Barnet 1-1 Bromley
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
A scrambled Michael Cheek finish, coupled with favourable results elsewhere, ensured Bromley will not go quietly into the night.
Postseason football is still within the Ravens’ grasp after they battled to a hard-earned point against Barnet on Good Friday. As Machel missed this one, Jacob Screens is filling in and giving us their take on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Got something to add? Get involved in the comments section below.
The Line-up vs Barnet
The Good (or ‘The Great’ in this instance)
Deji Elerewe’s performance was so colossal that this writer felt it necessary to call it The Great. One must watch Deji in the flesh to truly appreciate his combination of athleticism and football intelligence. For me, it’s no coincidence that his inclusion in the starting XI has coincided with an upturn in results.
Dominant in the air and slick across the surface, any sting the Bees may have had was negated by Elerewe’s outstanding showing. Players who are too good for this level stick out like sore thumbs and this has certainly been the case for Deji and midfielder Ryan Stirk since they joined on loan.
Ellery Balcombe is another player who belonged in this class. His masterful fingertip save was a crucial moment in Bromley’s astonishing Wembley win last season. Will Deji have a similar parting gift for the Ravens faithful before his time at Hayes Lane ends?
A final special mention must also go to the 379 fans who made the trip to Barnet. They cranked up the atmosphere to absolute fever pitch at times and no doubt gave the players a lift when they were up against it.
The Bad
Much has been made recently about the amount of time the ball is in play during games. In the Premier League this season, the average is just 54 minutes. However, this is an eternity compared to the scarcely believable 36 minutes during Southend’s clash with Boreham Wood last August.
I don’t have an official figure for the Barnet clash but it must have hovered around the 55-60 minute mark. Thanks to weak officiating and Barnet’s willingness to take a point, the second half was a constant stop-start affair.
Bromley are no innocent party where the dark arts of time-wasting are concerned (see Notts County away) but the question of whether fans are being cheated out of a full game of football when paying £22 for the privilege needs to be asked.
What is the solution? Stop clock? Stronger officiating? Or is this just the case of the ends justifying the means? The game is the game after all.
The Ugly
Thunderous as our away support was, there is no doubt some chants in Friday’s game crossed a line. Such songs offer no positive purpose and drew reactions of bemusement and embarrassment from sections of the Ravens fanbase.
This writer is not advocating for a 90-minute rendition of We’ve Got Super Andy Woodman, but it’s the ingenious and emotive chants that carry the biggest punch. Surely this can be achieved without causing offence or embarrassment?
Is having to put up with the odd unsavoury chant the price you pay for a fiercely vocal backing? The debate will continue on that one. What’s your take?
Other Observations:
Michael Cheek scores goals.
Harry Forster is really fast.
Ryan Stirk is very good at football.
Barnet have done brilliantly to be in 5th at this stage.
Danny Collinge is worth keeping an eye on.
Bar 66 is a nice spot for a pre game pint.
Match Ratings:
Reice Charles-Cook 6.5
Kellen Fisher 6.5
Omar Sowunmi 7
Callum Reynolds 7.5
Deji Elerewe 9
Besart Topalloj 7
James Vennings 6
Ryan Stirk 7
Corey Whitely 6.5
Louis Dennis 6
Michael Cheek 7
Subs:
Jude Arthurs (46’ for Vennings) 6.5
Harry Forster (65’ for Fisher) 7
Adam Marriott (86’ for Topalloj) 6
Thanks for taking the time to read Jacob’s match synopsis above.
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Love this!!
Other Observations:
Michael Cheek scores goals.
Harry Forster is really fast.
Ryan Stirk is very good at football.
Clearly this is my level of commentating! Ha ha!
Really enjoyed the Barnet match, regardless of "the bad" section above that I do tend to agree with.
Hi Jacob. Absolutely 100% agree with you Deji was superb. Unlucky not to win but we will take a point. It's all about putting the ball in the back of the net. The team is playing really well though so if we can start off on the front foot against Boreham Wood and impose ourselves this team is good enough. BH FC are a good side and well managed so will be a tough game. We do need to take our chances. They are good on the counter attack so we have to be mindful of that but with the likes of Deji, Fisher and Bez in Defence hopefully we can do a job on them. Come on Bromley!