Bromley 2-0 Chesterfield
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Two years ago, Andy Woodman arrived at Bromley Football Club and masterminded a thirteen-game run that ended with Bromley sealing a play-off spot on the final day of the season.
Last season, Bromley went into the FA Trophy final at Wembley as huge underdogs against Wrexham and won the trophy in front of 42,000.
On Saturday, Bromley defeated Chesterfield 2-0 to secure another play-off spot with one game to spare and ensure a crack at the postseason.
Say what you like about Andy Woodman, the record speaks for itself.
As ever, I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 2-0 home win over Chesterfield.
Have a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Line-up vs Chesterfield
The Good
This game was vindication for all of the fans, and those behind the scenes at Bromley, who never wavered in their belief that the Ravens would make the postseason.
Long-time readers of From Bromley with Love will remember that I’ve spent most of the season stating that Bromley just needed to stay there or thereabouts and then time their run correctly.
Chesterfield were always likely to be the biggest test in the run-in and Bromley passed that test with flying colours. Aided by results elsewhere, their dominant performance against the third-placed Spireites guaranteed a spot in the play-offs, meaning they can go to Oldham Athletic on the final day of the season with the pressure off.
The crux of this performance was built on a now familiar big-match game plan: Soak up the pressure in the first 20 minutes, get a foothold in the game, then impose our will.
Obviously, it’s a bit more complex than that. But, fundamentally, whenever Bromley come up clutch in these big games, it tends to boil down to making sure they are in the game for as long as possible before earning the right to play.
In the unbeaten eight-game run, Bromley have only conceded 5 goals and scored 16. As Andy has long stated, the foundation of his team is the defence. If Bromley are tight at the back, they know they have the attacking prowess to punish even the best teams in the league. It’s a formula that means they should not fear any team in the playoffs.
On a day where every player had a good or great game, I gave my Man of the Match award to Billy Bingham.
There are a few fans I know who aren’t the biggest fans of Billy Bingham, but it is quite interesting to me that he is always in the team for big matches where Bromley are likely to be up against it. It suggests that Andy trusts Bingham when it matters most.
Billy may be 32 years old now, but he is still technically gifted and offers a level of match control and game awareness that comes with his experience of 200 EFL appearances.
Do others have more legs than him? No doubt. But do they have his nous for the big-game occasion? I would argue no.
In what felt like a must-win encounter, Billy picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the season and have his best performance, too.
Will Billy Bingham still be here next season? Would you keep him around?
Other than Billy, I wanted to offer a quick shout-out to Deji Elerewe. It was yet another colossal performance by the 19-year-old alongside Omar Sowunmi and Callum Reynolds.
In Paul McCallum and Andrew Dallas, Chesterfield have two of the most potent strikers in the National League, but neither really got into the game.
We’ve waxed lyrical about Ryan Stirk and how lucky we were to get a hold of him but the same can be said of Deji. He reminds me a lot of what Alex Mitchell brought to the club in Andy Woodman’s first ‘season’. Alex was a highly-rated youngster out of Millwall’s academy who came in and showed maturity and physicality way beyond his 19 years. He looked above the National League level from day one.
Mitchell went on to have a loan with Leyton Orient last season in League Two and is now on loan in the Scottish Premier League with St Johnstone.
Deji should be following a similar trajectory when he leaves Bromley at the end of his loan spell. He is clearly at a level above the National League and if League One Charlton do not feel ready to blood him just yet then the next step should be a loan to a League Two club. If that’s Bromley next season then all the better!
Lastly, I must once again acknowledge the crowd. 3,817 packed into Hayes Lane and I think it is clear that they played their role in motivating the players.
Andy Woodman alluded to it at full time and I make him right. Whenever the Bromley fanbase really needs to show up, they do so. And the new mob behind the goal who’ve been creating the atmosphere of late continue to do it the right way.
We may have no more home assignments this season, but here’s hoping it continues into the new season.
I spoke with Andy post match to get his reflections on the game - have a listen to the recording below before you move on
The Bad
As good as Bromley were, and as great as the victory was, it didn’t come without a potential cost.
As early as the 10th minute, Ryan Stirk had to be substituted after a collision on the halfway line.
As mentioned in my last article, Stirk may only have been in situ for 14 games but his arrival coincided with an upturn in our fortunes.
He offers a different dynamic for the Bromley midfield due to his ability to play several roles and balance out what was already at the club.
Was the uptick in fortunes because of or in spite of Stirk? Either way, if his injury rules him out of the play-off eliminator, Bromley will have to prove they can cope without him.
Andy Woodman prides himself on it being a squad game and everyone has had a role to play at different times this season. It was the turn of Jude Arthurs on Saturday, who came on and did a fantastic job replacing Stirk.
Stirk’s injury is a blow but it doesn’t seem an insurmountable one.
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The Ugly
Where does Andy Woodman rank this season re: National League managers?
I am not here to be Andy Woodman’s propagandist, but it’s baffling to me that whenever we talk about pound-for-pound quality gaffers in the league, you rarely hear Woodman’s name in the conversation.
Let me be straight. I’m not asking you to confuse this with whether you like him personally. This isn’t a popularity contest. I’m talking about the primary metric we use to judge success: Winning games and getting trophies.
Andy Woodman has now been in charge for 102 league games and has only lost 25. For those that do percentages, that means he has avoided defeat in more than 75% of the games he has managed in the Vanarama National League. This is before I mention the FA Trophy.
The next time someone tells you they aren’t sure about the job he is doing, just quote that stat and ask them to provide some counter evidence that proves he isn’t doing a good job.
Like I say, this isn’t a popularity contest.
Get at me in the comments below.
Match ratings
Reice Charles-Cook (8)
Kellen Fisher (8)
Omar Sowunmi (8)
Callum Reynolds (8)
Deji Elerewe (8)
Besart Topalloj (8)
Ryan Stirk (6)
Billy Bingham (8)
Corey Whitely (7)
Michael Cheek (7)
Louis Dennis (7)
Subs:
Jude Arthurs for Ryan Stirk 8’ (8)
James Vennings for Corey Whitely 90’ (6)
Thanks for taking the time to read the match synopsis above.
Please note all 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
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I said to a number of people after the game “don’t think that Notts County are a given for promotion”.
There are some big games in the playoffs this season, our result against Chesterfield will send shockwaves through the playoff teams, Bromley are the form team with a fit squad. AW is confident, the team are confident and do you know what, after writing us off 2 months ago, I’m confident.
Excellent interview with Andy. A great performance. Was right behind Billy when he struck it what a great strike! Was fearing the worst after Stirk went off but boy does this team have character. We were under the cosh the first 20 minutes but always believed. Never in doubt after Billy's strike. Could have had several more with Cheeky's penalty miss, Jude had a great chance and Louis was denied by a last gasp block. Chesterfield lost their mojo in the end. Roll on the play-offs we should fear noone. Deji was immense.