Kings Langley travel to mid-table Stourbridge tonight looking to back up one of their best performances of recent months when they beat Hertfordshire rivals Royston Town 1-0 on Saturday.

Former Isaac Galliford scored the only goal of the game in the first half to secure the three points that moved Kings out of the Southern League Premier Central relegation zone.

Boss Chris Winton shuffled the pack to start with a back three, Kwame Danso making his full debut on the left and Andros Georgiou pushed further forward into what was effectively a front three.

The hosts started strongly, giving the Crows little chance to settle and a Leon Chambers reverse pass gave Georgiou the chance for an on target shot which Louis Chadwick held after 15 minutes.

The game was open and made for attractive viewing, but chances remained few until a Wilson de Carvalho shot was only parried, only for Cain Keller to put the rebound wide.

There followed a controversial incident when Langley keeper Jack Berman, outcoming to the edge of his box, attempted to head the ball away and was caught full in the face by Kian Harness’ high boot. The referee finally merely awarded the forward a yellow to the disbelief of the home crowd and a visibly bruised Berman was able to continue after a lengthy stoppage.

It was to be the first in a series of poor refereeing decisions that resulted in a card count of five trivial or dubious bookings in the second half for Kings as opposed to two for the opposition, while three home players were to receive lengthy treatment following obvious fouls.

Kings were to put the initial incident behind them five minutes from half-time when a flowing move down the left between De Carvalho and Georgiou resulted in a cut back that was drilled home through a crowded box by Galliford, his first goal for the club.

Royston’s response was rapid and a Nathan Tshikuna free-kick rebounded back off the left-hand post to safety as the interval beckoned.

The second half continued with Kings still having the best of a fast flowing, open game, but unable to add a second goal to give themselves a buffer.

A shot from outside the box by Georgiou was well saved by Chadwick, Keller fired narrowly wide and then drew a superb tip round the post from the Royston keeper, while Sami Bessadi fired over a gaping goal.

They could have paid for their missed chances when ex-King Matt Bateman powered through two defenders but somehow missed the target from a couple of yards, but it was the nearest a home defence, in which Ethan Light was outstanding, came to letting their hard-earned lead slip.