Bromley 1-2 Tranmere Rovers
Bromley 1-2 Tranmere Rovers
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
I was concerned about what the international break might do to Bromley’s momentum.
The three consecutive draws had shown positive signs, but the break came at the wrong time.
Given the balance of play, the Ravens should have battered Tranmere Rovers. Alas, defensive frailties came back to haunt them and they had nothing to show for their efforts.
Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 1-2 defeat at home to Tranmere Rovers.
Have a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
The team vs Tranmere Rovers
The Good
It is very easy to look at a defeat and immediately jump to the negatives without identifying what went right.
Yes, Bromley only scored one goal, but weirdly this was Bromley’s best attacking performance of the season vis-à-vis penalty box entries and last-third attacking thrusts.
In total, the Ravens had 25 shots (8 on target) to Tranmere’s 11 (3). Even more surprising was the fact that Bromley bossed possession against their opponents.
On another day, Bromley would have had the game done and dusted by half-time. They also had chances before and after the first and second goals. But, frustratingly, nothing would stick.
This isn’t an attempt to gloss over the defeat, but they created enough chances to win three games, never mind this one.
In terms of the strongest performances on the day, Danny Imray continued to be a great attacking outlet for the Ravens, particularly in the first half. He got into so many brilliant attacking positions. The only question mark is whether his end-product could/should have been better.
Personally, I would like to see Danny shoot more and add goals to his game, but I’m quibbling here as without him we wouldn’t fashion the same number of opportunities.
Tranmere were the weakest team I’ve seen Bromley play this season, apart from the opening game where we caught a rusty Harrogate Town on the hop.
I reckon Tranmere will know they got away with one. They were very ordinary. But, like a boxer hanging on in a fight, while the Rovers were on the ropes at several points, they found a way to win the bout with some quick knock-out shots when Bromley foolishly dropped their guard.
Some managers (like Nigel Adkins did) would herald the character of their side to stay in the game, graft, and get their just rewards, but it wasn’t a performance to sing about.
That said, credit where it’s due. I thought Luke McGee in the Tranmere goal had a good game. He was called upon several times to produce important saves and claim difficult crosses. Arguably, he was Man of the Match.
I’m intrigued to see where Rovers end up later on in the season, but I saw enough in this game to understand why they have struggled to score goals in the league.
The Bad
Since Michael Cheek arrived at Bromley in May 2019, I do not remember him being injured for a significant period of time. However, in the 55th minute of this game, Cheek was forced off with what looked like a thigh strain of some sort.
Every Bromley fan will be hoping that it was just a precaution and no more. The importance of Cheek to the Bromley lineup was laid bare throughout the 90 minutes.
None of the gilt-edge opportunities Bromley created fell to him. If they had, it almost certainly would have been game-over for Tranmere.
Once he went off, I noticed something that was more worrying. It’s not that Bromley didn’t look threatening, it's that I didn’t get a sense that the attackers on the pitch had Cheek’s instinct to be in the right place at the right time.
On several occasions, I noticed that when Bromley were on the attack, no one was in the danger areas to attack the ball. Worse still, when crosses came in, it felt like players were waiting rather than attacking the ball.
God forbid Cheek is out for anything approaching a week or more because I don’t know how Andy Woodman solves that puzzle.
Who would you pick as your front two if Cheek doesn’t make it to Doncaster on Tuesday?
Given Louis Dennis got on the end of the ball for a consolation goal at the death, he probably has a solid claim for a start.
But is Louis the best option?
The Ugly
Here we have another game where catastrophic defensive errors saw Bromley drop points. They shouldn’t have even drawn this game, let alone lost.
If it was just the odd mistake here or there, you could put it down to adapting to the level and fine margins. However, eleven games into the season, it is becoming a worrying trend.
Every fan will have their own take on how and why those goals came about, but whatever the analysis, they were gifts. The first was a long ball that was allowed to bounce into the penalty area all too easily. The second was an under-hit back pass.
Both goals were criminal to concede. Bromley would have been punished for those errors in the National League too.
The difference is that we are having to work twice as hard to score in League Two. It’s why Andy Woodman is banging on about keeping clean sheets.
It is worth reminding people that Bromley had the second-best defensive record in the National League last season. The defence isn’t a chronic weakness this time around compared to the teams around us, but the nature of the goals they are conceding is a big issue. Teams are not having to work hard enough.
With a visit to second-place Doncaster up next on Tuesday night, it seems almost inevitable that Andy will shuffle his back line.
Does Carl Jenkinson make his debut at RCB? Does Omar shift to the middle? Does Byron Webster come back in? Does Idris go back to LCB? So many questions and permutations.
Ultimately, three clean sheets in eleven league games tell its own story. Bromley have to find an answer to this conundrum, and soon.
What’s your take?
Get at me in the comments section below.
Match ratings
Grant Smith (7)
Omar Sowunmi (6)
Callum Reynolds (5)
Kamarl Grant (7)
Danny Imray (8)
Ashley Charles (5)
Ben Thompson (7)
Idris Odutayo (7)
Corey Whitely (7)
Olufela Olomola (6)
Michael Cheek (6)
Subs:
Levi Amantchi for Olufela Olomola 46’ (6)
Lewis Leigh for Ashley Charles 46’ (7)
Louis Dennis for Michael Cheek 55’ (7)
Cameron Congreve for Ben Thomspon 76’ (7)
Thanks for taking the time to read the match synopsis above.
Please note all match photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Twitter here
All articles are edited by Peter Etherington you can link to him here
If you havent as yet make sure you read the other articles in the archive.
If you’d like to show an appreciation for the work that goes into this newsletter you can buy me a coffee through the link below.
You can also find Machel St Patrick Hewitt on Twitter - here
Most importantly of all subscribe to the newsletter to ensure you get these updates direct to your inbox.
I think a couple of things stood out to me about the game.
The first is that Leigh and Congreve need to be in the side *somehow.* We really started to play and up the ante on Tranmere with them on the pitch, and offered control in the final third, rather than us hoping it stuck with Levi (which it rarely did).
The second is the back three. I'll preface this by saying I'm fans of all three to varying degrees, but it's the first time in a long time that I look at our back 3 and think "there's a mistake in there."
Now look, I'll never slag off a player for making a mistake, they're human, and that's football, but the combination of the three at the back looks to be breeding mistakes. Grant had a shocker a couple of weeks ago (I think against Dons, maybe Notts?), Cal has had a few errors creep into his game, as has Omar. Omar, to me, is most at risk of a benching. He looks uncomfortable under the high ball, doesn't offer the rampaging runs from the wide centre half position, and (thanks to our bizarre new corner routine) isn't offering much of a threat at the top end of the pitch either.
I'd like to see Byron back in for Omar, with Cal shifting left or right.
Always said I’d see 3rd from bottom as a successful season and after yesterday I’m feeling that more than ever! The game followed the classic pattern of teams in a relegation scrap. Started well but missed opportunities resulting in tension creeping in as the game progressed followed by defensive errors ultimately costing us dearly. Two tough games this week and if we get nothing out of those then the pressure continues to build. This will then start the inevitable terrace talk of ‘Woodman Out’ etc, which personally I find a bit ridiculous but as we well know, that’s football!
Will be interesting to see the back 3 on Tuesday, only Grant really came out of Saturday with any credit so we could potentially see the return of Byron and maybe Jenkinson will make his debut?
I can’t see us getting anything out of that so Saturday is now a massive game