Home side deserved the win in the end.
The Crows arrived at Park View Road, the home of Welling United and Erith & Belvedere, for this match with plenty of confidence having won four out of the last five games, three of those wins coming in the last three matches.
There were changes in the squad though as Carrington, Tear, Clarke, Jagger, Everest, Hollick and Sinclair were not available for selection and therefore, reinforcements from the reserve side had to be brought in, Newman, Miller and Spear being the selected players and all were named on the bench.
It also meant that positional changes in the starting eleven had to be made, Shea being moved from right wing to right back, Carey moving to partner Boddy at the heart of the defence and Gonnella coming off the bench he occupied against Holmesdale on Tuesday to take over the right wing spot vacated by Shea.
The match started brightly for the Crows and they forced two corners and had a shot by Butler which was saved by Anibaba in the Deres goal inside the 1st minute.
For the next 20 minutes or so it was the Crows who did most of the attacking with Butler, Ridley, Mici and Biddlecombe to the fore however, the final ball either just alluded the intended player or was under or over hit, plus when the Crows did get in the box with the ball their final touch let them down, allowing either a defender or the goalkeeper to clear or gather the ball.
Unlike most games this season there were only four free kicks inside the first 19 minutes, two those four being for off side and as a result the game flowed a lot better, with the Deres relying on counter attacks during this initial spell.
One of these breaks led to Boddy getting a yellow card as he had to tug back an on-rushing Deres forward who would have been clear, although with some distance still to go to get to the penalty area and with Carey and Baitup converging on the forward, it was never going to be a red card.
After the Crows dominated the first 20/25 minutes, the game became more end to end and both 'keepers had to make smart saves, Anibaba from Rich and Smith had to make two great saves in quick succession to prevent his team going behind.
One change the home side did make was to go from four at the back to three and pushing the right back, Fyffe, to a more forward position and it has to be said, his lightening pace caused problems for the Crows from then on.
After 40 minutes the home side went 1-0 up, the Deres played a long ball down the Crows left which Nwitua was able to get past Baitup and Fire past Smith as he came out to narrow the angle.
On balance the home side just about deserved their lead and as the half time whistle went it was the home side who looked happier, for obvious reasons, but the Crows were not out of it by any means.
The second half started much as the first with the Crows on the front foot and they had their first shot after only 14 seconds, Biddlecombe firing high and wide.
In the 57th minute Mici had a goal disallowed after the ball had been laid back to him by Biddlecombe, however, the forward was adjudged to be off side when he received the initial ball, so the score remained at 1-0 to the Deres.
This disallowed effort was to Mici's last involvement in the game as he was replaced by Spear in the 59th minute and to be honest, the Crows didn't have enough control of the ball in this game to make the best use of his skills.
The home side gradually took control of the game though with their captain, Robinson, a controlling factor of their play even though his movement around the pitch was limited to the centre circle area.
Their second goal arrived in the 66th minute from Wright who was then immediately substituted, along with Hart, and they were replaced by Froggatt and May, as the home side made sure they were not going to let the Crows back in the game.
With the Deres still on top, Nwitua went off, meaning both their scorers were now off the pitch, and he was replaced by Quadri but the momentum remained with them and Smith had to make a good save from Robinson in the 76th minute.
Gonnella was replaced by Newman in the 77th minute and the Crows only had two more real chances before the end of the game, Spear rounded Anibaba but the ball would just not settle and the 'keeper was able to get back and gather the ball.
Then in the 86th minute Biddlecombe escaped the clutches of the Deres defence for once and his cross-shot was well saved by Anibaba, therefore, after 90+4 minutes, the match ended with the home side keeping the points.
Boddy was the supporters MOTM for us, closely followed by Carey, Baitup and Shea and on reflection it was not one of the team's best performances, the Crows seemed rather heavy legged throughout, lacked energy and pace all over the field and didn't control possession of the ball enough to get anything out of this match.
Our performance had very much an end of season feel about it, which seems odd when the squad had won four out of five games prior to this fixture but there you are and now it's on to the last game of the season at home to Croydon FC next Saturday and hopefully, the squad will seem to be more "up for it" than they were against the Deres.