Cup Euphoria, but Keep an Eye on The League!

For the fourth time in six seasons Mark Goldberg had led a Bromley team to the first round of the FA Cup and when you consider that prior to this we'd only made it twice in 30years it shows what a great achievement it is.
Plans are being made and booked up for the trip to League Two Fleetwood Town, but we will travel hope rather than expectation given how good the opposition are and the fact that Moses Swaibu will be out suspended follwoing his red card against Worcester.  A generous benefactor has subsidised the coach travel bringing it down to £20 which should help boost the numbers travelling.
Prior to this though we have two home league games and with us only out of the relegation zone by virtue of goal difference things can't be allowed to slip on this front. There are a few too many similiarities to last season when we suffered a massive cup hangover and then subsequent relegation battle.
Two former players who were with us last season are rumoured to be on their way back, neither of whom I can see will improve the squad and both have not exactly had a stabilizing influence before, I just MG knows what he is doing. I have an awful sense of deja vu and it put s a real dampner onwhat should be a massive FA Cup buzz right now.
Let's hope we can pick up points from the games at home to Salisbury & Maidenhead before our big day out on the Lancashire Coast on 3rd November with the pressure off.  
 

Proud to be A Raven.

Last Saturday saw one of the best Bromley performances I have been fortunate enough to see in the 35years I have supported the club. It was a professional and committed away performance against a very strong side and secured us a vital pot of cash from the FA Cup funds as we progressed to the fourth qualifying round. The players and management were a credit to the club and the fans certainly played their part too in earning us a home draw against Conference North Worcester City with the 2-1 victory at Dover.

It was great to see what was nearly our strongest possible line up take the field, even if some were taking a risk, and we stil have Albert Jarrett & Ali Chaaban to come back.  

Before that game we take on Welling United at home this Saturday in the league, with a big crowd expected for ‘Non League Day’ given that there is no Premier League or Championship football and it’s a local derby. The club have also launched a scheme whereby fans can gain entry for £6 before 2pm and they are also promoting the Kick it Out Campaign, hard to imagine Welling taking part in that a few years ago! Let’s hope all connected with Bromley FC are richly rewarded for these fine initiatives and can keep the impressive unbeaten run going.          

Walking Wounded Travel to Dover

After two solid performances against Havant & Basingstoke saw us pick up two more points in the league we are left facing the FA Cup trip to Dover with a threadbare squad thanks to even more injuries. The injury lists now reads Welch, Patterson, Dubois, Chaaban, Pacquette, Fuseini and Jarrett six quality players unable to play in the biggest game of the season so far.

Three at the back may be an option MG has to explore given what players he has available to him, personally I’d go with Howard, Sobers, Harwood, Swaibu, Ming, Finn, Waldren, Jones, Rhule, Buchanan, Malcolm.    

Academy kids have already been prepped to expect a call up for the bench and if by some miracle we manage to get a replay from our trip to the Kent Coast there’ll be some notes out to parents for Tuesday night.    

Let’s hope we can get a few more players back before next weeks game at home to Welling with Liam Harwood facing suspension after his early red card against Havant.  

Injury Time

A single goal with our only attempt on target gave us a much needed win in the FA Cup at Sutton last Saturday. Pierre Joseph Dubois 5^th goal in four games set up a third qualifying round match at Dover, pretty much the toughest match we could have got at this stage. Ahead of that we have two league games at home to Havant & Waterlooville, who have just sacked their manager, on Saturday and a trip to Basingstoke on Tuesday. Tough games at any time but increasingly more so given the amount of players who are currently injured with Ali Chaaban (ribs) and Albert Jarrett (knee) joining the list last Saturday.

Current form is good though, MG has us playing well and things seem to have clicked, our defence marshalled by Moses Swaibu looks solid and if we can take more of the chances we create at the other end then hopefully we can maintain our tenth place and give Dover a decent game next week.  

Cup Fever!

A win over life threatened Truro City saw us edge up to tenth in the table, which I think is about where this team should finish the season if it does itself justice. The only downside from the game being injury to Ali Fuseini following an appalling challenge just before half time, that and the fact we may lose the three points if The White Tigers do go bust. It looks at the time of writing that he and Richard Pacquette may be injury doubts ahead of the FA Cup game at Sutton Utd on Saturday, but hopefully the squad has enough depth of talent to cover this.

The significance of the FA Cup is massive as it is every season, success gives the club a much needed financial boost and heightens the interest of the local area in BFC, whereas an early exit can herald budget cuts and disillusion among the faithful. In the three spells MG has been in charge we have reached the FA Cup First Round three times, taking over 1,500 to Gillingham and Orient while almost selling Hayes Lane out for Colchester, but awe have lso experienced knock outs at the first time of asking. Back in September 2009 the home defeat to Hornchurch virtually killed our season off and saw several players leave in the following few weeks, we simply can’t afford to do that again if we want to avoid another relegation battle this season. No pressure then lads!

I guess the smart money would be on a replay given that it is a derby match and we are in the same division, but it would be lovely to get the job done on Saturday and make progress. Early meets are planned, so at least the fans should be in good voice.   

            

Momentum

After a much needed win over Hornchurch we continued the good work with an impressive 1-0 win over Bath City at Hayes Lane, which leaves us unbeaten at home in the league after four games, a vast improvement on last season. Now it’s time to address the away form as we are yet to pick up a point on our travels so far this season and we have an opportunity to do so on Saturday at Truro City who are facing much bigger problems. 

I'm just pleased that for my friends who are making the trip on Saturday that there is a game to go to after it was in some doubt given the home teams perilous financial state it looked like the tickets and accomodation purchased in advance could be wasted. Fortunately it is game on with the White Tigers still alive for now.   

After the trip to Cornwall we then head off into Surrey for the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round to play Sutton Utd, it’s always disappointing to be drawn against a team from your own league, but at least when it’s a traditional rival then it adds a little spice to the occasion. It was another tough draw, as was Welling last season, I’d certainly be glad to take them back t Hayes Lane.   

Former Newport County striker Elliott Buchanan joined us prior to the Bath game with popular target man Hakeem Araba being released after losing his way following a summer of interest from higher placed clubs which came to nothing. Also leaving last week was Nic McDonnell whose second attempt at a comeback ended after a brief substitute appearance on the opening day of the season. Unable to recapture the magic which saw him dubbed McMessiah during his first spell with The Ravens he is now back off to run his own business in Thailand. If Buchanan can win the popularity of the fans like Nic & Hak did previously he will have done well as they are tough acts to follow.           

A Much Needed Win

A vital and long overdue first win lifted the gloom over Hayes Lane with a 4-0 defeat of an awful Hornchurch side who will struggle all season on this evidence. For once the slick passing football had an end product and once we took a 3-0 lead inside the first quarter of the game it was over as a competition. Fan unrest had began to bubble over after the previous defeat at Farnborough as we lost 2-0 to a side no better than us and once again failed to take our chances. Questions were being asked all round about the team and management prior to Hornchurch, it will now be interesting to see if the win proves to be something we can launch our season on or just another false dawn for The Ravens. Most people I spoke to would take a point from the Bath game this Saturday and then just hope that there is still a Truro City to play by the time we are due to travel there on 15^th September after The White Tigers went into administration this week with the players turning out unpaid. A timely reminder that things could be a lot worse I guess.