Injuries before and during take their toll.
Before the match everyone knew this was going to be a tough and competitive match and most people would've taken a point before kick off, especially as our normal front pairing of Attwood and Treleaven were missing, Attwood through suspension and Treleaven through injury. Therefore, a rejig of the team and squad was required so Carrington was put upfront to join Pearson in the starting eleven.
In truth, whilst the match appeared to be an exciting encounter on paper, the reality in the end was that it never really lived up to most people's expectation and was more of a game of nutrition for those watching. That situation wasn't helped by a rather bizarre refereeing performance which did neither team any favours throughout as he was always 30 yards away from any incident and didn't seemed to like giving free kicks for anything or having any control of the game.
The Crows cause wasn't helped either by losing Carrington in the 26th minute to a head injury sustained in an aerial challenge with a Town defender, Unwin replacing him and later on, as the half time break was approaching, Turner suffered a head injury in an aerial challenge with a Town forward. He didn't emerge for the second half, Pring coming on as his replacement. In both cases no free kick was awarded and play was not stopped immediately by the referee.
The most notable events of the first half were a few shots from either side, most went high or wide but the Crows keeper, Shaw, was the busier of the two, having to make a couple of good saves when the Town forwards got efforts on target. There were, rather surprisingly considering the performance of the referee, two yellow cards for Town players, Morrish for a tackle and Cloke for Kicking the ball away it seemed.
The Crows started the second period better and Eason had to make a smart save down by his left hand post from a shot by Pearson which resulted in a corner. Barton then suffered a facial injury that left him with a bloody mouth after a challenge with a Town forward. Walder and Phipp had further efforts at goal but gradually the home side gained the upper hand and started to put the Crows under pressure.
In the 55th minute Shaw had to make two great saves in succession from close range efforts from the home side before Phipp made Eason make a save in the 63rd minute. Then Smith became the third Town player to receive a yellow card for a late challenge on Walder in the 74th minute.
With the home side looking more and more threatening, both sides made substitutions in the 83rd minute, Williams off and Freeman on for Town, the injured Pearson going off to be replaced by new signing Macfoy-Johnston for the Crows. Whether these substitutions had anything to do with Town taking the lead or not would be speculation, however, in the 84th minute the Crows gave the ball away too easily and this allowed Morrish to shot from the edge of the area and the ball nestled in to the corner of the Crows net for 1-0.
There was still time for the referee to give a yellow card to debutant Macfoy-Johnston but one goal always appeared to be enough and the game ended 1-0 to the homeside without any further action of note apart from Muggeridge being sent from the dugout by the referee for something he was supposed to have said to him.
In the end the home side deserved to win as they were physically stronger and more competitive than the Crows in the key areas, namely in the midfield and defensive positions. Shaw was the busier of the two stoppers and was quite rightly awarded the Crows Man of the Match.
Now the Crows need to get back on track and what a better game to have than a local derby against Tunbridge Wells FC on Saturday 30th December to do just that.