Carrington grabs a comeback goal.
The Crows carried on their fine recent form with a deserved win against Holmesdale FC at the Community Stadium on Saturday and go in to Tuesday nights home Sussex Principal RUR Cup game, against Sussex County Football League, Division 1 leaders, Littlehampton Town, in confident mood.
In what was a very entertaining game from start to finish with both teams always trying to go forward at every opportunity, in the end it was the Crows better team-work over the 90 minutes which enabled them to overcome a spirited Holmesdale FC side.
The away side started very brightly, no doubt their recent 4-3 home win against us in the League Cup still fresh in their minds and they must have felt if they could get in front early, a similar result could be on the cards.
They did have the first real chance of the game after 3 minutes but their forward wasted what was a good opportunity by shooting in to the side netting from 6 yards out. They then had a half chance but this time the shot flew across the face of Collick's goal and past the far post.
It was now the Crows turn to have a go and two quick shots from distance, one excellently saved by the Holmesdale goalkeeper signalled the start of the Crows getting on top off the visitors as the pressure grew on their defence.
With the Crow's back four looking strong, Butler policing the midfield with authority and with Barton acting as Superintendent, directing proceedings from the centre circle, Ademiluyi, Funnell, Treleaven and Ridley were able to keep the Crows going forward, causing the Holmesdale defence to infringe the laws of the game with regularity.
It was from one of these free kicks that the Crows took the lead on 11 minutes, Ridley was brought down some 35 yards out and took the free kick himself, floating an excellent kick towards the Holmesdale goal. Boddy was able to steal a lead on his marker and with a deft flick, the ball landed into the far corner of the net, giving the stranded goalkeeper no chance.
The home side now poured forward in search of a second goal and really should have gone 2-0 up inside 20 minutes when Treleaven was set free by Butler for a one on one situation but his shot was saved well by Hyde in the away goal.
For a 10 minute spell, from the 25th minute, the Crows were awarded 3 free kicks, had 2 shots on target and earned 5 corners, more importantly however, from one of these corners, after 29 minutes, the Crows doubled their lead as Ridley floated the ball over and Trotter, up from the back, matched his defensive partner and volleyed the ball from some 15 yards out, high into the top of the net.
With Holmesdale under constant pressure and not able to get out of their half, their tackles were now showing signs of stress and JP Collier was booked for a tackle on Barton and perhaps one or two others could have joined him as Ademiluyi, Funnell, Ridley and Treleaven continued to cause them serious problems.
Butler, who had played most of the half with an injury after a tackle in the 2nd minute, was booked in the 43rd minute and was consequently substituted at half time, with Ryan Waterman coming on to replace him. In the 45th minute, the Holmesdale captain, Cumberbatch was booked for a tackle on Ademiluyi which didn't look that bad but referee Adams decided it warranted a yellow card.
Half time was reached with the score at 2-0 to the Crows and it really should have been more but then Holmesdale did have one glorious chance right on the break to get back in the game, however, their player hit the post from a yard out when it looked easier to score.
It was inevitable that Holmesdale were going to come out in the second half and try to steal a goal so they could get back in with a chance and for the first 10 minutes they tried to up the tempo and get at the Crows defence. They had also made a substitution at half time, Varli going off and being replaced by Hart which seemed to give them a bit more pace than before.
Whilst this tactic may have worked a few weeks ago, the Crows are now a different prospect and had no intention of letting Holmesdale get away with day-light robbery and then started to dominate the game once again.
However, one thing that you can't do in this division is to switch off for a second but, unfortunately, Stewart was allowed to sprint free from Rich as they countered a Crow attack, and he cooly finished passed Collick in the 67th minute to make it 2-1.
Crows were still having the better of things and Ademiluyi forced a good save from Hyde and Ridley, who had a great game throughout, was becoming more and more a force within the match, setting up chances for various team mates.
Therefore, it was against the run of play again that Holmesdale equalised when they were awarded a penalty after 73 minutes, Boddy bringing the forward down, and Collier duly stepped up and sent Collick the wrong way.
Just before the penalty the referee had played advantage when Trotter fouled the same player prior to him reaching the penalty area and he was also shown a yellow card by Adams.
Prior to the restart, Treleaven was replaced by Carrington and it paid instant dividends as he restored the Crows lead in the 77th minute, Ridley played an excellent through ball and as the goalkeeper advanced, Carrington powered the ball passed him into the net.
In an effort to get back on level terms, Somule was replaced by Ogunseye in the 80th minute but any effect this may have had was negated when Stewart, their first goalscorer, fouled Ademiluyi and for some reason decided that he would push Ademiluyi in an aggressive manner and was eventually shown a straight red by referee Adams, although Ademiluyi did receive a yellow for his reaction.
The game had 5 minutes of stoppage time added but it was the Crows who were still on top at the end and another great performance had gained another 3 points as the Crows move above their opponents into 9th place in the table