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Royston Town v Stourbridge - Match Preview

Royston Town v Stourbridge - Match Preview

Nigel Gregg22 Mar 2019 - 16:39
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The Glassboys pay a first ever visit to Royston Town this Saturday where they will be keen to get back to winning ways on the road. (READ ON)

Admission charges at Royston are £10 for adults, £6 concessions and £2 for juniors.

The ground address is Garden Walk, Royston, Herts SG8 7HP.

If travelling by car, allow around two-and-a-half hours travel time.

NOTE - There is limited car parking at the ground and Royston advise to avoid parking in the neighbouring streets and instead use the Town Hall Car Park, which is a 5-minute walk away. (Post code SG8 7BS). This is pay & display until 3 pm though and wardens do patrol in this area!

Stourbridge will wear red & white at Royston.

May we also remind supporters travelling on board the team coach that the departure time from the ground is now 10.30 am.

MATCH PREVIEW

Gary Hackett's men have suffered three straight losses away from home, tasting defeat at Hitchin, Lowestoft and Tamworth since the turn of the year, which has been in stark contrast to their continuing strong home league record.

Striker Luke Benbow is again expected to be missing at Royston as he continues his recovery from injury, however the Glassboys will be able to call on the services of new loan signing Zak Lilly as they look to complete a league double over the hosts.

With Kettering falling to defeat at Biggleswade last Saturday, there is now an eight-point gap between the league leaders and Stourbridge in second, while Stourbridge are currently seven points ahead of 3rd placed King's Lynn Town, who are due to visit the War Memorial Athletic Ground on the last Saturday of the 'regular' season, so it is imperative that the Glassboys continue to pick up points.

Royston finished 7th in the Southern League Premier Division last season after being promoted as champions of the Division One Central in 2017. The Crows made a strong start to the current campaign to suggest that they would be strong contenders for promotion this time around, but their challenge fell away during a dismal run of results which saw them claim only two victories in sixteen league games between the start of November 2018 and early February 2019 and they dropped back into the middle of the table. Royston then enjoyed four successive wins to climb back into the top half of the league standings, only to suffer a last gasp 1 - 0 defeat at home to Redditch a fortnight ago, although they bounced back with a 2 - 1 win at Bedworth last Saturday.

Royston currently sit 9th with 48 points from 34 league games (won 14, drew 6, lost 14), although a club statement this week suggests that they could be about to receive a 1 point deduction having also been removed from the CSS League Cup for fielding an ineligible player.

They have bolstered their playing ranks in the last couple of months with the signing of three players from St Neots with Taylor Parr, Luke Knight and Devante Stanley all moving to Garden Walk. The Crows have also had Tom Knowles on loan from Cambridge United recently. Knowles having scored the late free-kick winner for Kettering at Stourbridge back in January.

Stourbridge defeated Royston 2 - 1 at Amblecote in mid-October. The Hertfordshire side had two goals disallowed in the opening half before Rob Thompson-Brown produced a tidy finish to put the Glassboys in-front on the stroke of half-time. Royston levelled matters after 51 minutes when James Wren spilled a 25-yard free-kick from Sam Corcoran and Chris Assombalonga turned in the loose ball. Stourbridge secured the three points two minutes from time when Callum Powell curled the ball beyond Joe Welch.

ROYSTON TOWN TWITTER - https://twitter.com/RoystonTownFC

BetVictor Odds

Stourbridge are 5/2 to win at Royston with both teams scoring. Other odds being offered on this match can be viewed at https://www.betvictor.com/en-gb/sports/football/eng-southern-premier-league/coupons/100/23202510/1054728500/0/0/PE/0/0/0/0/0

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