Bromley Enjoying Journey Into Unknown

It has been a rollercoaster of a season for Bromley writes matchday announcer Matt Hall. Not to mention the excitement of having the Palace first team come down to play us at Hayes Lane back in August.

Other than that hefty defeat to the Eagles, the thrill (and not to mention commercial boost) of having a full strength Premier League side come down to play us was incredible. A healthy crowd turned out to watch the match as well, and despite the one sided half time scoreline, Bromley did themselves more justice in the second half, only conceding once and having some good chances of their own.

Following that game, and a good pre-season win at Sutton United, it was on to the serious stuff. Our debut season in the Vanarama National League, and what a game we had on our hands on the opening day. Wrexham.

That is pretty much as tough as they come at this level. Although we knew there would be healthy support for the Welsh side, we did have home advantage, and our own brilliant supporters played their part in a truly phenomenal day.

After going a goal down to Wes York’s flicked effort, Bromley responded within two minutes, as recently signed centre back Sean Francis smashed the ball home. Not long after and the hosts were ahead. Alex Wall finished off a wonderful flowing move after great work from Anthony Cook to give us the lead. To top it all off and really send us into delerium, Moses Emmanuel added a third just before half time with an angled across goal. Unbelievable scenes.

We managed to hold out in the second half and on numerous occasions, were close to adding more gloss to the scoreline, as the reds failed to threaten our resolute back line for the most part. That final result sent shockwaves up and down the league table.

A win against such a big side on the opening day really did propel us into dreamland, but it was not to last long, as we came crashing back down to earth with a 2-0 defeat at Woking just three days later. To top it off, we sustained two injuries to key players in the first half of the match.

Defeat at promotion hopefuls Grimsby Town wrapped up a tough week for our newly promoted side. Things were not about to get any easier either, after Braintree Town took their first three points of the season from Hayes Lane, coming out 2-1 winners, with Moses Emmanuel’s chipped finish not enough to take anything from the game.

Frustration ensued, as a two goal lead at bottom side Halifax Town at the end of ninety minutes was surrendered in six minutes of injury time, the game eventually finishing 2-2 thanks to a last gasp penalty from the hosts. However, things improved as Kent rivals Dover Athletic were the visitors to Bromley the following week.

Despite the game ending 1-1, in which Bradley Goldberg’s close range rebound from a saved penalty earned us a point three minutes from time, the level of performance was much better, and we were perhaps unlucky not to take all three points.

The next game would almost certainly be the toughest of all, a bank holiday Monday visit to league leaders Forest Green Rovers, who had not (and still have not) dropped a single point all season. Bromley fans feared the worst when the home side went ahead early on, but our rapid response unit was again on hand to level the scores up one minute later, thanks to Alex Wall’s superb looping header. However, a very controversial goal on the stroke of half time was enough to see the hosts through despite a second half rally from the Ravens, the score eventually ending up 2-1.

The following Saturday, it was back to home comforts for Bromley as high-flying Gateshead were the visitors. They had not lost an away match all season, having only lost once at home to Tranmere Rovers. However, that was about to change. With a little under twenty minutes to go and still goalless, Bromley had been the better side and perhaps should have been ahead.

Then, an inspired substitution from manager Mark Goldberg as Louis Dennis was brought on and Moses Emmanuel was shifted from the wing to a striking position. It completely changed the game. Straight away, an excellent through ball from Dennis found the run of Emmanuel, who delicately chipped over the advancing Sam Russell to put Bromley ahead. Could we hold on? Oh yes we could, and then some …

Ten minutes later we extended the lead, as Dennis chased down Matty Pattison’s poor clearance, surged at goal and finished past Russell from twenty yards to calm Bromley nerves. We thought that would be that, but we were wrong. One minute into injury time, Emmanuel yet again latched onto a perfectly weighted through ball, this time from Ali Fuseini, and rounded Russell before tapping into an empty net for an emphatic 3-0 win against a very good side.

This weekend we welcome Macclesfield Town to Hayes Lane and the truth is, who really knows what will happen? Whatever it is, I will be there to take it all in along with many others as our journey continues.

Vanarama National League Table