Bromley 1-1 Barrow AFC

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Four points from six in a week where many predicted Bromley would be lucky to get one.

All told, it was a promising week for Andy Woodman’s men as they followed up the win at Doncaster with a draw at home to Barrow.

Slowly but surely, brick by brick, Bromley are building their League Two foundation.

As ever, join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 1-1 draw at home to Barrow.

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

The team vs Barrow AFC

The Good

Bromley were better in the second half. I have to start there for the simple reason that the first-half performance was turgid and flat.  

Andy Woodman rolled the dice at half-time and it had the desired effect. It was a risky move to play a midfield three of Ben Thompson, Corey Whitely, and Cameron Congreve but Bromley got away with it. 

The biggest difference ultimately came in the changing of the front two. Louis Dennis and Michael Cheek replaced Olufela Olomola and Levi Amantchi, and while it didn’t lead to amazing things, it changed the complexion of Bromley’s final-third play.

Louis will always look to drop off the front line and find space, and Cheek will win headers and fouls and bring the team up the pitch. I’ve always said the two have a natural chemistry and we saw some signs of that in the second half. 

That said, Imray’s half-volley and Dennis’s header aside, the real chances didn’t really come until the final 10 minutes when Bromley turned the screw. 

Was a draw a fair result? The stats on the day suggest so, but it kinda felt like Bromley got away with one when Cheek smashed his stoppage-time penalty home.

Perhaps Barrow only have themselves to blame for that. While they had the lion’s share of possession, how many real saves did Grant Smith actually have to make?

Individually, I can't really pick out too many highlights over the piece. Following the Ravens’ dogged performance at Doncaster Rovers, this match had a bit of after the Lord Mayor’s show about it. Had Tuesday night’s exertions taken too much out of them?

On the flip side, at the start of the week, if you had offered Andy Woodman four points from six against two play-off chasing sides, he would have bitten your hand off. As I remarked at full-time, it’s not how you get the points that matters, just get them and worry about the tweaks afterwards.

Barrow are an accomplished side who will probably kick themselves for not making the most of their dominance in the first half, and for not taking the gilt-edged opportunity that fell Kian Spence’s way with 15 minutes to go.

I wouldn’t say they had quality to match the likes of Notts County or Bradford City, but I was impressed by winger Katia Kouyaté and Dean Campbell. The former offered silky wing play and was a threat every time he got on the ball, while Campbell played the screening role in front of the defence to perfection.

Both, in my opinion, have the skill set to kick on from the level with or without Barrow. Watch their progress closely.

The Bad

The plaudits will go to Michael Cheek for his seventh goal of the season, and rightly so. The talisman rose from the bench at half-time to spearhead the revival and ensure Bromley took a share of the spoils.

But I will refer to a tweet that was sent to me post-match asking if Bromley were likely to have any player other than Cheek hit double figures this season.

My answer was that I didn’t see any other player in the squad scoring more than six, as things stand.

Right now, I don’t see that as a major problem. If Cheek does what he does then, as I’ve maintained, Bromley will be fine.

That said, the lack of cutting edge in the final third when Cheek wasn’t on the pitch was worrying.

Andy Woodman spoke post-match about Bromley not playing to Fela or Levi’s strengths, which is fine, and I tend to agree. However, given how his team plays their football, Andy needs the ball to stick up top to get them up the pitch. 

Ball carrying this season largely comes courtesy of Imray or Whitely, and if they aren’t on song then the only option is the direct ball.

The direct ball wasn’t sticking at all in the first half, so it felt like we were watching a game of pinball.

It raises three issues for me:

1) How do Bromley play without Cheek?

2) Do Bromley have a Cheek replacement in playing style, if not goals?

3) How long before Andy Woodman goes back to Brentford to bring back Ben Krauhaus on loan (if Brentford let us)?

I am not saying Bromley have a goal-scoring problem, but they do have a Cheek-reliance problem.

Krauhaus’s absence this season has gone largely uncommented on, but it might be time to remember how critical he was to the way Bromley played football (defensively and offensively).

He was a double-double player alongside Corey Whitely last season. It makes you wonder how pivotal his ball-carrying would be in this League Two iteration. 

The Ugly

If you watch the penalty decision back in slow mo’, the referee gets the decision right. However, you have to really really squint your eyes and repeatedly watch for the infringement.

As Omar Sowunmi goes up for the header, one of the Barrow defenders appears to get his fingers/hands up in front of the ball and deflects it away. 

The referee should be applauded for getting it right, but there is NO WAY he did anything other than guess.

Count how much time passes between the incident and the ref blowing his whistle. If I’m being fair, the referee might have been deliberating with his assistant over the mic, but it didn’t look like it. The gap tells me he didn’t know immediately, so who does the benefit of the doubt go to?

Watch the video back and notice how few people in the crowd directly behind the incident are appealing for a penalty. Only the most eagle-eyed would have spotted the hand. Yet, other than Sowunmi and Idris Odutayo, the referee was the most certain person in the ground.

The decision was in keeping with what I thought was an erratic refereeing performance that was entirely of the ref’s own making.

Was it really a game that warranted six yellow cards and a red and yellow card for the Barrow staff?

I am a big believer that referees make a game tetchy by bringing out the cards too early and making a rod for their own backs.

I can't pretend to know the directives they work to, but it is always perplexing to see how some referees let a game flow and others apply the letter of the law from minute one. 

Then again, maybe I’m one of those annoying fans who pivots to questioning the referee when it isn’t warranted. 

What did you make of the game? Did I miss anything? Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (8)

Omar Sowunmi (6)

Byron Webster (6)

Kamarl Grant (6)

Danny Imray (7)

Lewis Leigh (6)

Ben Thompson (7)

Idris Odutayo (7) 

Corey Whitely (6)

Olufela Olomola (5)

Levi Amantchi (5)

Subs:

Michael Cheek for Levi Amantchi 46’ (7)

Louis Dennis for Olufela Olomoa  46’ (7)

Cameron Congreve for Lewis Leigh 46’ (6)

Carl Jenkinson for Byron Webster 75’ (7)

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

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