How much added-on time? That's Rich!
This will not be so much a match review of Saturday's game, but a weather report, as the elements throughout the 90 minutes decided what type of match the assembled crowd actually witnessed.
Travelling to Rede Court Road, which is one of our easiest away journeys, you knew that it would be windy, it normally is in Rochester, even in the summer, however, on Saturday it was actually blowing with real gale-force ferocity.
The one good thing upon arriving at the ground was to find out the wind was blowing more diagonally across the pitch rather than from one end to the other, thus not giving one team more of an advantage, well, until at half time at least anyway.
The condition of the pitch was pretty good, although it's a bit like the Badger Sports Ground, in that it undulates in certain areas but at least it doesn't have the slope of Badger.
Also, the rain stayed away, thankfully, because had it rained everyone would have got soaking wet, even those in the main stand, due to the wind which blew full force towards the stand for the whole game.
Now to the football, as for the Crow's side, once again changes had to be made due to injuries, suspensions and unavailability, Hollick, Everest, Jagger, Clarke, Waterman and Carrington were some of those missing out but the squad is a resilient one and on these occasions previously, the team has prevailed and so it proved again this time.
Shea played at right back and had a good game, whilst normal right back Tear was moved to partner Boddy at the centre of the defence, both of whom had very good games throughout. In midfield, Gonnella had to play right wing, whilst Baitup, who also played well until he had to go off injured, was promoted from the reserves and started on the left wing, although both of them swapped sides during the match it seemed.
With the weather conditions as they were the early passages of play related more to the players trying to find out what they could and couldn't do, passing short or long proved difficult for everyone, centre halves found judging the flight of the ball almost impossible and most aerial challenges ended up with the ball going in a totally different direction than intended, whether the forward or the defender won the challenge.
Therefore, the quality of play by either side was not great and the entertainment value was on the lower scale, however, the Crows took the lead in the 16th minute as Sinclair played a sixty yard cross field ball out wide to Baitup near the United penalty area, the young player took on the full back and put a low cross into the area where Biddlecombe did what he does best by putting the ball into the back of the net with a cool finish.
The Crows continued to look comfortable after taking the lead and it took until the 28th minute before the home side had their first effort at goal, a shot from distance which sailed way over the bar.
The Crows sat rather deep throughout the match which meant Biddlecombe ploughed a rather lonely furrow upfront on his own but no one could criticise him for the effort he put in for the cause, however, it meant chances were limited for the Crows but one or two did come along but the final ball was either misplaced or intercepted.
The home side's only real effort arrived in the 37th minute from a corner which was headed goal wards and was cleared off the line by the dependable Tear, thus the score remained 1-0 to the Crows as the half time whistle blew and the players headed off to the sanctuary of their respective dressing rooms.
During the break the wind seemed to change direction slightly, although the ferocity did not alter, if anything it blew even stronger, but the Crows felt it more in their faces for the second half.
The home side came out of their dressing room fired up, however, whilst they had the greater possession during the second half, the Crows keeping up the habit of sitting deep from the first half, their attacking threat was held up by the Crow's defence and kept the home side at bay for long periods, whilst Faith didn't have a direct shot to deal with.
With the wind still getting the better of both teams, the play for most of the second half was contested in the midfield area and chances for the Crows were few and far between, whilst the home side's best chance of scoring were coming from corners or free kicks, as they did have a couple of players with some greater height than we had.
With the score still at 1-0 to the Crows, the home side shuffled their team in an effort to get back into the game, Parrish going off to be replaced by Earle. However, the next good chance fell to the Crows, Sinclair driving forward from the midfield to the edge of the area and firing a fraction over the bar.
The Crows then decided a change was required, Gonnella going off and new signing, Boamah, a 19 year old striker, replacing him on the wing, not his usual position but one he did his best to fulfil for the remainder of the game.
Then on 80 minutes Baitup was not able to carry on after a challenge and Rich was called into action from the bench, little did he know at the time how vital he was to prove.
With the home side becoming more desperate for an equaliser, Yucetan and Collus were substituted by Kendall and Airth in the 83rd minute and it was Airth who was brought down by Tear in the penalty area in the 88th minute, giving Carr the chance to make the score 1-1 from the penalty spot.
The Crows didn't complain about the penalty being awarded, it seemed the correct decision by the referee from a distance and the reaction by the home side was that they felt they could now go on and win the game, especially when the referee let it be known that there was going to be a minimum of 6 minutes of stoppage time.
However, the Crows didn't let their heads drop and started to get hold of the ball more as the stoppage time drifted on, eventually Biddlecombe picked the ball up on the edge of the home side's area and fed Rich who took the ball towards goal before calmly slotting it into the far corner for a 2-1 lead to the Crows in the 90+6 minute, whilst the away fans were grateful it fell to his left foot rather than his right as they celebrated.
Eventually, in the 90+8 minute, referee Stacchini brought the game to an end and the Crows had taken all three points, a draw would have probably been a fair result but the Crows have lost games after deserving more so perhaps it was their turn to have some fortune for a change this season.
It has to be said, match referee Alexis Stacchini had a very good game, especially as one of his assistants felt ill in the pre-match warm up and a replacement had to be found by the home side, this led to a young 16 year old lad taking the flag over and he performed admirably throughout the 90+ minutes.
In conclusion, it was nice to get an away win and Rich proved to suit the match to a tee whilst the home side probably felt that the Crows took the biscuit by winning the game so late. However, it moved the Crows from fourteenth to eighth in the table and they can look forward to their next game at home on Saturday to Fisher, hoping that another three points come their way.
Using the on-line Twitter votes and the views of spectators who don't usevTwitter, Dan Tear was voted the Crows Man of the Match, closely followed by John Sinclair, Tom Boddy and Charlie Baitup, well done Dan, great performance which helped us get the points.