Saturday’s game against Shoreham was played on a soft and bumpy pitch with the home side starting brighter. The Musselmen had a couple of clear cut chances but to Crowborough’s relief they couldn’t hit the target with the goal beckoning on both occasions.

On 31 minutes the breakthrough came against the run of play. Tom Saunders put a good ball into the area for Chris Ransome to stab home, not the prettiest goal but warmly welcomed by the travelling away support. This settled the Crows although Shoreham still looked dangerous and only a brilliant clearance off the line by Jack Turner and a terrific one on one save by Ben Head kept them in front.

Shoreham came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and had several ventures into the Crows half but were met with some staunch defending from Jack Turner and Kevin Everest at the back. On 52 minutes the equaliser came when Shoreham beat the offside trap and after a scramble the ball was eventually put in by Marc Pulling. It was now Crowborough’s time to take control of the game and after a Sam Saunders shot was cleared off the line Sam Carrington put the Crows back in front after Tom Saunders had burst forward to set him up on 63 minutes. Chris Ransome hit a great shot that was expertly saved by Jamie Shaw and then Kevin Everest hit the left hand post from a Scott Taylor corner. When Shoreham did get into attacking positions the defence stood strong with Ben Head making excellent catches from the increasing amount of crosses. The Crows however were now in the ascendancy and it was no surprise when Sam Carrington got his second goal to put the game to bed with a precise finish on 79 minutes.

Assistant Manager Graeme Mintrum commented ‘’After conceding early in the second half we began to win the physical battle which allowed our quality to shine through; in the end we cruised to victory’’.

Team: Head, Boddy, Rich, Butler, Turner, Everest, Ransome, S Saunders ©, Carrington, Taylor , T Saunders subs: Ridley, Wood, Thompson, Campbell