Top Again!

As we head towards the end of November remarkably Bromley once again find themselves at the top of the table and unbeaten at home in the league. Saturday saw us bounce back from a heavy FA Trophy defeat at Ebbsfleet with a solid 2-0 win over Havant & Waterlooville thanks to two goals early in the second half. Ashley Nicholls capping a man of the match display with the second goal having put in an assist for the first, coolly taken by PJD. We were rarely troubled by a decent Havant side, which speaks volumes for the way Mark Goldberg & Co. have us playing at the moment.

As well as the Conference South campaign going well we also find ourselves in the Semi Finals of the Kent Senior Cup after Hythe Town pulled out of last Monday’s scheduled game that afternoon due to an injury crisis at the Kent Coast Club. I don’t think I ever remember this happening before!       

Due to our early FA Trophy exit we have another blank Saturday this week, but next up at Hayes Lane on Tuesday 3 December are London Bari from the Essex Senior League as we begin the defence of the London Senior Cup. Bari who groundshare with Clapton FC have been in senior football for the last three season having previously competed in the Asian Leagues. This is the first meeting between the two sides and should be a decent game before we get back to league action against Farnborough the following weekend.   

 The early exits from both FA competitions may well restrict what the club can spend on strengthening the team as the season goes on, but right now we have a group of players who look united and playing very well. The home performances deserve to command  more than the 425 who came to the game on Saturday.

Shamir Mullings has returned to the club after a month at Cray Wands with Steve Smith the latest Bromley man to lend a hand at our tenants. Smith who has rarely put a foot wrong when selected will hopefully benefit from regular football and still get a chance to establish himself at Bromley.    

Great Response

After the disappointment of the FA Cup defeat and it’s financial ramifications plus the following defeat at Sutton, the players have come back with the perfect response with nine points from three games and plenty of quality goals too. We currently sit top of the table clear by a point from Eastleigh, although Stortford could over take us if they win their games in hand, it’s still a great position to be in at this time of year.

The win at Maidenhead was all about attrition while the victory over Dorchester showed a ruthless side against strugglers we’ve lacked in previous seasons. The 5-0 trouncing of Chelmsford was the most satisfying given the history between the two clubs and their attitude in previous campaigns. It shows what can happen to a team when the money runs out, their home gates have halved in a few months and there was a startling lack of belief among the players despite the best efforts of their impressive travelling support.

After a week off due to FA Cup fixtures, next up we travel to Ebbsfleet Utd in the FA Trophy, probably the toughest draw we could have got at this stage of the competition, The Fleet are a very strong well funded side and I’d take a replay right now. Although some might say we could do without the distraction of cups at the moment, we could do with some prize money to boost the coffers for the season.                  

The following Monday we host Hythe Town in the Kent Senior Cup, a repeat of the 19992 final, what side we put out in that one will probably de dictated by the result on Saturday.  

Cutting the Cloth

After the inglorious FA Cup exit to Heybridge Swifts the inevitable budget cuts kicked in this week. Lewis Carey & Jacob Erskine were released while Warren McBean left for Canvey Island.  MG told the press he would have to trim things down following the defeat and so it has proved to be.
For those who are left Saturdays game at Sutton will be a massive test, win or draw and they will have gone some way to proving their worth to the owners who will someway have to find the funds to keep the team together without the cup income, lose and I think one or two more will be left go.
The game sees second play third in a local derby that always has a little extra spice. Add the fact that former Bromley captain  Ali Fuseini now ply’s his trade there, it should be interesting!
I came in for some criticism from some long term fans for my comments on facebook about the cup exit, but I stick by them. The approach of the players to both cup games was far from right and after getting away with it against Burgess Hill we came unstuck two weeks later.
While those who work behind the scenes looked totally shell shocked by the loss and the implications of the lack of income from a cup run it didn’t seem to have enough impact on the ones who could most effect the result. Although it does now of course as two of the starting line up are no longer with the club.      
Let's hope that the guys still with us seize the opportunity to keep us up in the frame and get one over an old foe.          

Keep The Eyes on The Prize.

After just about doing enough to get through in the FA Cup beating Burgess Hill 1-0, we then put out an mixture of first team and academy players in the Kent Senior Cup against Cray Wands and edged our tenants out 3-2 with an injury time winner from 17 year old Tom O’Connor. This was the managerial debut of Cray’s new men in charge Keith Bird & Micky Paye who previously ran Bromley’s Reserve side. Among the eight debutants in the Wands side were the familiar faces of Carlos Talbot & Helge Orome, both of whom played for Bromley in the final of the London Senior Cup last season.

