A Ridley stunner calms the nerves.
Our hosts may be bottom of the league and odds-on certainties for relegation from the SCEFL, however, they are not giving up the fight that easily and proved to be a tough nut to crack for an even more youthful Crows side than normal.
The Crows starting line up included Nick Collick in goal, following his return to the club from AFC Uckfield Town recently and James Spear up front following his hat-trick the week before for the reserves at home to Farnham Town. Named on the bench were new signings Gianfranco Mici, who was with us a couple of years ago playing in our successful U18 squad managed then by first team manager, Sean Muggeridge, and Abraham Bably, who has been out of the game recently due to injury.
When you play a side at the bottom of the table you're expected to win, all the pressure is on you, they have nothing to lose, however, Holmesdale are no St. Francis Rangers from the SCFL, and are not that far away from being a side that should be higher up the league than they currently are.
They were definitely up for the challenge and were resolute in defence, competitive in midfield, even if at times their tackling was a bit on the aggressive side but if they do have a weakness, it may be up front where any chances they created were few and far between.
Having said that, they did have a couple of good chances, which if they were a bit sharper and more clinical in front of goal, could have made it a very hard afternoon for the Crows and may be the final result may have looked a bit different.
The Crows largely dominated the possession throughout and spent most of the time trying to penetrate the Holmesdale rearguard, most of their team played rather deep over the 90 minutes, and this led to the game being messy, nervy and disjointed at times.
The match itself, and both teams, were not helped either by the match referee, Piotre Zachwieja, seemingly not seeing some things but seeing others, allowing some challenges to go unpunished when they should have been and wanting to talk to players rather than take any action.
As in most games of football the first goal is always important, no more so than when you are playing the bottom side and are coming off the back of a heavy home defeat yourself, and this may have also contributed to a first half that lacked quality at times, although there were a few chances for both sides.
The Crows really should have gone 1-0 up as early as the 19th minute, Clarke having his effort saved by Rankin in the home goal but he really should have tucked the ball away from 10 yards out, as should've Tom Boddy some 8 minutes later, heading over from 6 yards out from a Clarke free kick and having a free header.
Carrington thought he had put the Crows in front in the 32nd minute when it appeared his effort had gone over the line after hitting the post before being saved by the 'keeper, however, referee and his assistant decided that it hadn't crossed the line, much to the disappointment of the Crows supporters and players alike.
Therefore, the half time whistle blew with the score at 0-0, Collick largely having been a spectator throughout the 45 minutes but what little he had to do, he did with efficiency and confidence and as the two sides walked off, perhaps Holmesdale were the happier of the two.
The second half carried on where the first half left off, the Crows doing most of the attacking, Sinclair had a couple of early efforts, one saved, the other high and wide before Collick had to make a great double save to keep the score at 0-0 in the 55th minute.
In the 60th minute Mici came on to make his senior debut, replacing Spear who had worked hard for the team throughout on his senior debut but was starting to tire from the effort he'd put in.
The deadlock was broken in the 62nd minute, Sinclair heading the ball forward to Ridley, who cut inside from his right-sided position he'd been playing during the game, and after running past defenders he curled a beautiful effort passed the impressive Rankin and into the net from 20 yards out, 1-0 to the delight of everyone associated with the away side.
The Crows now sniffed blood and went for the kill, both Mici and Ridley had good efforts blocked by despairing defenders as they fought hard to not go further behind but in the 77th minute the Crows were awarded a penalty and the chance was there to go 2-0 up, however, as Carrington drilled the ball down the centre of the goal, Rankin made a good save with his feet to keep the score at
1-0.
Shea replaced Clarke in the 79th minute in a like for like swap as the Crows went in search of that allusive second goal and the feel of having a comfort zone as the game entered the last 10 minutes plus stoppage time.
Akers, the Holmesdale captain, became the first yellow card of the day for a foul on Carrington in the 84th minute and only 2 minutes later, Carrington sets debutant Mici through for a one-on-one situation and he doesn't disappoint anyone as he lifts the ball over the diving Rankin and into the net for the Crow's second goal.
In the 88th minute, Mici, who was showing great control and quick feet since being on, was taken out by Akers who then received his second yellow card in 4 minutes and thus was shown a red card.
Carrington became the second yellow card of the day for a late tackle, whilst the tackle itself wasn't that bad, it may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for the referee and thus the card was flashed in front of his eyes.
In the closing minutes, Baitup went off with cramp and he was replaced by Rich as the Crows closed the game out for a good 2-0 win and now it's Deal Town at home on Tuesday night for the Crows.
To end with, out of the 28 people who officially attended this fixture, at least 18 of those that I know of, came to support the Crows and that support is much appreciated by everyone associated with Crowborough Athletic FC.