A lot has happened since my last article, and the vast majority of it has been overwhelmingly positive writes Matt Hall.
I last wrote on the eve of our fixture with Macclesfield at home. Our visitors, until relegated to the top flight of non-league football, were the longest serving football league club. Now we were playing them in a league match, which was just one of many signs to show how far we have come in recent years. The game itself will not live long in the memory, as it was a rather stalemate like affair until late o when former Millwall striker Ben May’s shot on the turn put Bromley a goal up. Some resolute defending saw us preserve the lead and take all three points.
Our next match was away to Boreham Wood, who also sealed promotion from the Vanarama South with us last year, through winning the play-offs after losing the battle with ourselves for the league title.
They have had a mixed start to the season, with an away win at Tranmere Rovers easily the pick of their results. A healthy contingent of Bromley fans made the trip, and they were to be entertained, as Bromley edged a five goal thriller 3-2 thanks to goals from Ben May, Moses Emmanuel and Bradley Goldberg.
The next fixture turned out to be the pick of the bunch, a trip to troubled Torquay United. They were facing issues both on and off the pitch, and with manager Paul Cox departing the club the day before this fixture, it was to be a nervy time for the hosts.
They took the lead after five minutes through James Hurst, but an astonishing quickfire hat-trick from Emmanuel had Bromley 3-1 up after the half hour mark. Tyrone Marsh pulled one back for United in injury time to make the half time score 3-2. However, goals from Jack Holland, Louis Dennis, Anthony Cook (penalty) and Ali Fuseini rendered a second Marsh goal a mere consolation as Bromley ran out 7-3 winners. That was Torquay’s heaviest home defeat in 20 years at Plainmoor.
Two home games in a row followed, with basement side Kidderminster Harriers being the first of the two to visito visit Hayes Lane. The Harriers actually took the lead through Jordan Jones, but a superb free kick from Dennis, Emmanuel capitalising on a defensive error early in the second half, and Cook converting a penalty (and snapping the goal net support in the process) gave the Ravens a healthy two goal cushion. Although Jones pulled another one back with a deflected long range effort, Bromley held on again to claim another three points.
Chester were next and brought with them in excess of 200 fans. However, they were to be disappointed as a clinical first half showing from Bromley wrapped up the game. Three excellent goals, one courtesy of Dennis and two from Emmanuel put the game out of sight before the break, although had Chester’s finishing been better perhaps this would not have been the case. The next match was a Kent Senior Cup fixture, away to league rivals Dover Athletic, and a mix of Ravens youth and experience did not disappoint, running out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Pierre Joseph-Dubois and Goldberg.
The next two matches characterised the contrasting sides of joy and despair (not in that order) with the latter being very much the feeling at Tranmere, after a some dubious decisions contributed to a 4-0 defeat, our heaviest of the season.
Despite that, the travelling 147 Bromley supporters were right behind their team all the way through. Another away trip was in order just three days later, but this time a lot closer to home, as local rivals Welling United were the opposition. This time, 359 Bromley supporters saw their side come from behind to beat the Wings 2-1, thanks to goals from Fuseini and makeshift striker Holland.
Matt is the matchday announcer at Bromley along with several other roles he has in and around the club. He spoke to us ahead of their home game with Barrow on Non League Day which he will cover in his next round up on the Ravens.
