AFC Croydon Athletic
Crowborough Athletic
Full time
Z Attwood (13'), R Connolly (100')
CROWS REFUSE TO BE BURIED AT MAYFIELD ROAD.
By Malcolm Boyes
A hard fought three points were secured against AFC Croydon Athletic on Tuesday night.
A Walder masterclass.
One thing you know when you play AFC Croydon Athletic is that you'll have to battle from the first to the last, although none of us thought that the final whistle wouldn't sound until 116 of those minutes had ticked by, more about that later. They are always a team of big players, like to play the ball forward as quick as they can and will compete and appeal for everything, as well as berating the referee and disputing every decision that doesn't go their way, something that seems to be all to prevalent in football these days at all levels.
That's not to say our players don't do it, they do, however, there are degrees of berating that referees will accept, wrongly in my personal opinion, some clubs take it too far, some don't but the only way it will stop is when the referee takes some action, unfortunately, the referee in charge of this game had his "very lenient" hat on and let a lot of things go.
A bonus for the Crows was the return of captain Jack Walder from suspension for this game and he turned in a true masterclass performance from start to finish, controlling the midfield throughout, breaking forward when possible and protecting the defence whenever needed.
Other sterling performances came from Dan Tear, Jack Turner and James White who, aided by Walder, protected Dan Ellis to such a degree that he really only had crosses to deal with, something he did very well, commanding the penalty area and giving confidence to those in front of him.
The match itself was played along the lines of a long ball game for much of the time, the pitch although looking nice from a distance and having plenty of grass on it, was not going to be conducive to free flowing football with quick passing as the grass was on the long side. Something that will please groundsman at this time of the season as they look to preserve it for when winter comes but doesn't fill many footballers with glee.
The first 10 minutes were typical of most games week in, week out, plenty of effort and commitment, if a bit short on quality and the match didn't really get going until the 13th minute when the Crows took the lead, a battling run by Connolly into the AFC area ended up with the ball coming off their 'keeper and falling at the feet of Attwood who took his time to slot he ball home to the delight of everyone supporting CAFC.
For the remaining period up to half-time it was mainly the Crows going forward, having greater possession and creating the odd chance and when eventually getting an effort on target they found Burnett in the home goal on top form.
The home side's danger-man, Nahum Green, who has scored all of their five goals so far, hardly had a kick in this game because Tear marshalled and competed with him so well throughout the match. Tear was also involved in a strong but fair challenge between two players when he and Penson, the home side's left-back competed for a ball near the centre-line, this resulted in Penson seemingly hurting his head which may have resulted in the events whiched developed in the second-half causing the long delay.
The second half started well for the Crows and Burnett made two good saves and his defenders clearing a ball off the line as Connolly and Attwood fired shots goalwards. The game was a bit tetchy throughout and the first yellow card of the evening in the 47th minute, rather surprisingly, went to Attwood for having a disagreement with an AFC player it seemed to me. The referee then evened it up by booking Kaffo in the 52nd minute for a tackle.
Various substitutions were made by both sides as the half wore on, Carrington replacing Danny Ellis in the 67th minute and then Oloyede saw a yellow card before being replaced by Rayner for AFC in the 74th minute. Three minutes later Guildford replaced Walker for the home side.
In the 80th minute Penson seemed to collapse to the ground and the physio was on the pitch very quickly. Apparently, he couldn't see or speak initially and had to be put on a stretcher whilst a paramedic and an ambulance were called. This resulted in around a 16 minute delay before play could restart with Penson being replaced by Teberen.
Four minutes after the restart the Crows made it 2-0, Attwood taking the ball off Higgins in his own area before sliding the ball sidewards for Connolly to tap home. It then became a match of attack against defence as the Crows went forward more and more.
Before the end Connolly went off with Pearson coming on and the Crows saw out the game for a 2-0 win, much to the delight of the travelling faithful. The Man of the Match for the Crows went to Jack Walder, with Tear, Turner and White running him very close.
