The Crows first cup final appearance for a number of years saw them play East Preston FC, for the fifth time this season, at Middle Road, home of Shoreham FC. Having played them twice in the league and in the FA Cup, where the tie had to go to a reply, they knew it would be a hard game.

However, East Preston also knew they would not be able to just "turn up" and collect the cup as three of the previous four games had been very tight and could have gone either way. They, of course, were looking to complete a league and cup double having won the league in a cantor by destroying most of the sides in division one.

Perhaps this is why the John O'Hara League Cup Final never really lived up to the excitement the crowd were expecting. Sometimes, when clubs have played each other so many times within one season, it can lead to them cancelling each other out and the game becomes a rather stagnant affair.

What also did not help the flow of the match were the proliferation of free kicks awarded by the referee who seemed to want to clamp down on any physical contact and this resulted in the match having no rhythm or structure for either side.

Chances were few and far between, Harding in the East Preston goal fumbled a free kick, Collick was clattered by the East Preston danger man, Shelley and Ridley was put through by Ransome, only to be flagged for off side.

With the amount of free kicks that were awarded, it was never going to be long before a player received a yellow card and the first one in the book was Keehan of East Preston for a late tackle on the Crows captain, Barton, as the game became a midfield battle.

Gordon and Barton both had headers which were saved by Harding and then Butler became the first Crows player to be booked after 30 minutes for a tackle and East Preston have to make a substitution, Huckett goes off injured and is replaced by Barnard.

Defences are generally on top, Tear clears well for the Crows and East Preston escape when an under hit back pass was latched on to by Ransome but his chip over Harding also goes wide of the post. Therefore, the match arrived at half time with a 0-0 scoreline.

The second half carried on in much the same vein as the first, too many free kicks, too few chances and those that did come along were half chances at best, Butler had a shot, Sadough had an effort for East Preston and Trotter made a timely clearance for the Crows.

With so many free kicks being given a set piece was the most likely way either side were going to score and that proved to be the case. Shelley lost his marker as the kick came in and he headed powerfully from close in to put the champions 1-0 ahead.

With the Crows going behind, Ridley is replaced by Ademiluyi on 60 minutes in an effort to get back in the game, however, things went bad to worse for the Crows as Butler picks up his second yellow card and therefore, is sent off after 72 minutes. He tangled with Sadough and pulled him back which gave the referee no choice but to brandish the dreaded card. Sadough also got a yellow card which would have ramifications for him late in the game.

Even though the Crows were down to ten men, Ademiluyi did well down the flank and Barton had a volley which unfortunately was deflected for a corner. Ademiluyi put in quite a few dangerous crosses but the strong East Preston defence, especially Pullen, dealt with them to good effect.

In a final throw of the dice, Mahadoo came on for Ransome and Cameron joined the fray in place of Carpenter after 83 minutes but the referee had still not finished with his cards as Barton picked up a caution for a tackle.

With the game about going in to added on time the referee gets his yellow card out for Sadough due to his foul on Ademiluyi and it is then quickly followed by a red, so Sadough left the field of play and both sides were down to ten men.

The Crows then sensed they may get something from the game but East Preston stood firm and resorted to hitting Crows on the break where only a couple of good saves by Collick and wasteful finishing denied them a second goal.

The Crows were obviously disappointed to lose the game but the team received great support from their fans throughout the afternoon and can look back on the season with some pride on what they have achieved this season.