Crows fly forward as the nuts and bolts batten down the hatch.
Taking everything into account that went on in this game, one may think that the Crows would be disappointed with themselves for not lowering Ashford United's colours, however, nothing could be further from the truth, as you have to admire the football the Crows played and congratulate the visitors on their heroic defence of their goal and a steely determination not to lose.
We all have to be honest here and admit that prior to the game kicking off, we would have settled for a point, especially against a side third in the table and on an unbeaten twelve game run, and that's what we ended up with, irrespective of the fact that our visitors went down to ten men after 23 minutes and then nine men after 75 minutes.
There can be no complaints about either sending off, goalkeeper Kamurasi getting his marching orders with a straight red for taking Conlon out after he had rounded him and was about to put the ball into the empty goal.
The second red card was shown to Humphries, who received his first yellow in the 50th minute for what seemed to be a verbal altercation with an assistant referee, even though the visitors had been awarded a throw-in and he then saw yellow again, therefore, a red as well, in the 75th minute as he cut short, rather crudely, a run by Conlon towards the Ashford United goal.
Neutrals may feel that eleven should beat nine but the visitors showed why they are hard to defeat as they defended for their lives during the whole game and the second sending off only made them more determined to hold the Crow's attack at bay by putting six players in a line on the edge of their box, thus cutting down the space between each player and behind them.
It has to be said though that the Crows had the upper hand throughout most of the game, even before the first sending off, with Ridley, Waterman, Clarke, Conlon and Biddlecombe causing no end of problems for the Ashford midfield and defence.
As early as the 2nd minute, Kamurasi had to make a great save from Conlon after he had been put through by Clarke and then a minute later he was just a spectator as an effort from Biddlecombe hit the crossbar and rebounded out to safety.
Ashford also looked dangerous on the break, especially Welford with is physique and power in the air, little did he know at the time though, he was going to have a greater influence on the game but not by playing up front.
Referee Stacchini, who was being assessed, set the tone for the rest of the match by booking Clarke in the 12th minute, as he determined the attacker had impeded 'keeper Kamurasi as he tried to take a free kick, awarded for Clarke being off-side.
Shea then had a great effort saved for a corner and then Stubbs was the next to see yellow in the 17th minute, as he took out Shea on the touch line when beaten for pace.
The resultant penalty after Kamurasi's dismissal, taken by Biddlecombe, sees the Crows go 1-0 up in the 25th minute and it was no more than they deserved for their attacking display in the first quarter of the match.
This is where Welford started to influence the game as he put the green jersey on and went between the sticks, although beaten by the penalty, he was to remain strong and resilient for the rest of the game.
Prior to half time Welford was to make saves from Clarke, Biddlecombe a couple of times and had to dive at people's feet and tackle outside of his area as the Crows attacked with venom, looking for that second goal.
Right on half time Biddlecombe should have made it 2-0 after being put clean through, however, his shot was high and wide and the teams left the field with the score at 1-0 to the Crows.
For the start of the second half, Ashford made a substitution, Stubbs going off and Schoburgh coming on but the half started where the first left off, Welford having to save from Clarke and Adam Cuthbert getting a yellow card for a foul on Conlon.
Welford then had to deny Biddlecombe again, Conlon had a goal-bound effort blocked before Ridley was the next player in the book for a foul in the 55th minute and the resultant free kick led to substitute Schoburgh scrambling the ball into the goal following a deep cross to the back post.
Schoburgh proved to be a good outlet for the nuts and bolts during the second half as they relieved the pressure on their defenders by hitting long balls forward so he could use his blistering pace to good effect.
The goal gave the visitors even more determination to hold on now to what they had and the ten men redoubled their efforts as the Crows carried on going forward in numbers.
Ridley, Biddlecombe, Clarke and Tear all had efforts, albeit from outside the penalty area, all went wide and Ashford made another substitution in the 73rd minute, Booth going off and being replaced by Woolley.
In the 74th minute Clarke has a header cleared off the line and a minute later Humphries gets sent-off, Ridley firing the resulting free kick just over the bar, much to Welford's relief.
In the 77th minute, Palmer went off and was replaced by Lye, who was another player to see yellow in the 86th minute, as he took Conlon out rather abruptly as he neared the area, the free kick coming to nothing.
Shea was replaced by Funnell in the 89th minute as the Crows tried to freshen up their attack and Woolley then gets a yellow card for a foul as the visitors could see their unbeaten run carrying on.
With the pace of Schoburgh up front the visitors always had the chance of a break-away and they did create some odd chances, no more so than right at the end of the game, when a deep cross was headed back across the Crow's goal and an Ashford player headed in, much to the delight of everyone involved with them.
However, an assistant referee's flag, held aloft, signalled for the goal to be disallowed for off-side, therefore, the jubilation turned to agony for the visitors, whilst a smile returned to the faces of those involved with the Crows.
In the end was a draw a fair result, in my opinion, yes, we didn't take our chances, especially in the first half and Ashford showed there's just as much an art to defending as there is in attacking and to a man, they gave their all in an effort not to be beaten, whether it was with eleven, ten or nine men.
They were not happy with referee Stacchini at the end, however, the fact they lost two players was their own fault, not his and overall, I thought he and his assistants had a good game, albeit the referee did get in the way of both teams on more than one occasion.
A great game overall, both teams deserve credit for their relative performances and each can go into their next games with a confident manner and an air of expectation.