Let there be light, or not as the case may be.

Salter and Pearson the scorers.
The Crows made it through to the Peter Bentley Challenge Cup Semi-Finals on Tuesday after beating visitors, Little Common, 2-0 with goals from Rory Salter, a direct free kick from some 22 yards out after 14 minutes of the first half and it was not until the second half that they made the game a more comfortable watch as Tom Pearson headed in a wonderful cross from Harvey Killick from point blank range in the 78th minute, giving the visiting ‘keeper no chance of making a save.
Apart from the two goals and the win, the evening was also memorable because the floodlights decided to fail some 15 minutes before the scheduled kick off due to one of the light cells deciding it did not want to play ball.
Many of you will know that we kick off all our home midweek cup ties at 7:30pm due to floodlight restrictions and the possibility that should the tie be level after 90 minutes, then we would go straight to penalties. Therefore, due to the floodlight failure, and once they were sorted out with the faulty light cell identified and isolated and the rest working, we eventually kicked off at 7:45pm, our normal league midweek fixture kick off time.
As for the match itself, the Crows largely dominated the first half, creating some very good chances but due to some resolute defending, some good goalkeeping and some inaccurate finishing, the Crows may have felt they should have been more than 1-0 up at the break. Perhaps the player who may have thought it was not his night was Ollie Hyland, who had five efforts that either went just wide, were saved or blocked, however on another night he may have ended up with a hat trick.
The second half was a more even affair with both teams having chances, Little Common’s efforts mainly coming from corners or free kicks whilst the Crows did create some good opportunities but failed to take them until Pearson headed home.
The game also saw Boddy, Sinclair and Harrison Mayhew booked for the Crows, and they joined Turner and Eldridge who also saw yellow for Little Common. With both sides making substitutions, the match also became a bit fragmented, but it did create a bit of history for the Crows, as Sviat Latyk replaced Harvey Killick to become the first Ukrainian to play for the Crows first team since we were formed in 1894. Well done Sviat.
However, the floodlights had the last word as another light cell decided to fail with 5 minutes to go but the referee decided there was sufficient light to continue and so after 4 minutes of added on time, the final whistle blew, 2-0 to the Crows and our Star Player Award went, deservedly, to Harvey Killick.