Could have been even better though.
Having not been able to attend the corresponding fixture last season, I was looking forward to seeing the playing surface at Beckenham Town on Saturday, after hearing so much about it from those who have either played on it or seen it previously.
I have to say I was not disappointed, as it is an excellent piece of turf and probably the best looking pitch in the league, and I was seeing it for the first time whilst the weather of late has been quite foul and rather wet, therefore, full marks to their ground staff.
Having said all of that, on Saturday, plenty of players were finding it difficult to keep their feet throughout the 90 minutes, whether that was down to the pitch or the players not using the right studs in their boots, I can't say, my guess though is that the truth probably lies around the 50/50 mark, some of it was due to the pitch, some due to the choice of footwear.
Also, due to the light but consistent drizzle, the bounce of the ball was sometimes inconsistent in different areas of the pitch, it either bounced high or died a death, not easy for either team but overall, the pitch helped both sides serve up a good afternoons football entertainment.
After their 3-0 away defeat against Corinthian on Tuesday, the Crows were able to welcome back Callum Ridley, Wayne Clarke and Kevin Everest for this game, although Paul Butler was missing due to a recurring angle injury which flared up again during the match on Tuesday.
With Tear, Carrington, Jagger and Waterman still unavailable for selection, the bench had a rather youthful look about it, Matthews being the most experienced player on the bench, and he was joined by a couple of U21 squad players, 16 year old Louis Anderson and 17 year old James Petrie.
The start of the match was played at a hectic pace, both teams working hard to gain the upper hand and Becks really should have gone ahead as early as the 4th minute, Turner, the Becks captain, heading wide from 6 yards out when totally unmarked.
Becks started to get the upper hand as they were quicker to the ball than the Crows and once they had it, they passed the ball better and kept control of it better than the Crows did.
The home side opened the scoring in the 17th minute, the Crows gave the ball away too easily on the half way line, another poor, inaccurate pass and the Becks were able to set Turner free and whilst Faith got his hands to the ball, he couldn't prevent it looping in the air and going into the net for a 1-0 lead to the home side.
Further misfortune for the Crows happened in the 22nd minute, Sinclair hit a thunderous shot goal wards, however, less than two yards away stood our own Wayne Clarke, who took the ball full in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Eventually, with Clarke definitely looking the worse for wear, he left the field to be replaced by our normal left back, Matthews, who surprisingly, went straight to play in the same place as Clarke occupied, the space behind the lone striker, Biddlecombe, normally referred to as the "Number 10" role.
The rest of the half belonged to Beckenham, although they didn't really have any clear cut chances, Faith having to make only one save of note and really only had to deal with crosses from corners and free kicks, as he was superbly protected by Boddy and Everest at the heart of the Crows defence.
The second half saw the Crows outplay their hosts for long periods as their passing accuracy was a lot better, as was their retention of the ball and eventually, chances started to arrive but we're not able to be taken, despite good work by Shea and Man of the Match, Baitup, on either wing.
The home side had made a substitution at half time, Draper going off and Twist coming on and maybe they should have gone 2-0 up midway through the second half, Turner once again having a clear run at goal, however, he shot at the near post, rather than going across Faith, and the ball hit the side netting, much to the relief of all associated with the Crows.
With the Crows still dominating, Becks made a double substitution, McBean and Turner going off and O'Keefe and Warren coming on in the 66th minute. However, these changes only seemed to let the Crows dominate even more and eventually, in the 70th minute, the equaliser arrived, Shea doing some great work down the right before passing the ball to Biddlecombe inside the box, he turned his marker and drilled the ball into the far corner of the net for 1-1.
For the remainder of the game Faith was a virtual spectator, as the Crows poured forward in search of the winner, chances did arrive but the ball just always seemed to be a whisker away from a Crow player in front of the goal.
Shea, who had a very good game, was replaced by Petrie in the 87th minute as the Crows strived for the deciding goal but it was eventually to end up in a 1-1 draw, both camps feeling that a draw was probably a fair result, however, it could have been so much better for the Crows had they played the first half as well as they played in the second half.