Homelands is definitely not a safe place for us Crows.
For some reason there are grounds clubs visit that, irrespective of form and how they are playing, they just feel they will not get a good result in their favour, unfortunately, Homelands is one of those grounds for us.
The journey itself to the venue from Crowborough was not an easy one, country roads and weather conditions being what they were, thus it made the one hour to one and a half hour journey a difficult one, not helped by plenty of tractors and horse boxes along the way either.
Upon arrival at the ground it was evident that the Homelands wind, which always seems to be blowing from one end of the pitch to the other, no matter how good or bad the day is, was out in force and it was aided by driving rain, which meant playing a football match was always going to be hard work.
As for the 3G pitch itself, I have to say that, and this is just a personal view, I don't think the one at the Homelands is one of the best I've seen, however, I prefer football to be played on grass so my opinion is slightly clouded, but by having one if it means the club survives, then I can see why clubs do it.
I also have to admit that had the pitch at Homelands been grass yesterday, then nobody would have had a game to watch, so may be I should put my misgivings aside and be grateful that I did have a match to watch, however dull it may been from a Crows perspective in the end.
The 3G pitch should not have affected us in reality, we have played their already against Ashford United this season, although there may have been some mental scars for some following the 6-1 defeat on that day, the pitch cannot be held up as a reason why we lost and neither can the weather conditions either.
The team did have to be altered slightly from recent weeks, Matthews was unavailable, so Hinkson took his place and with Conlon having to return to his parent club, Butler returned after injury to his usual place in front of the back four which meant Ridley was pushed into the "number 10" role Conlon had occupied.
However, these changes should not have affected us too much and as a team who prides itself on having good footballer's playing for them, who liked to get the ball on the deck, the surface should have really suited us as well, therefore, it's hard to put a finger on why the Crows put in such a below par performance in this match compared to their previous games.
In reality, neither team coped with the conditions that well throughout the game and when you look at our hosts home record from their previous league matches, one win, five defeats, they're finding it hard to play well at Homelands, especially when you compare it to their excellent away record.
As for the match itself, it didn't come alive for either side until the 30th minute, Shea robbing a City defender outside his area and then slipping a ball through to Biddlecombe who finished calmly by lifting the ball over the diving Harris as he came out to try and gather the ball, 1-0 to the Crows.
Prior to that goal match referee, Wally James, who was being assessed, probably caused more excitement than the players, especially with the respective management teams, as he awarded free kick after free kick for what seemed to most people watching, trivial offences, if indeed, they were offences at all, but it's his opinion that counts, and Boddy eventually saw yellow, in the 16th minute, for two tackles in quick succession.
Martin for City then received a yellow in the 37th minute for a rash tackle, the resulting free kick was cleared for a corner and when the corner was delivered, Jagger had his header cleared off the line by a defender in the 38th minute.
Most managers will always see any goal they concede as preventable and Muggeridge will be no different I'm sure, as we allowed City to equalise in the 41st minute, Martin being given space to run from just inside our half and into the penalty area, without really being challenged, before putting the ball across the area for Casey to tap in, Faith having been left rather exposed by his defence.
Just before the break, Clarke became the next Crow to upset referee James, as he was shown a yellow card for an adjudged infringement of the laws of the game, much to the bewilderment of everyone watching the game, except the assessor of course.
Therefore, as the players left for the half time break, instead of being 1-0 up, it was 1-1 and the half time team talk for the respective management teams had to be altered to suit the change in the score and balance of the match.
The second half was only two minutes old when we went 2-1 down, referee James awarded City a free kick just outside the area down our left and as the ball was crossed to the back post, Danny Lawrence was allowed to slide in and slot home.
The Crow players were upset a free kick was even awarded to City, however, irrespective of that, the cross should have been cleared and not allowed to have reached Lawrence at all, so City had scored two goals in 6 minutes of play, without really having to do anything special.
In the 68th minute Butler saw yellow for a late tackle and was replaced in the 70th minute by Carrington as we looked to get back in the game and the substitution did take place whilst we were having our best spell in the game.
In the 75th minute Jagger went shoulder to shoulder with a City attacker down our right hand side, midway in our half, however, referee James awarded City a free kick which was subsequently hit into our area, Casey was then allowed to get in front of our defenders and flick the ball past a stranded Faith in the Crows goal, 3-1 to City.
Pilcher receives a yellow card in the 76th minute and around this time, as usually happens in these circumstances, both sides make numerous substitutions, Philpott was replaced by Callander in the 77th minute, then he upsets referee James almost immediately, in the 79th minute and was shown a yellow card for a tug of the shirt.
Hinkson was replaced by Rich for the Crows in the 82nd minute and at the same time, Xavier left the field to be replaced by Rob Lawrence for City and our final throw of the dice saw Clarke leaving the field and Hollick coming on in his place in the 86th minute.
The last substitution for City happened in the 90th minute, Pilcher being replaced by Halford as the game just drifted on until referee James put everyone out of their misery, those supporting us anyway, by blowing the final whistle and City took the points with a 3-1 victory.
General consensus from the gathered luminaries in the bar after the game was that Will Jagger was our man of the match and that, in general, it was just a bad day in the office for us, a Christmas and New Year hangover maybe, and that we should all look forward to a home game against Erith & Belvedere next Saturday, on a grass pitch of course.