Matchday arrived after some pretty awful weather. Fear not though. We had our self-appointed Groundsman of the Year who spent hours making sure the pitch was playable. BBH were not impressed when they arrived and questioned whether the game should go ahead, but the referee checked the surface, nodded confidently, and confirmed it was good to go as long as the heavens stayed shut. And they did. Game on.

BBH came out firing and took the lead in the third minute. A complete shambles from Crowborough with the ball bouncing off anyone and everyone in the box but somehow never being cleared. Eight minutes later BBH struck again. This time a powerful effort from outside the area that dipped just under Holmwood in the 11th. It was the sort of goal that made you wonder if BBH had the right idea turning up hoping for a postponement. The Crows looked flat and nowhere near their usual fiery selves.

Thankfully by the twenty fifth minute they flicked the switch and got going. Forster was taken down, BBH picked up their first yellow and the momentum finally swung. The Crows held the scoreline and made early changes. In the forty fourth minute Goldsmith came off for new lad Lyons. Moments later Mayhew suffered a nasty injury that required both sets of physios and a stretcher. We must thank BBH medical team for their support on this, it really was appreciated. Harrison will be ok but with any injury involving the head or neck we must continue with caution. With that, there was no chance he could continue. Hyland replaced him after Boddy and a BBH player helped get Mayhew off the pitch and into the changing room. The referee briefly suggested playing ten versus ten but both benches gave a very firm no, so we just waited for their return.
9 minutes was set and Pring collected a yellow during the added with some last ditch efforts ahead of the break. The ref then blew for half time after six minutes played and at that point, trailing by two, something big had to change.

And it did. The second half started with quicker passing, fewer touches and a whole lot more desire. The intensity picked up immediately and both sides made frantic mistakes but that didnt matter when you could see the passion radiating . In the fifty third minute, Crowborough won a free kick from a good thirty five yards (I'm guessing but let's go with that) . Lyons stood over it with, shot with power as it flew through the sky, dipped over the keeps and landed cleanly in the net. A rocket. Game on again.

Substitutions followed. Zabadne off for King Bassett in the fifty ninth. Duncan off for Pearson in the sixty fourth. Then came the yellow card festival. BBH in the sixty seventh. Boddy in the sixty ninth. Pearson in the seventy third. BBH again in the seventy seventh. Hyland joining the party in the eighty third.

With minutes left we were one goal away from a point but still searching. If only we had a new player, who fancied a brace on his debut... oh wait, we did! Lyons danced his way into the box, looked like he had lost his moment but we should have had more faith, he slotted it in, passing through defence on the way. The celebrations were wild. Not because a draw is a dream result but because our form has been shaky and BBH gave us a heavy defeat earlier in the season. This point was earned and very welcome.

A hard fight. A big comeback. A debut hero. We will take that.

Off the pitch we also had entertainment. Mud flew up from tackles on the touchline and sprayed across unsuspecting supporters. A very non league experience. Plenty of laughs. Plenty of muddy faces.

Who got POTM? You guessed it. A debut, a brace and player of the match goes to Mr Jack Lyons.