Squad shows its strength in depth.
As expected, a much changed team took the field to play Little Common in this Sussex Principal RUR Cup Quarter-Final from the one who so superbly came from 2-0 at half time on Saturday before eventually vanquishing the visitors Canterbury City 4-2.
Ellis, Carey, Attwood and Muggeridge were rested from the starting eleven, Shea was out injured, also missing from Saturday's game were Clarke and Ross Treleaven. Also not available were Appiah, Morley and Trotter due to work, holiday and injury, in that order.
This meant that Dan Smith, Lewis Unwin and Rory Salter were called up from the reserve team, with Smith starting in goal, replacing Ellis and Unwin coming in to play at right wing back for the injured Shea.
We have been saying for sometime now that our squad has strength in depth and if there was a good time to prove it then this fixture against Little Common was it, as they sit at the top of the SCFL Division 1 table having lost only two league games all season and are looking to get promoted to the Premier Division for the 2017/18 season.
All of us have become accustomed of late to the Crows starting very slowly however, against Little Common it was the Crows who started on the front foot from the kick off and never really took the foot off the pedal until stoppage time at the end of the second period when the away side forced three successive corners, all of which came to nothing.
The first serious effort from the Crows came from Perry in the 3rd minute however, in the 6th minute, a superb bit of individual play by Carrington saw him slip a slide rule pass through to Perry who took the chance and it was 1-0 to the Crows.
The team were brought down to earth though in the 9th minute, a Little Common player was fouled by Unwin in the Crow area and the referee correctly awarded them a penalty and although Smith did guess the right way to go, down to his left hand side, the ball ended up in the back of the net for 1-1, the scorer being Eldridge.
Barton should have restored the lead for the Crows in the 13th minute but he fired just wide after great wing back play by Unwin saw him slide the ball across to Barton inside the 6 yard box. Then Carrington had a go from the edge of the area but fired just over in the 14th minute and he then hit the post in the 20th minute from 25 yards out with a thunderous shot that had Hill in the Common goal beaten.
Perry and Pearson that had shots that went high or wide or were blocked by the now desperate looking Little Common defenders as they tried to stem the continual flow of navy blue marauding down the field towards their goal.
Perry really should have made it 2-1 in the 23rd minute when a flowing move involving four or five players saw Tear put over a great cross and the diving header by Perry should have rippled the net, unfortunately, he put it over from 6 yards out.
Perry soon made amends though when a Vickers free kick was drilled to his feet on the edge of the area, a neat turn and a shot from an angle saw the Crows restore their lead and it was no more than the team deserved.
In the 35th minute there was a bizarre incident when a great run by Carrington was ended when a defender rather crudely tackled him near the area, the referee seemingly allowing an advantage as the ball found Perry inside the area and he put the ball in the net, 3-1 we all thought. However, the referee then awarded the free kick and not the goal after a discussion with his assistant. One can only imagine that Perry was offside when he received the ball, therefore, no advantage, so the free kick was awarded, that's the only scenario I can come up with anyway.
Unwin then had a good effort, just wide, before it became 3-1 in the 40th minute, Perry getting to the byline and putting the ball across the goal for the unmarked Pearson to tap home from 3 yards out.
Little Common's tormentor in chief Perry even had another chance before the half time break but it went high and wide, so the interval was reached with the Crows 3-1 up and comfortably in control of the game.
The situation never changed much during the second period either, the Crows forcing a corner in the first minute of the half, however, Turner put the effort wide of the far post. Perry (2), Vickers and Pearson then all had efforts saved by Hill the Common stopper, as the pressure increased on the Common defence even more.
3-1 became 4-1 in the 61st minute, Carrington hitting a shot goal wards from the edge of the area that Hill did well to save, unfortunately, all he could do was to parry the ball out sidewards and there was Pearson to fire the ball in to the net.
In an effort to stem the tide the away side replaced Crone with Smith in the 64th minute but it didn't alter much, Crabb having a shot saved by Hill before being replaced by Salter in the 67th minute.
Vickers and Pearson then both tried their luck, only to be thwarted by Hill and with players visibly tiring, Little Common made a double substitution, Wells and Walker going off to be replaced by Lusted and Ryan in the 72nd minute. In the 77th minute Lusted made his first contribution to the match by getting the only yellow card of the for seemingly saying something to referee Walker.
After 84 minutes the Crows made their own double substitution, Tear and Pearson going off and Carey and Muggeridge coming on. Their introduction paid an almost immediate dividend as a ball to Muggeridge from Carey saw the former perform a cheeky back-heel on the edge of the area which found Perry in space and he was able to get his second hat trick in successive games.
The match ended 5-1 to the Crows and they will now face Newhaven at the Community Stadium, date and time to be confirmed, in the Semi-Final of the RUR Cup. Dan Perry was voted Man of the Match for his all-round performance and goal-scoring exploits.