Canny Crows march on
ADOMINANT second-half display saw Royston Town dump out Chester in the shock of the round at Garden Walk.
Matt Bateman’s double and one from Josh Castiglione brought a thoroughly deserved success for the BetVictor Southern Central Premier Division side who outfought their National League North opponents from the off.
Royston, who knocked National League side Boreham Wood out in the first round, went close through Brandon Adams and Scott Bridges in the first half while at the other end Anthony Dudley was denied pointblank by Harry Smart and James Jones put a close range header from a corner wide when well placed.
The home side could have considered themselves unfortunate to have not led at the break set about making amends in the second half.
Six minutes of the second half had been played when Ben Martin’s header back across goal was turned home from close range by the head of Bateman.
The tails were up for the hosts and it was 2-0 on 57 minutes when Adams burst down the right and crossed for Castiglione whose diving header saw Griffiths well beaten and Chester shell shocked.
There was to be no response from the Blues as Steve Castle’s Crows nullified the limited threat Chester offered before adding the gloss six minutes from time, Bateman profiting from some woeful marking as he headed home his second and Royston’s third from a Claudio Ofosu cross. It was no less than the home side deserved.
The final whistle brought jubilant scenes at the final whistle as Royston deservedly punched their ticket to the last 16 to keep their Wembley dream alive.
Chester joint-manager Bernard Morley said: “Were we bad or were they good?
“We came out second half thinking can we match them? Can we be better than them? You have to earn the right to be better than them and clearly that wasn’t the case second half.
“I’ve got no excuses, we’ve been in the changbut ing room for 20 minutes. There is no excuses apart from they ran all over us second half.
“We knew they were a good side, they’ve not been beaten at home all season. They beat Boreham Wood here so they are going to be a good side. We never underestimated what they were, we knew how hard it was going to be.
“I used the word scrap five or six times in my team talk before the game, because that’s what we knew it was going to be. If you don’t meet the intensity of this Royston team then you will lose. You outwork them you win, you don’t and you lose.”