Losing possession in key areas proves costly.
You know sometimes when you turn up at a ground that it may just not be your day and Saturday's trip to Martyn Grove to play Lordswood FC was to prove to be one of those days.
Upon arrival at the ground, admittedly earlier than normal, there was no one around apart from a group of, what turned out to be, rugby players who at least could tell us where the dressing room area was located.
Due to illness, apparently, there was nowhere to get a cup of tea, coffee or food, unless that is you wanted to walk to the Sports Centre some 200 yards away across a field and when someone did, the Sports Centre had run out of milk, so the day was starting to get worse by the minute.
Then came the news that Wayne Clarke was not able to play and therefore, we'd only have two players on the bench, there not being enough time to get a replacement involved from the reserve side, so more bad news there.
However, there was some better news when one of our former players, John Sinclair, arrived at the ground having resigned for the club after being released by our nearest and dearest, Tunbridge Wells FC.
If you visited the ground last season you'll know that it is situated near a Sports Centre and a Leisure Centre and is surrounded by all sorts of pitches for rugby, hockey and other events, so it does not have the feel of a normal football ground, however, the pitch was in good condition so that was a bonus.
As for the match itself, the Crows started very brightly and had their first shot after just 39 seconds, Butler firing over from some 20 yards out. This set the tone for the rest of the half in general, Crows having the larger amount of possession and creating the better chances.
Biddlecombe was causing the Lordswood back four problems with his movement and direct approach and therefore, came in for some harsh treatment from his marker, Singh-Sekhon, who really should have seen at least a yellow for a tackle from behind as he went through him before getting anywhere near the ball, only a free kick was awarded though.
Still, Biddlecombe got his reward when he was brought down in the penalty area by the Lordswood 'keeper, Hyde, after 10 minutes, the stopper seeing a yellow card, which was about right and Biddlecombe duly converted the penalty to put the Crows 1-0 up.
Griffin then became the second Lordswood player to be booked in the 19th minute as he disputed a decision with the referee as the strain of having to keep the Crows at bay began to tell on the home side.
However, after 32 minutes the Crows suffered further misfortune as Biddlecombe had to leave the field with a knee injury following a run into the penalty area. The home defender tackled the striker who fell to the ground against the fencing by the goal and unfortunately, the defender fell on Biddlecombe's knee forcing it to go in the wrong direction.
This meant a reshuffle of the side, Baitup coming on for Biddlecombe and playing wide left, replacing Gonnella who then went up front on his own, however, the reshuffle didn't seem to hurt the Crows that much but they had lost that pace to get behind the defence which had been a constant threat with Biddlecombe on the field.
Half time was reached with the score 1-0 to the Crows, however, it did look like a few of our players were starting to suffer with a few knocks, most notably Shea, whose back was starting to give him a few problems and Gonnella also seemed to be suffering with his knee.
The home side were obviously not happy with their performance during the first half as they made a double substitution at half time, Griffin going off to be replaced by Dimmock and Deakin being replaced by Daramy and these changes did invigorate the home side.
The Crows were still having the better of the possession, even though it was starting to get a bit more 50/50, however, Shea went very close in the 50th minute to putting the Crows 2-0, his cross-shot going inches wide of the far post.
Shea then incurred the displeasure of the referee for a tackle and saw yellow in the 54th minute and 3 minutes later, Ridley fires just over from the edge of the area.
It was around this time that many in the crowd started to query why the referee had not apparently asked for the floodlights to be turned on as it was becoming very gloomy for players and spectators alike.
Play carried on though and one of the half time substitutes for the home side, Dimmock had to go off injured, to be replaced by Hope in the 59th minute, which caused a bit of delay whilst he was attended to.
In the 62nd minute the score became 1-1, a long clearance from Hyde evaded the Crows defence and Quani was allowed to run through and score as he tucked the ball past Faith in the Crow's goal.
After 66 minutes, and with the crowd wondering what had happened to the floodlights, the referee stopped the game and was on the verge of abandoning the match, due to the fact that the generator which powers the lights at Martyn Grove, could not be started, a flat battery apparently being the problem.
With confusion abounding for everyone, players and spectators alike, as there was no tannoy system in use at Martyn Grove either it seemed, the players were left standing on the pitch for some 10 minutes before a plume of blue smoke appeared from behind a fence which indicated that the generator had finally been kick-started into live.
A couple of seconds later, the floodlights started to warm up and play recommenced, much to everyone's satisfaction, although only 3 minutes after the restart, the Crows found themselves 2-1 down, Quani tapping home his second goal of the game after great work by Adjei on the right wing.
Whether the break hurt the Crows more than Lordswood can only be speculation at best, however, the Crows contributed to their own downfall by giving the ball away too easily on the edge of the home side's area and with players out of position, it allowed Adjei to break away and get at the defence before crossing the ball.
For the rest of the match it was the Crows doing most of the attacking whilst the home side relied largely on breakaways, although they did cause problems from time to time.
In the 72nd minute Gonnella's knee meant he had to go off and be replaced by Sinclair and 4 minutes later, Butler received a yellow card for a tackle.
From then on until the final whistle, Waterman, Matthews and Hollick all had shots either blocked or which flew narrowly wide and one final chance was to fall to Ridley, who headed over when well placed after good work by Matthews and Baitup, therefore, the Crows lost a game they largely dominated by a 2-1 score-line.
Highlights for the Crows were the general performance of the side overall, the football they played was entertaining and attractive, Boddy was superb throughout and was our MOTM and the performance of John Sinclair when he came on definitely drove the team forward until that final whistle.
The injury to Biddlecombe didn't help the cause, however, the Crows mustn't feel sorry for themselves and feel that everything is against them as they head to a home fixture against Deal Town this coming Saturday.