BackSat 04 Apr 2015 · Premier Division
Canterbury City
First Team
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0
ANOTHER POINT, ANOTHER GAME WITHOUT BEING BEATEN.
Malcolm Boyes5 Apr 2015 - 10:49
As the away side, the Crows will settle for the point, however, had they had their best side out on the pitch, it could have been three points.
Crows had to ride their luck at times, can't complain about the effort though.
On a rather dull and windy day at times there was no doubt before the kick off that the Crows would have to dig deep to get anything from the game.
No disrespect to Canterbury City, it was not because of the opposition they faced but it was down to the number of players that were not available to manager, Sean Muggeridge, to select from, indeed, it got even worse in the pre-match warm up.
During the morning of yesterday's game, Sean had to change his line-up no fewer than six times due to players informing him they were ill, injured or had sudden events which they could not avoid.
Captain Jason Barton was known not to be available, neither was Callum Ridley, Sam Carrington was not available, Will Jagger was also still out and when you add those names to those who have been out injured for sometime, Chris Ransome is an example, the Crows were down to the bare bones, especially as the U21's also had an away fixture at Westfield FC.
As is the case in most away games, especially if distance is involved, the Crows only had three substitutes, two outfield players and a goalkeeper. However, that situation rather backfired on the Crows as Ryan Waterman, who was down to be in the starting line-up, reported at the ground ill and therefore was named on the bench and this gave a full debut to Jason Hinkson who played wide on the left hand side from the kick off.
The situation got even worse when Ross Treleaven pulled up with what appeared to be a groin injury during the final part of the pre-match warm-up and had to be replaced in the starting eleven, therefore, the original two outfield substitutes were now on from the start and were replaced by two unfit players.
All these events meant that Tom Cameron was pushed forward from defence to central midfield and therefore, both the defence and the midfield had been altered before a ball had even been kicked.
As for the game once it kicked off, it had very much an air of two teams occupying mid-table positions in the league and with no fear of relegation or promotion, had nothing really to play for except pride but when you take it to account the pre-match trial and tribulations of the Crows prior to kick off, they had an excuse at least whilst Canterbury City really should have been better than they were.
The Crows were rather disjointed in the first 45 minutes, understandably, the effort was definitely on show but there was a marked lack of cohesion and the passing was not very good either.
The home side held the upper hand in terms of possession and chances, what chances there were anyway but their forwards were rather profligate and never really caused Collick in the Crows goal too many concerns, although they did hit the bar with a long range effort.
Their forwards for some reason never got hold of the off-side law and were caught out many times by the Crows back four, superbly marshalled by Tom Boddy, who had a great game throughout and ably assisted by Ryan Hinkson, Trotter and Rich.
The Crows did have a few chances of their own, especially when Clarke had the ball and Scott Treleaven worked tirelessly upfront on his own, holding the ball up when required and taking defenders on when ever the chance arose.
However, the half-time break was reached with most of the watching spectators glad to get out of the wind and in to the warm for a hot drink but with not a lot to talk about from the first 45 minutes.
The home side still held the upper hand in the second 45 minutes but again, what chances they had were wasted by their forwards, one of them being at least 6ft 4inches tall and if anything it was the Crows who looked more likely to score as the game wore on, however, near the end of the match this looked unlikely to happen as top-scorer Scott Treleaven, had to leave the field with a nasty looking ankle injury.
He was eventually carried from the far side of the pitch to the dressing room at the end of the game and one can only hope that it's only a sprain and there's no ligament damage but there can be no chance of him making the Easter Monday game at home to Phoenix Sports and he could now miss the rest of the season.
Ryan Waterman replaced Scott and Michael Death was moved from the midfield position he had been occupying to a forward position for the last 10 minutes or so, however, the game rather petered out some what and the final whistle blew to the relief of most of the spectators and the Crow's fans being the happier of the two with the point but concerned for the health of top-scorer, Scott Treleaven.
On a rather dull and windy day at times there was no doubt before the kick off that the Crows would have to dig deep to get anything from the game.
No disrespect to Canterbury City, it was not because of the opposition they faced but it was down to the number of players that were not available to manager, Sean Muggeridge, to select from, indeed, it got even worse in the pre-match warm up.
During the morning of yesterday's game, Sean had to change his line-up no fewer than six times due to players informing him they were ill, injured or had sudden events which they could not avoid.
Captain Jason Barton was known not to be available, neither was Callum Ridley, Sam Carrington was not available, Will Jagger was also still out and when you add those names to those who have been out injured for sometime, Chris Ransome is an example, the Crows were down to the bare bones, especially as the U21's also had an away fixture at Westfield FC.
As is the case in most away games, especially if distance is involved, the Crows only had three substitutes, two outfield players and a goalkeeper. However, that situation rather backfired on the Crows as Ryan Waterman, who was down to be in the starting line-up, reported at the ground ill and therefore was named on the bench and this gave a full debut to Jason Hinkson who played wide on the left hand side from the kick off.
The situation got even worse when Ross Treleaven pulled up with what appeared to be a groin injury during the final part of the pre-match warm-up and had to be replaced in the starting eleven, therefore, the original two outfield substitutes were now on from the start and were replaced by two unfit players.
All these events meant that Tom Cameron was pushed forward from defence to central midfield and therefore, both the defence and the midfield had been altered before a ball had even been kicked.
As for the game once it kicked off, it had very much an air of two teams occupying mid-table positions in the league and with no fear of relegation or promotion, had nothing really to play for except pride but when you take it to account the pre-match trial and tribulations of the Crows prior to kick off, they had an excuse at least whilst Canterbury City really should have been better than they were.
The Crows were rather disjointed in the first 45 minutes, understandably, the effort was definitely on show but there was a marked lack of cohesion and the passing was not very good either.
The home side held the upper hand in terms of possession and chances, what chances there were anyway but their forwards were rather profligate and never really caused Collick in the Crows goal too many concerns, although they did hit the bar with a long range effort.
Their forwards for some reason never got hold of the off-side law and were caught out many times by the Crows back four, superbly marshalled by Tom Boddy, who had a great game throughout and ably assisted by Ryan Hinkson, Trotter and Rich.
The Crows did have a few chances of their own, especially when Clarke had the ball and Scott Treleaven worked tirelessly upfront on his own, holding the ball up when required and taking defenders on when ever the chance arose.
However, the half-time break was reached with most of the watching spectators glad to get out of the wind and in to the warm for a hot drink but with not a lot to talk about from the first 45 minutes.
The home side still held the upper hand in the second 45 minutes but again, what chances they had were wasted by their forwards, one of them being at least 6ft 4inches tall and if anything it was the Crows who looked more likely to score as the game wore on, however, near the end of the match this looked unlikely to happen as top-scorer Scott Treleaven, had to leave the field with a nasty looking ankle injury.
He was eventually carried from the far side of the pitch to the dressing room at the end of the game and one can only hope that it's only a sprain and there's no ligament damage but there can be no chance of him making the Easter Monday game at home to Phoenix Sports and he could now miss the rest of the season.
Ryan Waterman replaced Scott and Michael Death was moved from the midfield position he had been occupying to a forward position for the last 10 minutes or so, however, the game rather petered out some what and the final whistle blew to the relief of most of the spectators and the Crow's fans being the happier of the two with the point but concerned for the health of top-scorer, Scott Treleaven.
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