Bromley 1-1 Swindon Town

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Given the strength of Bromley’s recent performances, you could be forgiven for being disappointed by the 1-1 draw with Swindon Town.

However, you can’t win them all, and Swindon were more than worth their point across the 90 minutes.

Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 1-1 draw at home to Swindon Town.

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

The team vs Swindon Town

The Good

Good teams don’t lose when they’re not at their best. Bromley’s draw with Swindon was an exponent of that mantra.

Swindon set up perfectly to deny Bromley time and space to get into their work. As a result, Bromley never really got going.

The Ravens might have been thwarted, but even while not at their fluent best, they grafted and made it equally difficult for their opponents. We’ve come to expect nothing less.

Frankly, it was a dreary game to watch, but Bromley did not lose. It means the Ravens are now eleven games unbeaten, which should not be taken for granted.

Omar Sowunmi continued to show his goal-scoring prowess, netting his 5^th of the season. He has now scored in each of Bromley’s last three games.

I won’t wax lyrical as I believe I’ve exhausted everything there is to say about Omar, but goal-scoring centre-backs are like gold dust and Omar 100% suits the way Bromley play under Andy Woodman. ‘Nuff said.

I note the attendance for the game was in the region of 3,830 with a travelling contingent of 500 Swindon fans.

I come from an era when Bromley averaged in the region of 200-300, so I can never take for granted that 3,000 is now considered a small crowd at a Bromley game.

That doesn’t come without its problems, but I’d rather watch Bromley play in front of a packed house than the empty terraces of my teenage years.

Swindon, for my money, were very good. While they’ve been in and around the bottom two for most of the season, they have recently found some form, beating Grimsby Town and drawing with Wimbledon in their last two games, both play-off chasers.

As I mentioned in my match preview, this was never going to be an easy game.

In his post-match interview, Ian Holloway spoke about the extensive preparation that went into the Bromley game, which informed his decision to rotate his squad to freshen things up. This was designed to counteract what would likely be a physical encounter.

It speaks to how teams now regard Bromley in League Two.

Swindon did as much as they could to ensure the game was played on their terms. I respect that. It’s something Bromley have done to their opposition on many occasions under Andy Woodman.

What was notable to me was how savvy Holloway was with his bench rotation. With 30 minutes to go, he was able to turn to Harry Smith, Kabongo Tshimanga, Ollie Clarke, and Joel Cotterill. Talk about strength in depth.

Should/could Bromley have rotated like that? More on that later.

All that said, I thought their standout player was their captain, Nnamdi Ofoborh. He played the David Batty role in front of the back three and was super effective in shutting things down. Call him the cleaner if you must.

How many shots on goal do you remember Daniel Barden having to save? Ofoborh and the back five are a large reason why that was the case.

The Bad

So why did Bromley not rotate a la Swindon? Was this game a missed opportunity to liven things up?

Swindon made six changes to their starting line up and Holloway explained that he did it because he knew players playing back-to-back games over the festive holidays would work against his side.

Swindon were limited but clearly had more zip about them than Bromley.

Andy chose an unchanged side and, frankly, they looked jaded. When he was looking for players to play with some spark and ingenuity, everyone just looked 5% off their usual energy levels.

The fact Andy alluded to it at full-time tells me that maybe he would have chosen a different starting lineup in hindsight.

The question is, does he have the options at his disposal to do that?

Swindon rested top goal scorer Harry Smith. Can you envisage Bromley leaving Michael Cheek on the bench?

Someone who I thought looked particularly jaded was Danny Imray, but I’m going to hypothesise that was for more than one reason.

Firstly, Swindon read the memo. Every time Imray got the ball, it seemed as if he was being triple-teamed. As a result, Danny barely had a kick of consequence in the game.

In truth, it was also the most subdued I’ve seen Danny all season.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but given the rumours about his imminent departure from Hayes Lane, he gave the impression of someone playing with a move on his mind.

I hope I’m wrong.

The Ugly

In the FBWL post-match interview, Andy was clearly unhappy with the manner of Swindon’s goal. Slack defending was on his radar, but he was most annoyed by a perceived handball by Rosaire Longelo before he volleyed home.

Having watched the goal back, I make Andy right. However, although you see some Bromley fans make a handball motion, strangely, no Bromley players appealed it. Would it have made a difference?

To be honest, given Bromley got away with one against Port Vale, I’m inclined to say that’s the football Gods evening it up. Where do you stand?

I’ve mentioned this before, but with the January transfer window about to open, Bromley simply have to add some ‘quality’ squad options.

When games aren’t going Bromley’s way, Andy Woodman doesn’t have many options to change the game. That was evident once again against Swindon.

Put kindly, Bromley are currently doing better than the sum of their parts.

Let’s just argue the following as a worst-case scenario: Danny Imray leaves and Michael Cheek and Corey Whitely get injured for a month or more.

Could you set up a Bromley team that would win games and earn points regardless?

Andy has to find players who can, at a bare minimum, either supplement or stand in for Whitely and Cheek, in particular.

I will be writing a piece within the next 48 hours looking at how and where Bromley should strengthen in the January transfer window. Needless to say, when they play against teams set up like Swindon, it becomes ever more glaring that the squad lacks quality in depth.

That Newcastle FA Cup money can’t be freed up soon enough.

What did you make of this one?

Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (7)

Kamarl Grant (7)

Omar Sowunmi (8)

Callum Reynolds (7)

Idris Odutayo (7)

Jude Arthurs (6)

Ben Thompson (6)

Danny Imray (5)

Corey Whitely (6)

Cameron Congreve (5)

Michael Cheek (6)

Subs:

Josh Thomas for Callum Reynolds 90’ (n/a)

Lewis Leigh for Jude Arthurs 79’ (6)

Olufela Olomola for Cameron Congreve 53’ (6)

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