Bromley 1-0 Eastleigh

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The season is twelve games old. Do you believe now?

Bromley will come unstuck at some point, perhaps as soon as Gateshead on Saturday or Chesterfield on Tuesday, but let’s enjoy the ride in the meantime.

This season is proving what I have long proclaimed: In terms of how to go about your business on and off the field, Bromley set the standard for smaller clubs in the National League.  

Is there a better example of a team that consistently accentuates its positives while hiding its negatives? I don’t think so.

As ever, I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from the victory at home to Eastleigh. 

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

The Line-up vs Eastleigh

The Good

You may remember an interview I did with Andy Woodman where he spoke about skipping a scouting trip at Altrincham to zip over to a then-unnamed club to get a deal over the line.

That deal concerned Lewis Leigh. After his impressive home debut, I suspect everyone will appreciate why Woodman waxed lyrical.

Have we found Ryan Stirk 2.0, or is Lewis at a completely different level?

On Tuesday night, he played as a #4. But given his set-piece delivery and vision in open play, he could easily have been a #8. The best central-midfielders at this level can receive the ball under pressure and turn out quickly to spring an attack. We saw that with Stirk last season and it appears we have another EFL talent on our hands.

Interestingly though, Lewis offers something different to Sam Woods. 

Woods doesn’t have Leigh’s technical ability on the ball, but he has a physical screening presence in front of the back four that Leigh can’t match. That is no bad thing. While most teams in the league have the squad depth required to cover a position, the best teams have versatility in their cover. It will be interesting to see who starts when both Leigh and Woods are available.

In goal, Grant Smith proved his worth once again. Bromley should have had the game done and dusted by the 60^th minute but continuously fluffed their lines. This opened the door for Eastleigh to snatch a point. Thankfully, Smith came up huge in the clutch to deny Aidan Barlow and Luke Chalwell, earning three points for his team and keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Bromley fans are waking up to the fact that Smith might be the best goalkeeper in the league. But those in-the-know in the National League have been aware for some time. Eyebrows were certainly raised when Andy Woodman captured his signature.

If Smith can stay injury-free this season, it is highly likely that Bromley, given their strength elsewhere, will be part of the postseason.

In front of Grant Smith, the Bromley back five have now kept three clean sheets in their last four games and have the third-best defensive record in the league.

Andy Woodman has always taken pride in building Bromley sides that are hard to beat. Don’t underestimate the demoralising effect of knowing you’ve got to score against a team that doesn’t concede many.

I’ve spoken about several members of Bromley’s defence in the last month or so. Today, it’s time to give Besart Topalloj his flowers.

Before the season started, several football outlets asked me to predict which Bromley player was most likely to earn an EFL move in the summer. I wrote the following: 

‘Bromley’s best player will be 22-year-old Besart Topalloj. Each season, Andy Woodman has specialised in pushing a player onto the EFL and I would think this season it will be Topalloj. Having initially joined on loan just before Christmas last season, Topalloj went on to be a big part of the play-off push in the new year and was a consistent performer; whether at left-back or left wing-back. The expectation will be that he will kick on this season and have several scouts looking in his direction.’

I’m as convinced about this now, twelve games into the season, as I was when I wrote it in July. Thing is, Besart didn’t start the season well. In Bromley’s opening games, he turned in two of the poorest performances I’ve seen him have. Since then, however, he’s been a model of consistency both defensively and offensively. 

His no-nonsense style and general consistency means he goes under the radar of most fans, much like Callum Reynolds did last season. But players who guarantee a minimum 7/10 performance every game are worth their weight in gold. 

At 22 years old, the only way is up for Besart Topalloj.

The Bad

As Bromley had been forced into several changes from the first-choice XI that inspired their unbeaten run, I wasn’t surprised that the opening exchanges of the first half were disjointed.

Jude Arthurs came in at right wing-back, while Preston’s Lewis Leigh started at the base of the midfield. At the same time, Arsenal loanee Kido Taylor-Hart was attempting to step into Louis Dennis’s shoes, linking up with Michael Cheek in the front line. Cheek himself was returning to the starting XI after his wife gave birth at the weekend.

For the first 20 minutes or so, the enforced changes created an unsettled performance and Eastleigh were the better side as a result. However, as is often the case, if the opposition don’t take advantage of a slow Bromley start, they will inevitably get punished.

Such was the case on Tuesday night. 

Is it something to be concerned about? On the whole, no. I will always maintain that it’s the result that matters. But there have been a few games this season where Bromley have required a Woodman tweak or two around the 20-minute mark to get them out of a slow start.

This hasn’t really caught up with them yet. But if I were Andy Woodman, it’s something I’d be closely monitoring.

The Ugly

Off the pitch, debate has been raging among a subsection of the Bromley fanbase about the legitimacy of our new stadium sponsors, RELOC8 EM.

Peter Etherington, Copy Editor of From Bromley with Love, wrote a brilliant article on the subject. If you haven’t already, I suggest you read it and make up your own mind.

I won't be partaking in the new sponsor’s claims of fantastic returns. My humble advice is for everyone to do their due diligence and make an informed decision. 

Bromley aren’t the first club to get into bed with a company that people have reservations about. They won’t be the last, either. While I’m certainly not suggesting RELOC8 EM are charlatans, you only have to graze football’s surface to uncover a seam of amoral companies and individuals. 

Is this just the rough-with-the-smooth reality that fans have to accept?

Get at me in the comments below and let me know what you think.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (9)

Jude Arthurs (7)

Chinn Okoli (9)

Byron Webster (8)

Callum Reynolds (8)

Besart Topalloj (9)

Lewis Leigh (10)

Corey Whitely (8)

Ben Krauhaus (8)

Kido Taylor-Hart (7)

Michael Cheek (8)

Subs:

Bim Pepple for Kido Taylor-Hart 75’ (7)

Cole Kpekawa 90+7’ (n/a)

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Please note all photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Twitter here

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