Collick plays a blinder.
They say there's too many clichés in football, one of those is that "it was a game of two halves", well yesterday's game at home to Cray Valley (PM) definitely lived up that cliché as the Crows held the upper hand in the first 45 minutes but the Millers were much in the ascendancy in the second 45.
It was goals by Rich, returning to the side after a brief break and Ridley that gave the home side the advantage late on during the first period and it no more than they deserved overall.
The first goal by Rich was from an excellent free kick taken from some twenty odd yards out, on the angle, which flew over the wall and into the net, giving the Millers 'keeper no chance after 37 minutes.
It only took the Crows another 4 minutes to extend their lead as Ridley, who put in a superb performance throughout, gathered the ball on the edge of the area and went on one of his runs before calmly poking the ball into the net to the joy of his teamates and the crowd, those from Crowborough anyway.
The Crows had definitely taken heart from their second half performance at the Culverden Stadium on Tuesday night against Tunbridge Wells where, according to some neutrals, they were the better side and they started this match in much the same vein against their in-form visitors and whilst there was an odd moment or two of concern during the first 45 minutes, the home side had the greater possession.
However, the Crows were never going to dominate throughout, it's rare for any team to do that and everyone knew the Millers would come out for the second period in a determined mood to try and get back in to the game and protect their nine match unbeaten run.
This made for more of a competitive game with a few tackles going in which were of what some would call a "tasty" nature but the game was refereed very well overall by Mr. James who allowed the play to flow whenever he could, took the conditions into account when having to make a decision and only produced his card when he felt the situation warranted it.
The Millers gradually put pressure on the Crows goal however, they found Nick Collick in great form when chances came their way and he, along with his defenders, put in a superb second 45 minutes which kept them a clean sheet and eventually sapped the will out of the Cray Valley (PM) players.
Collick was commanding throughout, whether that was coming for crosses, punching the ball clear, dealing with one on ones or patrolling the edge of his area and this then galvanised those in front of him to protect their goal at all cost.
In the end it was three points well earned in a hard game against a good side and the entertainment supplied by both teams sent most watching spectators home happy although, of course, one can understand the disappointment of the visiting team and fans as their unbeaten run had come to an end at the Community Stadium.
The team travel to play Lordswood next week and a similar performance may well end up with the Crows getting at least a point from the fixture, may be more and the team definitely seem to be getting to grips with the SCEFL now.