Altrincham 1-2 Bromley

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Sep 06, 2023

It’s two wins on the spin for Bromley as they took all three points home from Greater Manchester.

Andy Woodman’s men battled ferociously to overcome a talented Altrincham team, giving travelling fans hope that Bromley’s bad start to the season is disappearing in the rear-view mirror.

Machel wasn’t in the away end for this one, so he’s turned the pen over to Mike Head, who gives us his spin on the Ravens’ win.

So, without further ado, here’s Mike Head with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 2-1 win away at Altrincham.

Get involved in the comments section below.

The Line-up vs Altrincham

The Match

Andy Woodman often mentions the ‘DNA’ of his team; that never-give-up spirit that digs out results when lesser teams would crumble. This was a ‘DNA’ performance.

On 12 minutes, the impressive Corey Whitely fired Bromley into the lead with a ferocious drive into the top corner from the edge of the box. This was after good work from the tireless Michael Cheek.

Altrincham levelled on 24 minutes when a clever corner routine saw Dior ‘Perfume & Steak’ Angus set-up Justin Amaluzor, who smashed the ball past Grant Smith. The Bromley keeper threw himself at everything in this game, but he had no chance of stopping that one.

Alty played possession football and put Bromley under a lot of pressure across the ninety minutes, but Bromley’s back-line coped well. Our old stagers, Webster and Reynolds, stood out in particular, looking calm and authoritative throughout.

However, given Altrincham’s possession and pressure, it was inevitable that the defensive line would be breached at times. Step forward Grant Smith. He denied Alty time and time again with a string of incredible saves.

Smith’s Player of the Match display kept the Ravens in the game at 1-1. In truth, I was just hoping that Bromley could hold on for a point.

But then, on 87 minutes, as Altrincham attempted to play out from the back, James Vennings did brilliantly to win the ball. If that wasn’t enough, Vennings then fed a slide rule pass into the path of pacy winger Todd Miller, who slotted home like a seasoned striker.

As Miller wheeled away in celebration, the 76 travelling Bromley fans celebrated with him in wild delirium. It was worth the long trip north for that moment alone.

But Bromley still had work to do. With normal time and injury time still to play, the Ravens had to battle on for 10 minutes. Alty threw everything at grasping a draw, but the Bromley boys held tight to hand Altrincham their first loss of the season. No small feat.

On a side note, I offer special thanks to Dave and Holly Norris for organising the supporters’ coach to the game. With train strikes going on, that coach meant that so many of us could go to a game.

Look out on social media and club forums for information on future supporters’ coaches. They need fans’ support in order to thrive.

They will be running a supporters’ coach to York (7th October) - if you are interested please message below and I will forward the necessary contact details to book your place.

The Good

The spirit to grab an away win and the performance of the defence and goalkeeper.

The Bad

Giving away possession cheaply at times. We seem to play with more confidence at home than away.

The Ugly

Louis Dennis, who was already playing in some discomfort, went off injured late on. Hopefully this won’t sideline him for too long.

Player ratings

Grant Smith 9

Josh Passley 6

Besart Topalloj 6

Callum Reynolds 8

Chin Okoli 7

Byron Webster 8

Sam Woods 7

Ben Krauhaus 6

Corey Whitely 8

Michael Cheek 7

Louis Dennis 6

Subs:

Jude Arthurs for Ben Krauhaus 65’ (6)

Todd Miller for Louis Dennis 71’ (7)

James Vennings for Corey Whitely 84’ (7)

NB: If you missed the news in the last few days Bromley have bolstered their squad with the addition of three new signings. Machel ran the rule over the signings and what they can add to the Bromley squad

From Bromley with love

Discussion about this post