Ran out of steam in the final furlong.
Last Saturday we lost 4-3 at Holmesdale, yesterday, we lost 4-1 away at Corinthian and if you didn't see either game and looked just at the result, you'd think that we played better at Holmesdale than at Corinthian.
However, this is one of those occasions where the result does not do the team justice as the performance at Corinthian was much improved from the previous Saturday and the 4-1 result was not deserved over the 90 minutes.
For much of this match the Crows were equal to their hosts, who have been in great form of late by the way, and gave as good as they got and frustrated the home side management, players and supporters to such an extent that some harsh words were said by them to each other throughout the game.
Our nemesis at the moment though is that if we concede one, we can conceded others quite quickly and just as we were coming up to the final furlong and the finishing line was in sight, our feet seemed to slip out of the stirrups and we came off the rails, allowing the favourites to nip up the inside and turn what looked like a dead heat in to a win by half a length.
In fact the first half was such an even affair, with both teams trading shot for shot and save for save, with the returning Nick Collick in goal for the Crows looking particularly impressive, that you couldn't see any other result at the break but a draw of some kind.
There was plenty of attacking play on view from both sides and each side had their fair share of free kicks, one given to the home side by referee, De Quincy Bailey, who refereed the Holmesdale away game last Saturday as well, led to Ryan Waterman receiving a yellow card for what seemed a very minor offence.
Defences though were generally on top and were able to nullify the attacks of each forward line quite comfortably and thus we reached the half mile marker with a 0-0 scoreline and the Crows leaving the field of play in a far happier mood than the home side, whose scowls clearly indicated their annoyance and frustration that things had not gone as they expected.
Sitting, as I was, outside the home teams dressing room was an entertaining 15 minutes as the Corinthian manager, James Collins, berated his players for what he felt was a lack lustre performance by using some language which was brighter than a set of jockey's colours.
The end result of this verbal barrage was that a double substitution was made by them at the break, Palmer going off, Hagan coming on and Da Silva staying in the dressing room so Croucher could enter the fray, however, they forgot to tell the referee that they had made these changes as the second half started.
It was not long though before this error was noticed as Croucher incurred the wrath of referee Bailey and was shown a yellow card but the referee could not find him in the starting eleven, so we had a break whilst the officials sorted this error out.
Last week it was billowing smoke, this week substitutions not being noticed, two events which I have never seen before in over 47 years of continually watching football at all levels.
The changes did little to improve the situation for the home side and the match carried on following the same path for much of the second period, much to the annoyance and frustration of all those involved with Corinthian.
The Crows were looking at a good point away from home so far and decided to make a change in an effort to turn one point in to three, as in the 66th minute, Morrison came off to be replaced by the returning Carrington, thus giving the Crows their own version of SAS up front.
Corinthian then made their final substitution in the 72 minute as captain, Mahoney, was taken off and Nwitua was sent on. It was not long before this change led to the home side taking a 1-0 lead.
A long ball by the Corinthian defence caught us cold at the back and the home side were able to break on us with Hagan, one of the substitutions, racing down the right flank and crossing for Eisa to score in the 73rd minute.
The relief amongst the home management, players and supporters was palpable and the home faithful were saying that they'd settle for 1-0 as they thought the game was certain to be a draw.
Ademiluyi then replaced Waterman in the 74th minute to further add to our attacking ability but whilst the side were sorting out this change, 1-0 became 2-0 in the 77th minute, as Hagan was able to fire a cross shot passed Collick and into the net.
This gave the home side the lift they needed, whilst it obviously did the opposite for the Crows and in the 80th minute, Butler was removed and Charlton came on but, as with the Ademiluyi substitution, Corinthian scored soon after, Jamie Billings running through from midfield in the 81st minute, before chipping Collick from the edge of the area, so 3-0 became the score.
In the 85th minute it became 4-0 and the home side had scored four goals in 12 minutes as both teams raced down the final furlong. However, the Crows regained control of the situation, having not given up hope of getting back on even terms, and following good work by Carrington, Treleaven was able to head his usual goal a game these days and the score became 4-1 in the 87th minute.
In the end a 4-1 defeat was a harsh result on the Crows and flattered the home side to a degree but the management team of now sole First Team Manager, Sean Muggeridge and his newly appointed Assistant Manager, Mark Irvine, will need, with the players, to work out how to stop us conceding goals in quick succession as it gives us too much to do to get a positive result.
The first goal of the second half was always going to be important in the context of the way the match was going and had we scored first I believe we would have gone on to win our first league game away from home. However, we didn't and we ended going home with nothing, sometimes football is a cruel game.