BEACONSFIELD Town exited the FA Cup this season after a 2-1 defeat at Royston Town in the third qualifying round on Saturday, writes Rob Stevens.

Royston from the Southern League Premier Division Central progressed into the fourth qualifying round for the first time in their history after securing a hard-fought win at Garden Walk.

The home side took the lead when Josh Castiglione had time and space on the left corner of the box to set himself and curl a right-foot shot into the top corner, past the despairing dive of Beaconsfield keeper Myles Bowman, who had no chance, after 29 minutes.

The Rams equalised as Brendan Matthew drove at the heart of the Royston defence and sucked four defenders towards the ball. It left space on the left wing for Tyrell Mitford and he bent in a carbon copy of the goal from Castiglione 10 minutes later.

The cup tie appeared to be heading for a replay when Royston bagged a winning goal in the 79th minute. Their persistence was rewarded as Matt Bateman guided a cross-come-shot through a crowd and into the bottom corner.

Beaconsfield now turn their attention to the Southern League Challenge Cup and a rescheduled first round tie against Berkhamsted from Division One Central at Holloways Park on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Chesham United saw their four-match winning streak in the Southern League Premier South come to an end after a 2-1 defeat at Swindon Supermarine on Saturday.

The Generals had not tasted defeat in the league since the loss at Hendon back in August, and the result sees them drop two places to fourth position in the league table.

Swindon took the lead inside five minutes at The Webbswood Stadium when Brad Cooper scored with a well-hit penalty kick after a handball offence inside the box.

The visitors came close to an equalising goal as Jeanmal Prosper saw his effort from a Mark Kirby knockdown blocked on the line.

Chesham appeared to have levelled the scores after the break when Ronny Mfinda challenged for the ball with the Swindon keeper. It came loose and Sandro Costa fired home but the referee decided that the keeper was impeded and disallowed the effort.

The Generals then thought a penalty kick should have been awarded as Costa appeared to have been fouled inside the box but the referee waved for play to continue.

The home team doubled their advantage when a mix-up at the back between Sam Jenkins and Karl Oliyide allowed Stuart Fleetwood to nip in and chip the ball over keeper Jonathan North in the final minute of normal time.

The visitors pulled a goal back when Oliyide danced through to score in time added on.

Chesham return to action with a trip to seventh-placed Gosport Borough this Saturday (3pm).