Assist
Reece Connolly
Assist
Zac Attwood
Star Player
Jack WalderKey moments
13:00
Goal
Zac Attwood scores for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +10:00
Goal
Reece Connolly scores for Crowborough Athletic
Highlights
View 0 new events
90:00 +26:00
Star Player
Jack Walder is awarded star player for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +24:00
Saved Shot
Tom Phipp has a shot saved for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +19:00
Saved Shot
Edison Teberen has a shot saved for AFC Croydon Athletic
90:00 +18:00
Missed Shot
Tom Pearson misses a shot for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +18:00
Missed Shot
Tom Pearson misses a shot for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +16:00
Sub On
Tom Pearson is substituted on for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +16:00
Sub Off
Reece Connolly is substituted off for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +15:00
Missed Shot
Tom Phipp misses a shot for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +14:00
Saved Shot
Zac Attwood has a shot saved for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +10:00
Assist
Zac Attwood makes an assist for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +10:00
Goal
0 - 2
Reece Connolly scores for Crowborough Athletic
90:00 +9:00
Sub Off
Tom Penson is substituted off for AFC Croydon Athletic
90:00 +9:00
Sub On
Edison Teberen is substituted on for AFC Croydon Athletic
77:00
Sub Off
Andy Walker is substituted off for AFC Croydon Athletic
77:00
Sub On
Jack Guildford is substituted on for AFC Croydon Athletic
74:00
Sub On
Ben Rayner is substituted on for AFC Croydon Athletic
74:00
Sub Off
Emanuel Oloyede is substituted off for AFC Croydon Athletic
72:00
Yellow Card
Emanuel Oloyede is yellow carded for AFC Croydon Athletic
67:00
Sub On
Sam Carrington is substituted on for Crowborough Athletic
67:00
Sub Off
Danny Ellis is substituted off for Crowborough Athletic
62:00
Missed Shot
Sam Crabb misses a shot for Crowborough Athletic
54:00
Blocked Shot
Nahum Green has a shot blocked for AFC Croydon Athletic
54:00
Saved Shot
Nahum Green has a shot saved for AFC Croydon Athletic
52:00
Yellow Card
Junior Kaffo is yellow carded for AFC Croydon Athletic
47:00
Yellow Card
Zac Attwood is yellow carded for Crowborough Athletic
46:00
Saved Shot
Reece Connolly has a shot saved for Crowborough Athletic
46:00
Saved Shot
Zac Attwood has a shot saved for Crowborough Athletic
46:00
Blocked Shot
Reece Connolly has a shot blocked for Crowborough Athletic
End of period 1
44:00
Missed Shot
Jack Higgins misses a shot for AFC Croydon Athletic
42:00
Saved Shot
Emanuel Oloyede has a shot saved for AFC Croydon Athletic
29:00
Missed Shot
Nahum Green misses a shot for AFC Croydon Athletic
23:00
Saved Shot
Zac Attwood has a shot saved for Crowborough Athletic
13:00
Assist
Reece Connolly makes an assist for Crowborough Athletic
13:00
Goal
0 - 1
Zac Attwood scores for Crowborough Athletic
2:00
Saved Shot
Jack Higgins has a shot saved for AFC Croydon Athletic
Start of the game
Replay game
As it happened
- AFC Croydon Athletic
- Crowborough Athletic
- 0
-
Reece Connolly Assist 13:00'
-
Zac Attwood Goal 13:00'
-
Zac Attwood Yellow Card 47:00'
-
Junior Kaffo Yellow Card 52:00'
-
Danny Ellis Sub Off 67:00'
-
Sam Carrington Sub On 67:00'
-
Emanuel Oloyede Yellow Card 72:00'
-
Emanuel Oloyede Sub Off 74:00'
-
Ben Rayner Sub On 74:00'
-
Andy Walker Sub Off 77:00'
-
Jack Guildford Sub On 77:00'
-
Tom Penson Sub Off 90:00 +9:00'
-
Edison Teberen Sub On 90:00 +9:00'
-
Zac Attwood Assist 90:00 +10:00'
-
Reece Connolly Goal 90:00 +10:00'
-
Reece Connolly Sub Off 90:00 +16:00'
-
Tom Pearson Sub On 90:00 +16:00'
Team selection
- AFC Croydon Athletic
- Crowborough Athletic
Ellis, Daniel
White, James
Turner, Jack
Tear, Dan
Muggeridge, Henry
Crabb, Sam
Ellis, Danny
Walder, Jack
Phipp, Tom
Attwood, Zac
Connolly, Reece
Crowborough Athletic
AFC Croydon Athletic
League round up
Other Premier Division results
Comments
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League table
| # | Team | Pl | Pts |
| 1. | Sevenoaks Town | 38 | 88 |
| 2. | Whitstable Town | 38 | 82 |
| 3. | Crowborough Athletic | 38 | 72 |
| 4. | Beckenham Town | 38 | 69 |
| 5. | Croydon | 39 | 65 |
| 6. | Cray Valley PM | 38 | 63 |
| 7. | Deal Town | 38 | 60 |
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