Herts/Middlesex One: Royston 53 Hendon 17

Hendon slipped to their heaviest Herts/Middlesex One loss of the season, going down 53-17 at Royston.

The visitors commenced positively in the first 10 minutes in both attack and defence, but a box kick from the 22 was charged down allowing the hosts an easy try.

Around the 30-minute mark, Hendon prop Paul Julian was yellow carded for offside as the visitors defended in their 22.

From the penalty, Royston took a 10-0 advantage with the visitors down to 14 for the remainder of the half.

It proved costly as the hosts exploited their scrum advantage to score again from another penalty, before adding a converted try lead 20-0 at the interval.

Against the run of play in the second half, Royston’s backline came into the attack from a defending position.

From a miss-tackle, the hosts went through the middle to run the length of the pitch to score and extend their lead.

Royston then moved further clear 15 minutes into the second half with a near carbon copy try to lead 34-0.

Hendon mauled the ball up field with winger Robert Nunez touching down in the corner for an unconverted try as the hosts finally got on the scorecard.

Just as the visitors were getting back into the match, Royston again exploited the middle channel, easing into a 53-5 lead.

Although the game was well and truly lost for Hendon, spirits were high heading into the last 10 minutes.

The away pack pushed into Royston territory with Julian breaking loose to set up Hendon’s backline to cross the whitewash, only to lose the ball for a certain try.

From the 22 dropout, the visiting pack again mauled up to the line with TJ O’Sullivan crashing over in the corner.

The hosts were penalised from the restart and Cian Hynes’ long kick led to a five-metre lineout for Hendon, with captain Mike Culhane going over for a third try.

With minutes left, Hendon pushed for a fourth, which would have earned a bonus point, but Royston held firm.

Hendon are next in action in the league on December 9 when they host Watford, looking for a far-more preferential result.