Crowborough Athletic 1 v 3 Tunbridge Wells

Monday 26th August 2019
Southern Counties East League Premier Division
Community Stadium, Crowborough
Admission : £8.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 301

   

Following my morning game at Jarvis Brook, I then made my way across the southeastern side of Crowborough - enjoying a refreshing pint in the very pleasant beer garden of the Wheatsheaf en route - to what was the Alderbrook, but is now known as the Crowborough Community Stadium following its redevelopment some years ago, for a local derby between two clubs separated by the Sussex/Kent county border and less than ten miles.

I was a fairly regular midweek visitor to the Alderbrook up until moving away from the area in 2014, and not much has changed since then - not that it needed to, it is a well appointed ground that is more than adequate for the club's needs in Step 5 football. The turnstile block is in one corner, with a gazebo erected just inside from where raffle tickets are sold. Behind the goal, a brick building  stretches virtually between corner flags, with overhang along the front to cover a few steps of terracing. Team line-ups are displayed on a whiteboard on the wall by the changing rooms entrance, a tea bar is located inside, with a window to the front. The Crow Arms is located in the corner, a small brick hut from where alcoholic drinks are sold. Along the length closest to the entrance there are three stands, the oldest of which is in the middle, these days all-seated and attractively decorated in blue and white club colours of blue and white, and either side are modern metallic stands, one all-seater, the other with steps to stand on. This length is closely lined by tall trees, which provided very welcome shade from the hot sun beating down today. Around the rest of the ground there is hard standing, closely lined by metal perimeter fencing, which separates the ground from the rest of the Alderbrook Recreation Ground. The 16 page programme remains well presented and a good read, with interesting reading material to digest inside.

After a couple of seasons knocking on the door of promotion to the Isthmian League, Crowborough finished in a respectable 13th place last season after losing a large number of the squad due to promised money from a backer drying up and the club having to cut its cloth accordingly. They have started this season with a win and two defeats from their opening three games, which included a 0-8 home defeat to Bearsted, and they also exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle. Tunbridge Wells have had some disappointing seasons recently after their famous FA Vase Final appearance in 2013, and have finished in the bottom half of the table in each of the last four seasons. A change of manager and some new players has seen a much improved start to this season, winning their first three league games and an FA Cup tie after a replay, before bowing out 2-1 to higher league opposition Haywards Heath Town at the Preliminary Round stage on Saturday.

On a very hot and sunny afternoon, with temperatures nudging around 30 degrees, Crowborough took the lead on 6 minutes when Kieron Scantlebury ran onto a ball forward, just about outpaced some defenders before lobbing the ball over the keeper and into the net - a very good, cool finish. The visitors would then see more of the ball, coming close to getting back on level terms on 20 minutes, when a Crowborough defender diverted the ball just over his own bar, and on 40 minutes when some twisting and turning in the box by Danny Powell left a defender on the floor and his eventual shot was well parried by the keeper, and the follow up shot by Jordan Wells was struck powerfully against the bar. But deep into added on time, the visitors did equalise, Jake Beecroft curling in a free kick from the left and the ball found its ways through a crowd of players, beyond the keeper's dive, and into the net. There was barely time to restart, and so the players headed in at half time with the scores level.

The turnaround was complete just a couple of minutes after the break, when Chris Lawal got on the end of a corner, striking the ball into the ground with it bouncing past the keeper and into the net to give the visitors the lead. And they opened up a two goal lead eight minutes later which they probably deserved, but it came in fortunate circumstances, the Crowborough keeper completely missing a back pass as he tried to kick the ball away first time, and the ball rolled goalwards, with Powell chasing the ball to tap it home from a couple of yards out. That did feel like the deciding goal, and so it proved, although both sides did have the odd chance to score again. And it so was Tunbridge Wells who sent their sizeable contingent of supporters back over the border to Kent happy, and their team ended the day top of the table with a 100% record, the only one remaining in the league.