town centre (hence Roisia's Town), for the team's badge shows a crow perched on the famous boulder, and really, during the opening half, that's how the Crows had seemed, perched on boulders. Well, Stone the Crows...

An improvement was needed by Royston during the second-half but amazingly, the visitors took a 0-2 lead instead. Knight even slipped as he took a deep free-kick from inside-left but the delivery was met by visiting skipper Paul Andrews, right side of goal and his looping header floated over Thompson into the far corner of the home net. Endacott was withdrawn and the brusque Robbie Mason appeared, no doubt to add a physical presence in attack for Royston. Mason soon swung lazily at a loose ball 25 yards out but the ball looped uselessly wide, before Royston, despite their slow build-up play and unimaginative passing, allowing their guests to drop off and defend zones, scored a hotly disputed goal, which even scorer Mason appeared not to celebrate. Royston had defended a break by Barton but won a right-wing corner themselves, which was swung across by the frustrated Dobson; Mason rose and headed downwards onto the goal-line, where Forster fell to save but the ball was adjudged to have crossed the goal-line, much to the annoyance, consternation and abject disgust of the Rovers' players, resulting in Knight pleading the case with the referee, possibly to at least speak to the linesman. Sadly for Knight, the assistants and the referee had displayed little communication during the whole game thus far, so they were unlikely to drum up a relationship now.

Some of the 10 men manage to get across and congratulate Andrews for scoring Barton's second goal...

Knight turns into a bit of a pleader, but it remains 1-2...

The game, physical and enthusiastic Forsythe was replaced for Barton by Ricky Case then Knight whacked a 25 yarder too high for the guests, before Adie Cambridge replaced Ingrey for Royston. The hosts continued to labour sideways then concede possession around the Barton penalty-box, before Robbie Nightingale replaced Collins for Town and Rhys Hoenes was withdrawn for the visitors, for the introduction of Niran Vaughan. Case was baulked by a worried Jhai Dhillon and the Royston defender was cautioned, before, with the game becoming fragmented, yet with Royston's pedestrian passing still causing concern for their own irritated fans, Cambridge's free-kick landed on Mason's instep but the bearded fellow's powerful volley flew too high from 8 yards. Hands went to heads, still visiting midfielder Joe Reynolds fought to break forward with Case, then Bradshaw fed Dobson at inside-right for Town but the visiting defence, by hook or crook, stopped him. Jermaine Hall replaced Kilby for the guests, Mason headed weakly wide for the hosts and then Royston equalised from a left-wing corner by Bridges, who had become more influential as the second period had worn on. Dobson rose well in a crowd to nod the ball into the far bottom corner of the net.

Dobson (10) is about to equalise from a left-wing corner...

2-2: cue celebrations for Royston...

Forster punts away for Rovers...

Dhillon made a fine run into the visitors' penalty-area, might have been pulled down but won a very late corner, from which nothing useful ensued and the referee blew his whistle for the final time, no doubt feeling relieved that he could go home and watch Chelsea lose at Villa.  Barton will rue the dismissal, for they needed the victory but Royston will be concerned by their uninspiring midfield performance and slack offense. Goalie Thompson looked lacking in confidence for the hosts but I guess the Barton defence won the honours on the day, along with the unfaltering forward effort of Rovers' Forsythe. On my way home I saw the rather ordinary-looking red millstone grit boulder on my way through the town centre, reflecting Royston's overall play, I suspect but what a sunset I saw on the M6, as I left the M1...

Teams:

Royston: Nick Thompson, Ross Collins (Capt), Jhai Dhillon; Scott Bridges, Ryan Wharton, Jack Bradshaw; Lewis Endacott, Spyros Mentis, Kaan Fehmi, Reece Dobson, Ryan Ingrey.

Subs: Robbie Mason, Adie Cambridge, Robbie Nightingale.

Barton:  Kyle Forster, Liam McDevitt, Kyle Lincoln; Peter Gatti, Paul Andrews (Capt), Kev Kilroy; Luke Knight, Joe Reynolds, Bobby Dance, Kim Forsythe, Rhys Hoenes.

Subs: Ricky Case, Rob Hastings, Luke Abraham, Niran Vaughan, Jermaine Hall.