AN early Lewis Endacott strike, and some dubious officiating, gave Royston Town all three points against Chertsey Town in a scrappy, tense affair at Garden Walk on Saturday, writes Jez Izod.

Endacott showed his intentions from the first minute with a free-kick troubling the away defence, but ultimately saved by Gary Ross in the Chertsey goal.

Royston appeared to have livened up after two previously poor displays and Tommy Malins set Kaan Fehmi on a run, only for the whistle to be blown for a foul by the little striker.

On six minutes the forward returned the favour with an excellent cross to Malins whose fierce shot was blocked by Matt Morris.

It was hearts in the mouth time for Royston with the clock hitting 10 minutes.

Terrible defending by the Crows allowed Mark Knight the freedom of Garden Walk, however his lob was handled away by Will Norris and eventually cleared by Joe De La Salle.

The young keeper had handled outside of the area and was extremely fortunate that the referee did not spot this.

With Chertsey players still protesting the non decision, the ball was launched into the away area, this was latched onto by Endacott and his wonderful effort gave Ross no chance and handed the Crows a slender lead.

The Curfews came back into the match with a low shot from Knight being saved by Norris and shortly afterwards the young stopper was tested by John Pomroy.

Royston were then frustrated by more strange officiating when Fehmi, slotted past Ross on 20 minutes, only to adjudged offside.

With the whistle happy referee becoming the centre of attention, the game became disjointed with neither side wishing to commit challenges that would bring attention from the man in the centre.

On 32 minutes, the whistle was blown to present Chertsey with a free-kick.

From this set piece, panic ensued in the Royston area as Rob Carrick set up Pomroy, only for his shot to sail high and over the cross bar.

Four minutes later Fehmi won a tackle only for this to be given as a foul.

From the resulting free-kick, Pomroy found Knight and again the ball sailed high and harmlessly over.

Royston then pressed forward and on 37 minutes a high ball from Collins found Endacott, but the Royston number two was taken out by an elbow from Morris. As the referee showed the yellow card the decision was met by ironic cheers from both sets of supporters.

With half-time approaching, the home side was enraged by yet another poor decision.

Fehmi was fouled, but with the striker bearing down on goal, the referee pulled play back for a free-kick.

A minute before half-time saw a fantastic move from Royston, Endacott found Matt Standen who in turn planted a superb ball into the path of Malins, unfortunately a heavy touch from the winger pushed the ball into the path of Ross.

Malins followed through and earnt a booking for his efforts.

The second period saw immediate Royston pressure with Malins played clean through and his shot hit the side netting.

Fehmi was making a nuisance of himself in the Chertsey area, twisting and turning at every opportunity, however on 52 minutes he again unfairly adjudged to be offside.

Manager Paul Attfield must have urged his troops to attack at half-time as waves of Royston attacks were marshalled away by the excellent McGarry and Morris.

On 60 minutes Chertsey came close to levelling as hesitant goalkeeping from Norris allowed Pomroy to release a shot that went just wide.

The referee then played a further part in the match as Endacott was adjudged to have fouled Carrick.

The Crows number two had his name placed into the notebook.

Royston made changes with Ryan Lockett and Luke Robins replacing Malins and Standen.

Immediately, Robins made his presence known with an excellent run down the Chertsey left flank, with only the keeper to beat his right footed shot went just wide.

With full-time approaching another Royston change saw Sam Spencer replacing Ryan Ingrey.

The substitute was effective in cutting out play and killing time to the final whistle.

The whistle, which had been a common theme all afternoon, was blown after 95 minutes of a hard fought encounter.

Chertsey were good value for their performance and will feel a little hard done by with some of the decisions that went against them.

Royston Town: Norris, Endacott, Wilson, De La Salle, Bradshaw, Collins (c), Edwards, Standen (Robins), Fehmi, Ingrey (Spencer), Malins (Lockett). Subs Not Used: McDevitt, Parr