After even first half, Crows dominate in the second.
In many people's eyes, including the bookies it seemed, the Crows were the underdogs in this fixture and it just goes to show that statistics and league tables can't be read in to too much and it's what happens on the day which ultimately determines who gets the points or who goes through to the next round of a cup competition.
The visitors had to be taken seriously of course, any side that is averaging 3.5 goals scored every league game, deserves that however, the Crows are no slouches either in the goalscoring department and when looking at the respective league position of both teams, it's clear that neither team is porous at the back either.
The one thing statistics can't tell you is the respective strength of each league the sides play in, the Combined Counties for Westfield FC and the Southern Counties East for the Crows. Both are Step 5 level so everyone has to assume that the standard across the leagues and the teams therein are much of a muchness.
Perhaps this is the reason that the first half in this game did not live up to expectation and was a rather uneventful 47 minutes. Both sides rather cancelled each other out and the ball became a "hot potato" for the players, no one had time on the ball, players were closed down very quickly and therefore, the ball was in the air a lot and travelled the length of the pitch from one defence to the other far too often.
Goalmouth action was at a premium, Phipp having a free kick saved by Ross in the away side's goal in the 9th minute and Westfield's first effort on target came in the 14th minute, Abdellah's shot easily saved by Di Bernardo in the Crows goal.
With most of the play in the midfield area, the first great opportunity came in the 22nd minute when Attwood broke free and left one-on-one with the 'keeper, his shot was well saved by Ross for a corner. Westfield had a good chance to score in the 34th minute following a good bit of play down the Crows right but Abdellah puts the ball wide from eight yards out.
The rest of the half was a battle for supremacy, Carrington and Muggeridge firing efforts wide for the Crows whilst Carder-Andrews put a free kick wide for Westfield. The only other event of note was a yellow card for Steer after a late tackle on Muggeridge so the teams went off for their cup of tea with the score at 0-0.
I can guess one of the things said in both dressing rooms at the break was that "you're paying them too much respect" and "you need to be more adventurous" and once the second half started it became clear to us, as spectators, that we were in for a more entertaining half than the first.
After only 2 minutes of the half Attwood broke free once again and after rounding the goalie, he saw his shot headed off the line by a defender and out for a corner. However, this set the pattern for the rest of the game and it became more open, with the Crows doing most of the attacking and creating the better chances.
As the pressure started to grow on the Westfield defence, Bailey received a yellow card for a tackle on Phipp near the edge of his own area before Treleaven became the first Crow to be booked, again for a tackle near the away side's penalty area.
The all-important goal, as it transpired, arrived in the 60th minute when a shot was fired at the Westfield goal and took a couple of deflections before it arrived at the back post where Crabb was able to beat a defender and goalkeeper to the ball and slip it into the net for 1-0.
After the goal it became very much one-way traffic with the Crows going forward constantly, Crabb had an effort hit the bar in the 65th minute and only a minute later Carrington rifled a shot just over the bar from the edge of the area.
It should have been 2-0 in the 70th minute, following a great move mainly involving Muggeridge, Carrington found himself with the ball at his feet, some ten yards out but his effort went over the bar. He then had another chance only 4 minutes later, left one-on-one with Ross, he slid the ball past the goalie but also past the right hand post for a goalkick.
As time was running down, Carrington went off to be replaced by Barton, Boddy received a yellow card and Treleaven was replaced by Pearson. The only real effort the away side had in the second half came in the 86th minute, Elliott coming from his own half found himself near the Crows goal, on the angle near the six yard box, but his shot hit the base of the post and rebounded out to safety.
Still there was time left for Walder to pick up a yellow card and Pearson to have a one-on-one chance which brought out an excellent save by Ross who was definitely Westfield's Man of the Match. However, 1-0 to the Crows it finished and the Crows are in the hat for the 4th round.
The overall Man of the Match went to Sam Carrington who had an outstanding game, whether playing up front, in midfield or at the back, helping the defence out as and when required.