Great performance by those on show.
A 3-0 win in your first pre-season game of the season cannot be bad but to do it without many of your players who played regularly for the club last season makes the win even better.
A total of fourteen players were missing from the senior squad and the team that turned out to play Gravesham Borough FC contained one sixteen year-old, four seventeen year-olds, five players who are in the nineteen-twenty-one year-old range and this left four players out of the fourteen who played, in the twenty-one plus age range.
With so many players unavailable, it gave the trialists and those players who want to be part of the senior squad for the 2015/16 a chance to shine and prove what they can do and they all certainly did that, against a strong, physical and experienced home side.
With players missing, the side was always going to be a bit make-shift and this was rather highlighted by the fact that the centre-back pairing consisted of the returning Kevin Everest and Morgan Steadman, a centre-forward by trade but they both put in stirling performances which helped goalkeeper, Hampson and full-backs, Ryan Hinkson and James Mathews, keep a clean sheet.
As in any game you have to earn the right to play, even in a friendly, however, the Crows eventually took control and started to play some fantastic football. After 30 minutes the team got the goal their football deserved, a fantastic through-ball by Rob Taylor released another returnee, Josh Biddlecombe, who fired the ball into the top corner and it was 1-0 to the Crows.
The team were then able to relax even more and manager Sean Muggeridge, said "it was some of the best football I've seen for a while". When on top and at only 1-0, a team needs to score a second goal and as the match moved towards half-time, Carrington scored from the penalty spot after his effort was handled by a 'Borough defender.
Michael Taylor came on late in the first-half and managed to hit a post with his first touch but the score remained 2-0 at the break and everyone involved with the Crows could feel proud of their first 45 minutes.
The second period carried on in much the same vein as the first with the Crows on top and playing some neat and entertaining football and eventually the third goal came, nearly every player in the side touched the ball before Jason Hinkson put over a great cross for Taylor to volley home.
Crows could have scored a few more perhaps but it was a good start to what will be a tough season ahead for the senior squad in a very competitive South East Counties Football League.
To select a Man of the Match was difficult as everyone who made the effort to turn up and play deserve praise and credit, however, new boy, John Shea, just pipped everyone else to it but the most pleasing aspect of the match was the youngsters who would not allow themselves to be muscled out of their stride and to be intimidated.