Carey, Stone and Attwood, the extra time goal-getters.
There's not really a lot I can put in this match report as Crows were dominant from start to finish, were in control at all times and really should have been out of sight of the opposition by the time the 90 minutes were up, especially after going 1-0 up in the 11th minute.
Ross Treleaven was the scorer as he headed the ball in at the near post from a corner taken by skipper, Lee Carey. Most of the crowd thought that this would be the first of many against opponents who ply their trade a division lower than the Crows.
To be fair, the crowd were correct and more goals should have been scored, especially when you consider that the side have been scoring for fun of late. Some rather wasteful finishing and some stout defending kept us at bay and you have to give the visitors credit for the effort they put in throughout the match from kick-off to the end of extra time.
The Crows had 21 efforts at goal during the match and Eltham Palace only had four, such was the dominance of the home side but the second goal just didn't arrive as it should've done and with the score at 1-0, you're always vulnerable to the opposition taking one chance, even it it's the only clear chance they have.
The Crows made six changes from the starting eleven that played against Banstead Athletic in the Buildbase FA Vase match on Saturday, Dan Smith starting in goal, Clarke and Slocombe came in for Crabb and Muggeridge, who moved forward as Carrington was not available. Shea started in midfield as Appiah wasn't available and Walder was not risked. Barton came in for Trotter who was not available either and Stone came in to play upfront as Attwood was rested.
The changes were made to give players in the first team squad some much needed game time, little did they know at the time that they'd be getting more game time than they expected at kick-off time. Plus, the management must have had Saturday's game against Ashford United in the league at the back of their minds when deciding who needed to start and who needed to be rested completely.
On the bench the Crows had Attwood, Lewis Unwin and Louis Anderson from the reserve team squad, Charlie Baitup who has been out for a while now with a niggling injury and Ellis as cover for Smith in case he should get an injury.
The changes did not affect the team or style of play at all but after going 1-0 up the intensity that we've been playing with of late seemed to wane somewhat and our passing became a bit sloppy and at times, it looked like a training match for us rather than a match in the SCEFL Challenge Cup.
There's no doubt that the players also had Saturday's game in the back of their minds and the need to expend energy was to be kept at a minimum so tiredness on Saturday does not become an issue for us. However, when not at full tilt not everything flows as it normally does and the match can be harder than what it needed to become.
The break arrived with the Crows 1-0 up and the second half started in the same vein as the first with the away side coming under constant pressure. In the 64th minute Ryan received a yellow card for Eltham and in the 69th minute Clarke was replaced by Unwin who went on to impress everyone with his play from then on.
The away side made a couple of substitutions as they had to try something to get anything out of the game, Holley went off and Killilea came on in the 74th minute and three minutes later, Knight went off and Smith came on. Whilst at the same time Attwood came on for Crows and Treleaven went off.
Still 1-0 to Crows and with them still searching for the second goal to kill the game off, Gibbons then got a yellow card for Eltham Palace in the 81st minute as they tried to stem the ever-flowing tide towards their goal.
With time ticking away the away side scored with only their second effort at goal in the half, Tarrant putting the ball in from close range, 1-1 with only minutes to play. There was enough time left though for Unwin to get a yellow card for a tackle. The groan from the home crowd was quite audible at the thought of an extra 30 minutes, which was never on the cards but extra time it was as the referee blew his whistle for full-time.
I don't know what was said at full time by the management or the players themselves but whatever it was it was evident from the start of extra time that the Crows were determined to get out of second gear where they had been stuck for most of the previous 90 minutes.
It became 2-1 to the Crows after only 4 minutes of extra time, Unwin earning a free kick near the edge of the Palace area and Carey took full retribution by curling a beautiful free kick in to the top corner of the net, giving their 'keeper no chance. His name may have been Jolley but he certainly wasn't when Carey's effort went past him. Why oh why did that goal come 5 minutes earlier, still, it was worth the wait.
Charlie Slocombe then took centre stage, he had an excellent game throughout but in extra time he became a man possessed, raiding down the Palace left and causing them no end of problems. From one of his raids he burst in to the area before passing the ball to Stone who, even though falling backwards, got his shot away in the 9th minute and it became 3-1 as his shot hit the underside of the bar before going in.
Only 3 minutes later Slocombe repeated his surge in to the area but this time he was upended and a penalty was awarded. Attwood grabbed the ball and riffled the penalty in to the net and it was 4-1, at last the Crows were taking their chances.
At the extra time break, Louis Anderson came on for the Crows, Tear going off with his work done for the evening. Still the Crows pushed forward with a thunderous effort from Attwood in the 16th minute that hit the bar and went out for a goal kick.
Only a minute later Shea received a yellow card for a foul as the referee decided to get a bit card happy as the second period of extra time went on. To emphasise this fact, Beale saw yellow in the 22nd minute and his team-mate Gamble got one in the 25th minute.
The final whistle blew, the Crows had won again and the crowd went home happy and looking forward to Saturday's match at home to Ashford United.