Not unlucky this time though.
Anyone, even neutrals, who saw the two games against Chessington & Hook United, would agree that the Crows should have gone through to play Hythe Town, however, they didn't and their FA Cup campaign ended there and then in a replay.
Therefore, a run in the FA Vase would have been most welcome as the Crows record in recent seasons has been dismal to say the least in either competition. Unfortunately, it was not to be and the Crows bowed out with no more than a whimper against their Southern Combination Football League hosts, Loxwood FC.
They of course, knocked the Crows out of a cup semi-final at Sussex County FA Headquarters in Lancing last season and repeated the feat, by the same score, yesterday, 2-0. Whilst the Crows really should have won that game, especially in the first half, they didn't deserve to get anything out of this FA Vase tie.
The home side started very brightly indeed and look to have a good side in the making, experience and strength where it's needed, their captain, French, playing at centre-half was dominant and a magnet for any high ball the Crows played forward towards Carrington, ploughing a somewhat lone furrow upfront on his own.
They also have plenty of youth within their side who never stopped running during the whole 90 minutes and therefore, their passing and movement caused the Crows plenty of problems whether they, or the Crows, had the ball in their possession.
Woon, in central-midfield and Pitcher, upfront, were also a handful during the game, although Hollick, making his debut for the Crows at centre-half, looked composed and effective throughout, however, even with Boddy playing alongside him, they were not able to stop Pitcher scoring the first goal after 10 minutes.
A great tackle by Crows captain, Butler, unfortunately led to the ball rebounding to Pitcher some 20 yards out and his was able to lift the ball over Hampson as he came off his line to narrow the angle, so it became 1-0 to the home side.
It was no more than their early play deserved and for the rest of the half they were generally in control of matters, whilst the Crows struggled to get anything going and any efforts they had were either wide, saved easily or cleared with ease by the home side.
At only 1-0 down at half-time, the Crow's spectators were hoping the players would be able to come out for the second-half as they did away to Sevenoaks Town on Bank Holiday Monday, when the situation was worse, as they were 2-0 down.
Unfortunately, the second-half followed along similar lines as the first, Loxwood dominating the ball and possession, whilst the Crows had to do a lot of chasing shadows and lost causes, thus tiring themselves out, ex-spending energy that it seemed they just did not have.
Wood had a chance to extend Loxwood's lead after 58 minutes, beating Matthews and Hampson to the ball in the Crow's area but his effort hit the post and Boddy cleared. Matthews was injured in this incident and seconds later had to be replaced by Baitup.
Loxwood sensed the Crows were there for the taking and after 68 minutes Wood went off to be replaced by Aston, who was a regular scorer for the Magpies in his previous stint with the club. He just added more pace and energy to their attacking options and by now the Crows were starting to look tired and out on their feet. In an effort to hopefully, put some zest back into the Crows play, Death came off after 72 minutes, replaced by Ransome and then Shea became the only booking off the day for a late tackle.
Shea then had to go off injured only 2 minutes later, Bayley Colbran coming on to replace him. Whilst these substitutions did give the side a bit more vigour, they didn't lead to the Crows creating any real chances and in the end, they had to thank Hampson for keeping the score at 1-0.
It was not until the 90th minute that it became 2-0, Gill beating the off-side trap and scoring with ease and to run the clock down, Pitcher and Woon went off to be replaced by Beard and Ramsey. After 90+5 minutes, the referee put the Crows out of their misery and blew the final whistle and thus another potential run in an FA competition comes to an inglorious end.
There's no doubt that missing players, for various reasons, are hurting the Crows at the moment, Cameron, Everest, Rich, Taylor, Jagger, Biddlecombe, Treleaven, Steadman and Clarke, all of whom have played for the first team this season, were not available for this FA Vase game however, every club at this level suffers with such things and can't be used as an excuse.
Considering where the Crows found themselves yesterday, playing on a pitch that is surrounded by large trees on three sides, they seemed to be rather lost deep in the forest and there's no doubt the players were down at the end of the game, however, it is only they who can do anything about it.
Hollick, who has hardly played in the last 12 months due to a broken leg, was the Crow's Man of the Match, with Boddy, Carrington and Hampson running him close and it was no more than he deserved after putting in 90 minutes of stirling work.