Bromley 1-2 Crewe Alexandra

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

This won't be the last time Bromley will be mugged off in the final minutes of a football match.

Welcome to life in League Two. 

For 83 minutes of this match, Bromley weathered Crewe Alexandra’s possession-based pressure. However, signalling the difference between the National League and League Two, Crewe kept coming and got their just rewards, leaving many Bromley fans feeling exasperated at how their side let it slip.

Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from the 2-1 defeat at home to Crewe Alexandra.

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

The team vs Crewe Alexandra

The Good

On 82 minutes, I wrote on my notes that Bromley had defended well, and for all of Crewe’s possession, had restricted the Railwaymen to very little in the way of clear-cut opportunities. 

The final eight minutes notwithstanding, I still think some of the defenders had okay games. 

This is a bit of a weird assessment to make, but it also shows how fickle the game of football fandom and analysis can be. If Bromley had kept their clean sheet, we would have been praising the defenders to the hilt. And for what it’s worth, I thought Idris Odutayo, Callum Reynolds, Byron Webster, and Danny Imray had good games.

It reminds me of something that I have always thought about the art of defending: It’s always about how you defend as a team, not just how the defence itself operates. 

I had concerns about this aspect of Bromley’s game, but I’ll save that gripe for later.

As recriminations fly back and forth in the aftermath of this loss, it might be easy to forget how good Bromley’s opening goal was. Lewis Leigh and Michael Cheek cut through the Crewe defence with a brilliant one-two, and the young midfielder lifted a superb effort beyond Filip Marschall to give Bromley the lead.

In pre-season, I asked the question whether Leigh has the ability to play further forward and occupy one of the spaces behind Cheek. It was a speculative question, but I see a player who has the capacity to play in different positions. I doubt it will happen, but I would definitely experiment with the idea in at least one game this season.

There wasn’t a particular player in the Crewe XI who impressed me across the 90 minutes, but I do think that Lee Bell was able to call on a strength-in-depth from his bench that Bromley do not yet possess. 

From the 55^th minute through to the end of the match, Bell made five substitutions (in three batches). Those introductions tangibly swung the pendulum in the away side’s favour. 

Ryan Cooney, Chris Long, Omar Bogle, Joel Tabinor, and Jack Lankester all played critical roles. In fact, three of the five had direct roles in the two goals. 

Kudos to Lee Bell.

The Bad

From my vantage point, Bromley lost control in the midfield much earlier than the scoreline suggests. For me, it speaks to why Lewis Leigh came off when he did. 

I’ve had a few people say to me that he was the best player on the pitch. While it’s true he had a good game up to that point, were we ‘controlling’ the game? 

As I alluded to earlier, defence starts before what happens in the 18-yard box. 

Throughout the game, Bromley were ceding possession far too easily, and as the match wore on, Crewe were finding it increasingly easy to pass or run their way through the Ravens’ midfield. Then, when Bromley won the ball back, they quickly turned it over and put themselves back under pressure. 

You might point out that Crewe didn’t really create anything, but a game lasts 90 minutes and then some. We have a saying in Jamaica: ‘Pressure buss pipe.’ That’s what happened on Saturday. Bromley allowed the pressure to build throughout the second half and eventually their pipe burst.

Apologies for the wind-affected nature of the first 30 seconds of this interview

However, it would be remiss of me not to address the substitutions. The issue for me wasn’t the substitutions themselves, as they all made sense in the context of the game.

Congreve had faded out of the game so Bromley went like-for-like with Louis Dennis, who had played well in that position against Bradford. Who would begrudge that change?

There are question marks over whether Lewis Leigh is ready to complete a full 90 minutes yet. And given the aforementioned midfield control issue, Bromley brought midfield terrier Ben Thompson on to partner Jude Arthurs and help break up play. You can’t really begrudge that one either.

Finally, Danny Imray, who by Andy Woodman’s own admission is not at peak fitness yet, came off for centre-back Omar Sowunmi. This change led to Kamarl Grant playing at right back, which is something that also happened at home to Wimbledon.

Omar, I assume, was introduced to add aerial presence at defensive set pieces. Unfortunately, both of Crewe’s goals came from delicious crosses that dissected both him and Kamarl Grant.

So where does the blame lay? 

Andy was right to be furious at the way the two goals were defended, but should he take some of the blame for making the final sub when he did?

Omar came on while Bromley were defending a set piece in the 83^rd minute of the game. Seconds later, he lost Micky Demetriou for the equalising goal. 

Was Omar fouled in the build-up? Perhaps, but the referee had a clear view and didn’t think so.

I’ve watched it back multiple times and I think this is one L that Andy may have to hold.

As an aside, Bromley used three subs while Crewe used five. This might be a case of hindsight given the success Crewe had with their changes, but getting better at using substitutes in batches might be an area of marginal gains for Bromley this season. 

Perhaps it’s easier to use five subs when you’re chasing a game rather than protecting a lead, but there was a flaw in Bromley’s method, regardless.

While teams can use five substitutes, they can only introduce players on three occasions. By using Omar as their third sub, in their third separate change, Bromley couldn’t introduce anyone else from that point on; a marginal but potentially important detail.

But like I say, everyone is clever in hindsight.

The Ugly

The attendance on Saturday was announced as a 3,322 sell-out, but this left a lot of people confused. Wimbledon was a 4,100 sell-out. So what is going on exactly?

Crewe took over 400 fans to Hayes Lane, so they held up their end of the bargain. Where were the other 1000 Bromley fans?

What procedure are the club following with this? Did over 500 season ticket holders not take up their tickets? Surely that is ludicrous? 

Bromley are learning a lot of things about life in the Football League, on and off the pitch, but maybe this was one situation that they did not envisage or weren’t prepared for. 

Speaking about off the pitch, I understand that two fans had a funny turn or fell ill at the game. Thankfully, both got the treatment they needed to help them through their respective situations.

However, and I pick my words carefully here, why was a fan on the pitch asking for the referee to stop the game? 

I know the fan in question, and out of respect, I won’t name names, but my point is simple. From my vantage point in the press section, I could see several stewards in the Bromley end. Surely, the first point of call is to notify them rather than running onto the pitch? 

The key thing here is not to let this set a behavioural precedent. All eyes are on Bromley as the new boys in the Football League. 

Let’s not make ourselves notorious for the wrong reasons.

Got an opinion on the game or my review? Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (7)

Kamarl Grant (5) 

Byron Webster (7)

Callum Reynolds (7) 

Danny Imray (7)

Lewis Leigh (7)

Jude Arthurs (6)

Idris Odutayo (7)

Corey Whitely (6)

Cameron Congreve (6)

Michael Cheek (6)

Subs:

Omar Sowunmi for Danny Imray 83’ (5)

Ben Thompson for Lewis Leigh 74’ (6)

Louis Denis for Cameron Congreve 61’ (6)

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