Experience counted in the end, when it came to the players anyway.
Unusual for me to put statistics in my review, let alone start with them, however, on this occasion I feel it best to highlight the facts as I'm sure those who were not at the game and read the various match reports will get a totally distorted impression from what actually occurred.
Some will think this top of the table clash was some kind of a blood-bath due to the number of yellow cards issued and two players, both of them ours, were dismissed from the field of play, plus when you also find out that the home side had someone removed from the dug out for commenting about a decision, it would seem like very little football was played.
This would be a totally wrong impression, in fact whilst it was not quite as good as the match at the Community Stadium in October, it still had enough excitement and entertainment to keep both sets of supporters happy during what turned out to be a match lasting 116 minutes in total.
So, the basic facts are that we had eight free kicks awarded against us and fifteen awarded to us, we had twelve shots, they had seven, we had six corners, they had two. There were only five offsides in the game but the most odd fact from a game that only had one bad tackle in it, is that we witnessed two dismissals, Tom Boddy and Jack Walder, both two yellows, plus numerous bookings, Perry, Turner, Ellis and Carey for us and Davis and Saunders for Sheppey United.
Boddy's first yellow was a good decision, as was the yellow awarded to Dan Perry for the one late and bad tackle, which both teams accepted without any fuss. Walder's first yellow was odd as a free kick had already been awarded to us but the referee decided to give Jack a yellow card for a challenge which happened only a fraction of a second after the whistle and both players just got up and wanted to get on with the game. Davis was the only Sheppey player booked during the first half.
As for the football in the first half, the first 20 minutes was spent with both teams seemingly sussing each other out, the Crows creating the better chances and from one great piece of play Perry put us 1-0 up in the 39th minute with a shot from just inside the area.
The yellow cards issued in the first 45 minutes and the constant chats the referee decided to have with practically every player on the pitch seemed to disrupt the flow of both teams and the football was rather staccato at times and disjointed.
Little did we know that as everyone went in to the half time break with us 1-0 up that a storm was about to hit the second 45 minute period and there would be even more chats, more yellow cards, three dismissals and constant interruptions with both assistant referees getting involved at every opportunity.
The second half started even better for the Crows, Muggeridge putting us 2-0 up with a shot that beat the home goalkeeper down by his near post, the chance being created by an excellent ball from Walder and Henry's own neat footwork. Everything was looking rosy in our garden at this point and if anything it seemed that the Crows would be the next side to score again.
In the 55th minute the comfort zone the Crows appeared to be in was shattered somewhat when Boddy was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. There's no doubt that a foul was committed on the Sheppey player as he burst through a narrow gap between Boddy and Barton just outside the area but referee Childs who could not have been 100% certain who did make contact with him, decided very quickly that Boddy was the offending defender, despite protestations that Barton had fouled him, therefore, Boddy had to leave the field of play. Those protestations also led to Ellis getting a yellow card for voicing his opinion too strongly in the referee's mind.
Saunders of Sheppey United also saw yellow at the same time as he protested that all of this situation had taken too long to sort out and that all the players of both teams wanted to do was get on with the game, although this was not helped by Sheppey deciding to make a double substitution at this time, replacing defensive players with some of the more attacking persuasion.
The incident did raise the temperature of the game a little higher and in the 63rd minute the home side made their one player advantage tell as Ellis seemed to save well down by his near post but somehow the ball squirmed free and ended up in the net, whether it was an Ellis own goal or not I have no idea and as no announcement was made I can't be sure.
An unusual occurrence then happened, Attwood got a yellow card, not sure what for as it was awarded before he had even kicked off after the Sheppey goal but I'm sure the referee's report will clear any confusion up.
Even down to ten though it was the Crows who dominated the next 10 minutes, Perry, Attwood and Muggeridge all having chances to restore the Crows two-goal lead, then Crabb came on for Perry and in the 71st minute Attwood scored a great goal after being set up by Muggeridge with a neat through ball.
With the two goal advantage restored and down to ten men, it was still the Crows who looked more threatening and had the majority of the possession, creating the better chances with Carey and Muggeridge having good efforts which were either cleared, saved or went by the posts.
There had up to the 90th minute one melee which was quickly dealt with and as we entered the 91st minute, no one in the crowd of 320 would have dreamed that we would have a further 15 minutes to play, especially as our physiotherapist was the only physio to enter the field of play once in the whole game.
The home side had made three substitutions, we had made one, so allowing 30 seconds for each of those, the bookings and sending off of Tom Boddy, and his penchant for talking to players every time he awarded a free kick, most of us were expecting a further 5 minutes at best.
However, this is where referee Childs, who I was told is only 22, rather lost the plot it seemed and started to hand out yellow cards as if they were sweets to reward children who'd bothered to dress up and knock on doors for Halloween.
In the 97th minute he awarded the home side a penalty, Ellis seemingly bring down a Sheppey forward in the area, the decision seemed to be made by his assistant rather than himself, even though he appeared to be nearer to the incident. Carey was subsequently booked for a discussion with the assistant and eventually was taken but Ellis saved the penalty, only for the rebound to be stroked home by a Sheppey player to make it 3-2.
Queue a rush to be the first player to the ball in the back of the net, which resulted in another melee and as a result Turner got a yellow card, even though he wasn't the only player trying to retrieve the ball.
Once referee Childs had sorted this out his assistant drew his attention to the fact that the ball had been cleared out of the ground by a Crow player, this ended up with Walder getting his second yellow of the day and therefore, the Crows were down to nine men.
Still the game couldn't restart as the same assistant signalled that a person in the home dugout had either said or done something which needed him to deal with, signal another lengthy conversation and the person being removed to behind the barrier, not the right position but everyone just wanted to get the game going again.
In the 104th minute Carrington replaced Morley and eventually, in the 106th minute, Childs brought the game to the end and the Crows had the three points in the bag.
Neither side could be happy with the performance of the referee and both sets of players didn't help him at times, however, passions do run high sometimes in a top of the table game and perhaps an older and more experienced referee and assistants would have dealt with many of the minor incidents in a different way and early yellow cards could have been avoided.
Personally, I don't blame the referee, it was not his fault he was appointed to this fixture and I'm sure he did the best he could, however, with no other Premier Division game on the day, you would hope that the best available and most experienced officials would have been selected for this match.
The outcome is that we got the points, we are top of the table, we have games in hand and we have the squad to cope with the upcoming suspensions to be served by Boddy and Walder. We go into Wednesday's SCEFL Premier game away at Beckenham Town in good spirits and we'll also look forward to our home game in the FA Vase against Bedfont Sports this coming Saturday.