So near to a win though.
Ashford United arrived at the Community Stadium in second place in the league, full of confidence and fully expecting, it seemed, to go home with the three points as they were playing a team down in fourteenth place.
With a club that has such lofty ambitions as they have declared publicly, confidence in one's ability is to be expected and the pressure is definitely on the management and players to achieve promotion this season but as the games are being ticked off, that looks a difficult task bearing in mind the number of games they've played compared to others.
Also, I'm sure they had looked at the results the Crows have been getting of late and that further enhanced the feeling that they could be in for one of their easier games of the season.
However, they hadn't taken in to account the attitude and application that was going to be shown by the Crow's players for the next 90 minutes. The skill, effort, determination and never-say-die mindset frustrated the opposition players and their travelling fans throughout the game.
When the teams first arrived on the pitch for the kick off you could see that the visitors, like a lot of teams we have played this season, had physically imposing players in key areas, such as Pat Kingwell at centre half and Stuart Zanone, in the centre forward position, who were both tall and strong and wouldn't have looked out of place in a tug-o-war team.
The visitors started on the front foot and had the better of the opening 10 minutes but created few chances and none of them were of the clear cut variety. Then the Crows had the next 10 minutes however, like the visitors, few chances were that clear, although Barton was twice denied by last ditch clearances following good work by Ridley, Waterman and Treleaven.
There then followed a mad 5 minutes as two goals were scored in quick succession, Ashford United taking the lead through Zanone who finished well from a narrow angle after beating Collick to the ball in the 23rd minute. In reality the long ball should have been cleared but it was allowed to bounce and Zanone took full advantage.
The Crows were back on level terms only 2 minutes later as Barton was brought down by Winfield inside the box and the referee duly awarded the penalty. Barton got up, dusted himself down and put the ball to the 'keepers right hand side and the ball nestled nicely in the net, despite the best efforts of Mant between the sticks.
If there was to be any criticism of the match in general, then it would be that there were too many free kicks, 16 in total during the first period, most for what seemed innocuous fouls, although Zanone picked up a yellow card in the 32nd minute for preventing Collick clearing the ball.
However, that is not to say referee, Albert, did not have a good game, at least from the Crows perspective he did, but it's hard for any team to build momentum when play is constantly interrupted by a whistle blowing loudly.
Still, both teams were giving and doing their best and in the 41st minute the Crows went 2-1 up as the referee gave a penalty when the ball struck an Ashford United players hand in the area. May be it was a bit harsh on the defender but Barton didn't argue and despatched the ball to Mant's left this time, giving the 'keeper no chance.
The half time whistle blew in the 48th minute and the Crows left the field happy that they had come from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 and out of the two teams, the home side would be the happier whilst the away side were probably going to have to put up with a stern talking to if the language coming from the dug out was anything to go by.
There was no doubt that everyone in the ground knew that the away side would come out of the dressing room fired up after having a constructive team talk at half time and this proved to be the case as they used their physical presence to try and dominate the Crows defence from the kick off.
Unfortunately for the Crows, they could not hold out for the first 10 minutes, which would have led to greater frustration for all concerned with the away side as Everitt made it 2-2 in the 48th minute with a good finish on the angle in to the top corner of Collick's net.
In some games this season this is where the Crows have suffered by conceding again very quickly, but not in this game and whilst the first half had been good, the second half was even better as the early goal for the visitors gave both teams the incentive to go on and try to score what they hoped would be the winner.
For the next 42 minutes it became an end to end game with the away side using their height and strength advantage to try and break the Crows down whilst the home side had to rely on their greater pace and ability to get anything past the away sides defence.
The frustration that the away side were clearly displaying led to them receiving a couple of yellow cards, Clarke in the 81st minute and Walsh in the 85th minute but even though there were an equal number of free kicks in the second as there was in the first at no point was there a bad tackle in sight and both bookings were for minor infringements.
As both teams were going for the win, substitutions were made at regular intervals, Scorer going off for the visitors to be replaced by Coyne who, later on, was to miss an absolute sitter in the 89th minute that would have definitely won it for the nuts and bolts.
For the home side Tear had to go off injured, Cameron coming in the 65th minute, followed 2 minutes later by Carrington coming on for Waterman, who had run himself into the ground in midfield, expending a tremendous amount of energy in trying to support his team mates.
The Crows made their final substitution in the 75th minute, Funnell replacing Ridley who had found the afternoon difficult against the sheer physical size of the opposition. However, the substitutions didn't affect the flow of the game with both teams creating and having chances to score, Collick pulling off one fantastic save, tipping the ball on to the bar and over for a corner and Treleaven being denied by the away goalie, Mant, with an equally brilliant save.
Perhaps the greatest piece of individual brilliance and opportunism came from Sam Carrington in the 74th minute when, knowing the goalkeeper was way off his line, performed an acrobatic bicycle kick from some 18 yards out which looked a certain goal all the way but just as the crowd were waiting to celebrate, the ball hit a divot and spun towards a post, hitting it and rebounding to safety, much to the disappointment of all the Crows players and spectators.
If that was a moment of pure genius, then the most comical moment of the game came in the dying seconds as Coyne, who had not had the best of afternoons since coming on early in the second half, shot the ball over the bar from six yards out with the goal at his mercy. The look of incredulity that was clearly visible on the faces of everyone connected with Ashford United only made it a more enjoyable experience for all connected with the Crows and the final whistle blew with the scores tied up at 2-2.
In the end a draw was probably a fair result but because of their ambition the away side saw it as an opportunity wasted whilst the Crows had proved something to themselves may be that they can compete against the best in the league and don't have to fear anyone.
Each and everyone of the home players gave everything they had for the cause and justly got the minimum they deserved on the day and now they can play the remainder of the season knowing that if they don't let their performance levels drop from this game, then they will accumulate a lot more points.
I also have to say that everyone I met who came to support Ashford United were a pleasure to talk to and this hasn't always been the case this season when we've played clubs that have a higher opinion of their status than some others.