Keen to avenge the 6-1 defeat earlier in the season.
It's not unusual when a team suffers a heavy defeat against another team that they try to avenge that defeat next time they play each other and even if they don't win the return game, they make sure they don't lose by such a large margin.
A case in point was the game against the visitors, Deal Town, to the Community Stadium for our latest SCEFL fixture. Whereas in truth our 6-1 away win against them was a pretty one-sided affair from start to finish earlier in the campaign, this encounter was the complete opposite.
The Hoops came with a game plan and they stuck to it throughout the match being energetic all over the park, resolute in defence, competitive in the midfield area and not wanting to create much in the attacking third at all.
The Crows did play some sparkling football in the win at the Charles Ground and the Hoops did seem to capitulate rather easily, something that was not going to happen in this fixture and which was very evident from the kick off.
Our players were denied any space, no time on the ball and therefore, the game was somewhat bereft of any real quality and became a game of nutrition as the ball spent an endless amount of time in the air and was belted from the Hoops area at every opportunity and as far as it could go.
As a consequence our play went the same way and the balls from our back three to the forwards were normally dealt with quite comfortably by the Deal Town defenders, rather playing in to their hands in all honesty.
In our last three matches we really have seen the full spectrum of how teams will play against us for the rest of the season, especially when they visit the Community Stadium. Whitstable Town chose to be the pantomime villain and upset everyone involved with their style of physical play.
Away at Beckenham Town on Wednesday night it was just a beautiful game to watch, both teams wanting to get the ball down and weave intricate patterns over the pitch in an effort to secure the points.
The match against Deal fell between the two previous games, sometimes the challenges and tackles put in by the Hoops got near the Oysterboys tactics but only to the point of pushing the Laws of Football to the limit the referee, Kirsty Dowle, would allow. They definitely put in as much effort as Beckenham Town did on Wednesday but without the quality they had in their side and without anywhere near as much attacking intent.
As for us, we tried to play our natural game but the spark just didn't seem to be there and after all, you can't play well in every game. The players definitely put the effort in however, may be the effort they put in on Wednesday night to secure the points at Eden Park Avenue took more out of the tank than perhaps people felt.
It may only be a coincidence that our best performance of the three was an away game and this could be down to the home team having some responsibility to try and win the game whereas when teams visit us, they set themselves up not to lose, thus making it a lot harder for us, something we'll have to get used to for the remainder of the season.
It may also have something to do with the fact that this match was our 49th competitive fixture of the season and many of the players have played in the vast majority of those games but that's what having good cup runs is all about and by reaching quarter and semi-final stages in cups will mean a greater number of fixtures than other sides.
As for this match, the first half was largely forgettable with very few chances being created, those that were fell exclusively to the Crows and perhaps had the Crows scored an early goal the match might have been totally different, however, we didn't and it all became a bit of a damp squib.
Perry had an opportunity as early as the first minute but he was not able to get the ball under control when well placed inside the 6 yard box and the chance went begging. The next really good chance came in the 33rd minute when a Carey corner led to the Crows having four efforts at putting the ball in the net but all were either saved or blocked and cleared to safety.
A minute later Carrington was set free and as he reached the area and Tomkins was closing the angle down, he decided to try and chip the 'keeper with his left but the effort went went of the upright for a goal kick.
The second half carried on in much the same way, too many long, high balls and perpetual free kicks being awarded thus breaking up what little rhythm there was in the match. That changed slightly when a rare maurauding run by the Deal centre-half, Smith, was stopped inside the Crows area by Turner, earning him a yellow card and the visitors a penalty which Adams coolly slotted home for a 1-0 lead.
This set back seemed to have the effect of galvanishing the Crows to up their levels and in the 58th minute Carrington had a great chance to equalise but his header at the back post from three yards out following a Carey free kick went the wrong side of the post.
However, only 2 minutes later he made amends, drilling the ball home high in to the net from 12 yards out after being set up by Muggeridge with a delightful pass, 1-1 and most people thought the Crows would go on and win the game in the end.
With the Crows getting on top, Deal started to use their substitutes which had the effect of giving them a bit more energy and breaking up any momentum that the Crows were trying to get going. In the end Crows made some changes of their own, Perry and Carrington going off in the 79th minute to be replaced by Pearson and Unwin.
In the end the game rather fizzled out and just before the final whistle Attwood received a yellow card for a tackle the referee decided warranted one. With the players leaving the pitch and the general feeling that two points had been dropped some good news arrived from Bearsted that they had beaten our rivals, Ashford United, 1-0 at home and two of their players were dismissed.
So in the cold light of day, a point was not so bad and we're now level on points, with a game in hand on the Nuts & Bolts, as we join them at the top of the table.