Wonder who we will get?
If people were turning up to see the Crows turn on the style as they did on Tuesday evening against Corinthian FC, especially as the opposition, Gravesham Borough, play a division lower than the Crows, then that was never really likely to happen for various reasons.
Games like Tuesday nights are not London buses, you do have to wait for one to come along but it'll be a fair time before another one arrives. Also, the players would be hard pressed to put in such a great performance during this game as they did, especially in the first 45 minutes, against Corinthian FC.
Had the Crows scored early then it may have been different and had the visitors come to play the same expansive football that Corinthian did, then may be it could have happened but each game is different and different teams play different ways.
It was obvious from the kick off that the Borough were not going to make things easy for the Crows by just laying down and letting us win at a cantor, they defended in depth, were organised, very committed all over the pitch and had a few experienced heads in key areas of the pitch. Also, they weren't adversed to giving away the odd foul or two if it meant it stopped the Crows from having a promising breakaway or a good attacking move.
None of that should've been a surprise though, I'm sure many of you reading this will have seen plenty of cup ties where the club from a lower league gives it there all for 90 minutes and want to show everyone that they are no pushovers.
The Crows for once were able to name the same starting eleven in successive games, the only change coming on the bench, Ridley dropping out to be replaced by Slocombe. The fact that there were no changes may have been the reason the Crows started on the front foot from kick off and forced the first corner of the game after only 25 seconds, unfortunately it came to nothing but it did set the tone for much of the first half.
With most of the possession and pressure the home side were able to put the Borough defence under some strain and had a total of eight efforts on goal during the first period, four of which required Dewey in the Borough goal to make a save.
That's not to say Borough didn't threaten the Crow's goal, they had three efforts and Ellis had to make a smart save from a Hockton shot from distance to keep the score at 0-0.
A total of nineteen free kicks were awarded in the first 45 minutes, two of which meant yellow cards for the offenders as adjudged by the match referee, Tear getting a yellow in the 35th minute for making a great tackle, winning the ball cleanly but the referee, no doubt spurred on by the over-reaction of the away dugout, decided he'd used "excessive force", which makes you wonder why it was not a red, now that would have been a travesty of justice had that happened. The other player to see a yellow in the first half by the way was Uings for Borough for a foul near their penalty area.
So half time was reached with a 0-0 scoreline and whilst the Crows had been knocking on the door they hadn't quite played well enough to smash it down. Their movement was still good but the passing wasn't quite on the button and the tempo a fraction off what was shown on Tuesday evening.
The Crows started the second half heading towards the dressing room end where most of their fans congregate and it seemed to give the players a fresh impetus, or it could've been the words uttered by the management during the break, I prefer to think it was the fans though, who really knows.
Patience was always going to be vital in the second period so calm heads and play was required and Dewey had to be at his best to keep Carrington, Attwood, Muggeridge and Treleaven at bay during the second half. The Crows has seven efforts at goal in this period and they made the away 'keeper make save practically every time.
Whilst the match was still competitive at 0-0, tackles were still being made and we had three yellow cards shown in quick time, Clarke in the 61st, Carrington in the 62nd and George for Borough in the 64th.
In the 65th minute Carrington was replaced by Crabb and 11 minutes later he was to put a delightful cross in to the visitor's area for Muggeridge, waiting at the back post, to head the ball past Dewey and in to the net for 1-0.
By this time Clarke had also been replaced by Shea in the 71st minute, both substitutions were made to remove the chance of either of them being sent off, more because that seemed to be a premeditated tactic by the away side as they continually harangued the referee at every opportunity.
Only 5 minutes after taking the lead they were nearly pegged back to 1-1, Hockton who was the Borough player who looked most likely to score, escaped the attentions of Tear and headed wide of Ellis' goal when well placed, definitely a let-off for the Crows.
The Crows still went forward and looked the more likely to get another goal which eventually arrived in the 88th minute, Muggeridge eventually getting in to the penalty area, by the goal line, before pulling the ball back to Treleaven who was waiting on the penalty spot to slid the ball past Dewey and in to the net, 2-0 game over.
Credit to Borough for the effort they put in during the 90 minutes, they seemed to stick to their strategy throughout and may be the final 15 minutes just saw them tire a bit which allowed us to final get the goals we deserved.
Now all we have to do is to wait and find out who we play and where on the 22nd October 2016 which is the date for the matches in the First Round Proper of the Buildbase FA Vase.