Effort wasted in the end.
For a footballing side like us, the sight of the lush green turf of Eden Park Avenue on Tuesday was definitely something to be hold, however, having only recently suffered at the hands of the home team at the Community Stadium, there was an air of apprehension when the team and the away fans arrived.
Dan Tear was injured and therefore was replaced by the ever dependable Tom Cameron, whilst Michael Ademiluyi came in for Jack Funnell, who dropped to the bench and these were the only changes from the team that played the previous Saturday.
The home side started going forward from the off but it was the Crows who drew first blood, Barton heading the ball in to the net after a long throw from Scott Treleaven. Whilst this shock the home side to the core, it lifted the spirits of all concerned with the Crows, as there were only 5 minutes gone and we were in front.
The Becks had a lot more of the possession during this first half but hard work and effort from the Crow's players made sure they didn't really have many clear chances and those that they did have were all from distance.
In fact, the Crows really should have gone 2-0 up as Ademiluyi had a one-on-one with the home side 'keeper but his low drive was saved as Nash manages to block the effort. Also, Waterman did hit the bottom of an upright but the match referee blew his whistle as there had been an earlier infringement against the Crows.
Therefore, half time was reached and it was 1-0 to the Crows and you can imagine the talk in the dressing went something like, "let's keep the ball as much as possible, frustrate them for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the half, don't concede an early goal and we can get something from this game".
The home side started the second half like they did the first by exerting a lot of pressure on the Crow's players all over the pitch. However, the away side withstood this pressure until Gregory scored a wonder goal for the Becks in the 67th minute.
Crows have a habit of conceding just before or after half time but they do have another habit, which is conceding goals in batches, once they let in one, two and three can follow relatively quickly.
This is exactly what caused their downfall on Tuesday night and what turned a winning position to one of a defeat as Beckenham Town debutant, Gnahore, just signed from Dulwich Hamlet, scored his first and Beck's second only 3 minutes later, consequently, 1-0 up became 2-1 down faster than you can open a bottle of pop.
Worse was to follow as the Beck's top scorer, Humphries, who scored four goals the last time they played us, scored again in the 72nd minute so now it's 3-1 and to complete the goal scoring, Gnahore got his second in the 76th minute to make it four goals scored in 9 second half minutes.
By now the home side were full of confidence again and the Crows were deflated to think that the effort they had put in through the evening had eventually come to nothing due to a devastating goal scoring blitz the home side had inflicted on them.
As in most games this season, there have been plenty of positives for the Crows to look back on but there have also been some negative things as well and they must find out why we find it difficult not to concede goals in blocks.
There were some good performances from the Crow's players all over the pitch but Hampson performed well in the Crow's goal and made some really good saves during the 90 plus minutes.
Now the Crows need to regroup again as we embark on a series of fixtures against teams who are in and around us in the league.