Ryan FC Under-17s returned to the top of the Eastern Junior Alliance table with a deserved but hard-fought 3-2 win over Royston Town.

Despite going down to an early goal, Ryan pulled level after great work by Ej Gyebi and Mo Rahman set up Robleh Xasan for a clever finish.

Ryan had the better chances in the second half, with Jake Casey going close twice before Rahman made it 2-1, finishing well after Royston failed to deal with a Tommy Govey throw-in.

A piece of poor defending allowed Royston a soft equaliser, but Ryan kept coming with Gyebi heading against the crossbar.

With 10 minutes to go, the ever-dangerous Robleh Xasan was brought down in the box, but Euan Taylor-Reid’s penalty was saved – only for the referee to order a retake because of encroachment by Royston players.

Taylor-Reid held his nerve and made no mistake second time around, smashing the ball home to seal the points.

Harvey Williams rifled a stunning long-range free-kick for the only goal of the game to secure maximum points for Angel Islington Under-11s in their Camden & Islington League clash with Lyndhurst.

Williams’ strike into the top corner of the net proved decisive, but Angel were also indebted to goalkeeper Charlie Nolan and man of the match Alex Gibson, who put in a superb display in defence.

Peter Angelov netted for Angel Islington Under-10s as they fought out a 1-1 draw in their derby clash with Chapel Youth.

A second-half fightback was not enough to save A Class Under-15s from defeat as they went down 6-4 in a fast-paced clash with Crown & Manor.

Crown led 3-0 at half-time and added another three goals after the break, although A Class hit back through Joe White, Zak Miles, Oliver Achile and Dylan Bolister.