Mark Goldberg took a risk not fielding any of the regular back four and filling the bench with teenagers against a highly motivated team looking to impress their new managers, but it all worked out in the end with some of the Academy players putting in solid performances and Jacob Erskine getting off the mark in his latest spell with the club following his release from Whitehawk. With Warren McBean out of the country and Jay May injured Erskine has the chance to push Shamir Mullings for the target man spot next to Bradley Goldberg.

On Saturday we travel to Boreham Wood who are always a tough prospect and we’ll have to raise our game again to get anything out of this and keep up near the top of the table. Let’s hope the lethargy we showed against Burgess Hill was a one off. The FA Cup draw has been kind to us again with a home tie V Heybridge Swifts of Ryman Division One North, but if we are complacent again the season could have a very different complexion in a few weeks.         

There is a strong character and team ethic at the club right now and it needs to come to the fore for the good times to keep rolling.          

Keep on Rocking!

After an impressive 3-0 win over Staines we then won two more league games both 3-2 and both coming back from 1-0 down. An experiment in changing formation caused us a few problems at Concord Rangers, but after trailing MG identified the error and in the second half with the old shape restored we were too hot to handle for the newly promoted Essex Seasiders. Then came Basingstoke at home and another impressive attacking display with Bradley Goldberg in spectacular form and Shamir Mullings making the most of an injury to Jay May and putting in a shift as the target man. The latest fine run leaves us in second place and already on 21points which is a great foundation to have ahead of the cup campaigns that tend to dominate the Autumn.

Next up Burgess Hill Town of Ryman League Division One South visit Hayes Lane in the FA Cup 2^nd Qualifying Round on Saturday before we ‘travel’ to tenants Cray Wanderers next Tuesday in the Kent Senior Cup. If we can avoid complacency against Burgess Hill and play to our potential then we should seize the opportunity to bring in the extra money available from the FA for a cup run to keep things going and also give a few fringe players some game time against Cray who are having a very tough season so far.

The vibe at Hayes Lane is very positive right now and a credit to all involved at the club.

Long may it continue…          

Big Test on Saturday

After defeat at Eastleigh saw us slip from the top of the table we now host Staines Town at Hayes Lane on Saturday in what will be another marker as to how much we have improved this season. Having drawn our last three meetings at home to The Swans, Marcus Gayle’s side are bound to be a tough prospect again, with former Bromley striker Louie Theophanous now back at the club we signed him from for a hefty fee last winter.     

On Saturday we took a bit of a battering in the first half from a very decent Eastleigh side before rallying and almost claiming a point in the second half. If we can take the positivity from the later half of the game into Saturday then we have to stand half a chance of finally claiming a home win over Ali G’s hometown. So far we have managed to win games this season that we wouldn’t have done last term, so let’s hope that trend continues.  

Then on Tuesday we travel to the Essex coast to play newly promoted Concord Rangers, a first for most Bromley fans. 

In the week MG brought in former Newport and Bristol Rovers winger Ben Swallow to add options to the squad. With Mike Jones loaned out to Canvey Island, Mark has already hinted he may be sending more fringe players out on dual registration to keep match fit.   

August ends with Bromley top!

August comes to an end with Bromley nicely placed top of the table winning four out of their opening five games and letting in just three goals. After the Bank Holiday defeat at Bishop Stortford, The Ravens fought back with a win at home to newly promoted Gosport Borough, although they certainly made hard work of it.

After the euphoria of crushing Tonbridge 5-1, we came up against Stortford who were a typical Rob Stringer side. Big, direct, hard working and organised. In the end we had no answer to break down the machine and were a little fortunate to keep it down to 1-0, not only did Lewis Carey save a penalty, but they hit the underside of the bar and Rob Swaine cleared one off the line. Although we did have a good 20minute spell just before half time, including a goal ruled out for offside.           

Saturday saw us start really well and at 2-0 we looked comfortable winners, but some complacency and a late penalty saw us running the ball into the corner and desperately running the clock down at the end.The two goals we did score though were testament to the powerful additions to the squad MG made in the summer with Rob Swaine, Ashley Nicholls and Steve Smith all involved. Mark chose to ring teh changes in midfield after the first defeat and Nicholls and Waldren earned their call ups with big performances.    

The next game sees us travel to one of the promotion favourites Eastleigh if we come back from Hampshire with even a point it will be a great result and keep us up there.

The more cynical Bromley fans have said that we haven’t played a good side yet, but we’ve won games that we would have lost last season and already got a quarter f the points tally needed for league safety. the team looks united and motivated so there are plenty of reasons to be happy at Hayes Lane right now.