"Bucks looking for a performance to shout about against the Crows"

Match Date : January 14th, 2025 7:45 pm
Competition : Southern League Premier Central
Ground : Garden Walk, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7HP
Kick Off : 19:45

The Bucks head to Hertfordshire this Tuesday evening to take on in form Royston Town.

Over the three full seasons since football returned after Covid, the Crows have been remarkably consistent in terms of the number of points that they’ve put on the board. Town picked up 59, 55 and 57 during those campaigns to finish 8th, 13th and 10th, respectively. But Royston’s almost-identical points tallies are perhaps the result of being consistently inconsistent. Last season Town won 17 and lost 17, with very similar patterns playing out in the two campaigns prior.

Indeed, Royston’s results have been a mixed bag again this season. In league and cup this year, Town have picked up wins over Kettering, Halesowen and Bedford, but they’ve also come up short against sides at the wrong end of the table, including Hitchin, Alvechurch, Bromsgrove and a heavy 3-0 defeat at home to a then-struggling Spalding. In recent weeks, though, the Crows have flown up the table. In the time since we were originally due to face Royston on 7 December, they have picked up 13 points from a possible 18, to move from 17th up to 8th in the table, and they now sit just four points outside the playoffs.

Royston are managed by Chris Watters, who started last season as joint-manager alongside Steve Castle. But with Castle leaving shortly before Christmas 2023, Watters has now been in sole charge for just over to a year. Watters has a decade-long association with the Hertfordshire club, having been a player and coach for the Crows prior to joining the management team.

Watters made minimal changes to his squad over the summer, but new keeper Tommy Dixon-Hodge (King’s Lynn), young centre back Harvey Beckett (Cambridge United), and midfielder Jesse Akubuine (Waltham Abbey) have all become regulars. Luke Johnson has six league goals since arriving from Gorleston in the summer, while centre back and captain Adam Murray is now in his eighth season with the Crows and has five goals to his name.

The Bucks beat Royston 3-0 on the opening day of the 2023/24 campaign, but Kevin Wilkin’s men blew a 2-0 lead late on a damp night at Garden Walk last February; the sides eventually drawing 2-2. The Bucks have been strong on the road this season though, with impressive wins at Stamford, Leiston and Bedford in recent weeks. And with Kettering not in action on Tuesday, three points against Royston would see the Bucks go top (albeit having played two games more than the Poppies).

MATCHDAY INFORMATION

Website: www.roystontownfc.co.uk

Ground Address: Garden Walk, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7HP