Next up – Royston Town
Tuesday, 3rd November at Garden Walk, Royston, Herts SG8 7HP
Pitching in Southern League, Division One (Central); kick off 7.45pm.
Admission
Adults £12, Concessions £8 and children under 16 £4
Advance tickets are £1 cheaper and on sale at https://roystontownfc.ktckts.com/event/roy2627h06/royston-town-v-ware
The match
This will be our first league meeting with Royston since the 3-1 defeat in April 2016, it’s also our first visit to Garden Walk since then. Points are available and both sides have need of them. The Crows are in the play-off places and looking to return to the Step 3 position they vacated after relegation last season. Ware are in the unaccustomed position of the relegation zone and are after every opportunity to escape and pull clear.
Form guide
Looking in to the detail of both sides recent fortunes Royston are doing very well, thank you. Their last three games have all been won with an aggregate score of 12-2. They’ve also not lost at home since the middle of September, the three victories since then include a 1-0 success over Hertford a full calendar month before this game. Ware are waiting for their first away league win of the season though they have picked up two draws from their last three games away.
Previous Meetings
There have been 37 previous meetings between the respective first teams including seven friendlies. The first came in 1950, a 4-0 Senior Cup win for Ware (Alf Cliss with two goals, Joe Long and Ron Goodey). The Crows were members of the Herts County League at that time and played against our reserves in that competition as well as the Herts Intermediate Cup and a pre-season friendly in 1969. The following year we met for another friendly but this time involving our first team and that’s the way it’s been since. League meetings under the Isthmian and Southern banners have had Senior Cup, Charity Cup and East Anglian Cup games interspersed amongst them.
That last visit to Garden Walk was our penultimate game of the 2015/6 season, one in which Royston finished second in the table, losing out on promotion in the play-offs. They made no mistake in 2016/7, by which time we were back in the Isthmian League, going up as champions.
Of our thirty competitive meetings we have won 16 and lost 11, goals for 50, against 41.
Commentary
Pete and Symon will be at the game if you can’t make it yourself. They’ll be broadcasting commentary from 7.45pm at https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/5413151
Match report
There will be no full report from this game. Line-ups and salient points only I’m afraid.
Match officials
The referee for this match is Tommy Fleming who was an assistant for our 4-0 win at Enfield last season. The assistant referees are Robert Willcocks who was running the line during last year’s torrential downpour at Biggleswade Town and Matthew Jackson.
