Bradford City 3-1 Bromley

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Bromley’s first sting in the tail arrived at Valley Parade as the Ravens succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at one of this season’s promotion favourites.

Playing Bradford City away was always likely to be a serious test for Bromley, and so it proved. An early sending off presented an unwanted obstacle and increased the difficulty level tenfold. Despite battling gamely for the remainder of the match, that obstacle proved insurmountable. 

Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 3-1 defeat at Bradford City.

Have a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

The team vs Bradford City

The Good

Given the scoreline, this column offers slim pickings. However, Bromley fans should feel fortunate that they have a squad of players who won’t phone in a performance when the odds are heavily stacked against them.

Down to ten men for 80+ minutes, a squad with a weaker mentality might have felt sorry for themselves and gone into damage-limitation mode, but Bromley played with the belief that they could still get a result.

Byron Webster’s headed consolation goal made sure Bromley at least drew the second half. And Callum Reynolds will feel he should have scored in the final minute to set up a very interesting period of additional time.

However, it was not to be.

I wouldn’t say that I saw any stand-out performances in the Bromley ranks, but I thought Lewis Leigh and Louis Dennis added a bit more guile to proceedings when they came on. 

Both looked like they were eager to impress and played a critical role in getting the team up the pitch with ten men; moving the ball quickly and dragging Bradford players out of position. 

Andy Woodman has often said that he believes in rewarding players who play well enough to keep the shirt. Where Lewis Leigh is concerned, he has an opportunity to stake his claim for a permanent spot in the side while Ashley Charles serves a one-match ban. Over to you, Lewis.

Louis Dennis’s introduction gave fans a hint that his role this season might be as a straight swap for Congreve or Whitely. 

All three are technically gifted players who can move with the ball and thread the eye of the needle. Andy would have been pleased to see Louis put in a performance that proves he can be trusted to play the role from the bench or from the start.

Bradford were certainly the best team Bromley have come across this season. While we must add the caveat that they played over three-quarters of the match against ten men, some teams find it hard to break down their opposition in that situation. Bradford were not one of them.

Several players in the Bantams’ XI impressed me, but I agreed with the match sponsors who gave the Man of the Match award to Tyreik Wright. He was a bit more subdued in the second half, but I thought Wright was brilliant down the left flank in terms of offering Bradford a constant outlet.

Fearless in taking on his opposing defender and willing to whip in a first-time cross, Bromley couldn’t settle for a moment when Wright was on the ball.

As I understand it, he was previously on loan at Bradford from Aston Villa before Plymouth purchased him permanently. When that move didn’t work out, Wright returned to Valley Parade, first on loan then signing permanently in the summer.

Unless my eyes were deceiving me, in Wright, Bradford have a 22-year-old who is clearly a notch above the League Two level. Watch this lad closely.

The Bad

In the 27^th minute, after playing 17 minutes with ten men, Andy Woodman made a big tactical change. 

Danny Imray was removed for Marcus Dinanga as Woodman made the surprising decision to switch to a back four and go with two up top.

Did that lose Bromley the game? No, the sending-off did. But with 18 minutes left in the half, I expected Andy to keep it tight and re-evaluate things at half-time, perhaps going in only one goal down. I was surprised to see him twist rather than stick. 

Imray didn’t appear to be injured, and in fact seemed pretty miffed with the decision. I get that Andy’s intention was to give Bradford’s backline something to think about and press from the front, but I feel it was too soon to make that call.

After the change, Bradford seemed to have even more joy down the wings. Cross after cross peppered Bromley’s depleted defensive line, making Bradford’s second goal through Andy Cook somewhat inevitable.

What is the best way to utilise Marcus Dinanga?  

He seems like the first option from the bench if Bromley need an attacking change, but it just isn’t clicking for the summer signing at the moment. 

Winning headers doesn’t seem to be his game, and when he plays up top with Michael Cheek, they aren’t dovetailing well at the moment. 

I know from his time at Gateshead that Marcus was very much a goal poacher and someone who liked to play on the shoulder of the last defender. While this awkward phase doesn’t mean it won't happen for him at Bromley, he certainly hasn’t hit the ground running.

Is it because he hasn’t had a chance to play a full 90 minutes with Corey Whitely and Cameron Congreve? Perhaps. But while it’s true that Marcus Dinanga cannot be properly judged until he starts a game, Levi Amantchi seems the better bet at this stage.

Ten men notwithstanding, there were a few moments across the 90 where Bromley players were caught in possession because they didn’t move the ball quickly enough. 

This isn’t meant as any dig at any one player, but it was quite instructive as to the fine margins when playing the better clubs in the league. 

I had been warned about the speed of movement and thought required in League Two, but this was the first time I felt I’d really witnessed it. 

Still, we live and we learn.

The Ugly

When you travel to your toughest opponent of the season so far, the last thing you want to do is give away a penalty and go down to ten men.

There can be few complaints; Ashley Charles clearly handled the ball on the line as it was arrowing into the top corner. Was it human instinct or a poor decision? We may never know.

But when your entire psyche is geared towards keeping the ball out of the goal, is it possible to keep a cool head and make a calculated decision at that moment?

It all comes down to the question of whether, in that scenario, it is better to give the goal away and keep eleven players on the pitch or block it and roll the dice.

I’ll let you decide.

Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (7)

Kamarl Grant (6) 

Byron Webster (7)

Callum Reynolds (7) 

Danny Imray (6)

Ashley Charles (4)

Jude Arthurs (6)

Idris Odutayo (7)

Corey Whitely (6)

Cameron Congreve (5)

Michael Cheek (6)

Subs:

Marcus Dinanga for Danny Imray 27’ (5)

Lewis Leigh for Cameron Congreve 46’ (7)

Levi Amantchi for Michael Cheek 83’ (n/a)

Louis Dennis for Corey Whitely 62’ (7)

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Please note all match photographs in this article are by Dan Webster - please follow him on Twitter here

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