Bromley 2-2 Walsall

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

It’s been a hectic two weeks for Bromley.

During that period, they’ve played four of the top five and have come away with seven points. The Ravens’ mad fortnight culminated on Thursday with the visit of league leaders Walsall, who more than met their match.

If Andy Woodman wanted to know if his side could be a serious force at this level next season, he got all the proof he needed. But what of this season?

Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 2-2 home draw with Walsall.

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

The team vs Walsall

The Good

Bromley played some good ‘football’. I use quotation marks because there are many ways to skin a cat. We’ve seen Bromley play a low-block-and-counter system so often that it feels like the given style, but that wasn’t what they did on Thursday night.

Until Levi Amantchi’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time, the Ravens were the team on the front foot and had Walsall flustered. And in the second half, until Jamille Matt’s equaliser, Bromley harried, pushed, and played Walsall into a quandary.

Don’t believe me? Look at the stats.

Bromley had 52% of the possession, more touches in the opposition box, and seven corners to Walsall’s two.

This felt like a sign of Bromley’s Football League evolution.

The game on Thursday night also gave me pause for thought. A month or so ago, Corey Whitely, for the first time under Andy Woodman, was relegated to the bench and was being used as an impact sub. At the time, I started to wonder if we were witnessing a changing of the guard.

Corey has been ever-present because his energy, work rate, and technical ability has made him practically undroppable. But time changes and things evolve.

In the middle of this season, Corey’s performance level began to dip and it felt like Andy picked the right time to take him out of the firing line. Corey has played a lot of football in the last few years, so this break offered a chance to rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit.

Since his return to the starting lineup, Corey’s triple-threat qualities have been on the show once again. There is significant life in Corey yet.

He wasn’t the best player on the pitch on Tuesday but he gave an insight into his importance: pressing from the front relentlessly, springing counters, and filling in brilliantly at right-back.

When Andy inevitably makes adjustments to the squad in the summer, finding another player like Corey Whitely should be a priority. Think back to the promotion season where Bromley were blessed to have Whitely and Ben Krauhaus working in tandem, both fantastic in attack and defence. Food for thought.

Ben Thompson added another goal to his tally, taking the midfielder to five goals for the season. Andy has moved Ben further up the pitch in the last month or two and has been rewarded with all-action displays from the ‘attacking midfielder’.

Thompson’s goals demonstrate his attacking effectiveness, but it’s not that simple. As Andy often states, he wins headers he has no right to win, breaks up play, and can pick the right space to attack at the right time.

And lastly, a word for Harry McKirdy, the mercurial one. How often have you heard the phrase right club, right manager? It doesn’t take much searching to find articles about Harry that praise his match-winning ability, but they often also cite a larger-than-life personality.

Bromley have had about 100 minutes out of Harry so far, and he has shown in that short time why Andy was keen to bring him to the club. Players like McKirdy can change games and win matches, but for them to do so, as Andy implies post-match, it is often best to let them play their way.

To give Andy his due, he has a knack for putting the proverbial arm around players and helping them to fulfil their potential. Has Harry found the right club, right manager?

When Michael Cheek’s lofted through-ball landed in front of him, there aren’t many players who could execute an inch-perfect lob like Harry did. Many wouldn’t have even made the run at all.

With a pre-season behind Harry, Andy might just have found the guy who can be the goal contributor he needs to complement Michael Cheek.

Walsall were a funny one, weren’t they?

On one hand, their resilience to come back from behind twice hints at why they’re top of the table. On the other hand, Bromley have faced Bradford, Doncaster, AFC Wimbledon, and Walsall in quick succession and Walsall did not look like the best of the bunch.

It was the same when Bromley travelled to Walsall earlier in the season, and back then they had goal-machine Nathan Lowe to call upon.

Maybe Bromley just match-up better against Walsall?

Predictably, Levi Amantchi came back to haunt the Ravens. I warned in the match preview that his vengeance arc would likely see him have a say on the night, and he got his chance much earlier than expected.

The rangy striker entered the fray as an enforced sub in the 19^th minute and dovetailed well with Jamille Matt throughout. Levi always had good feet, but there was a sense that Bromley’s football didn’t really suit him. On Thursday night, we saw what a team looks like when it plays to Levi’s strengths.

That isn’t meant as a slight on Andy Woodman. When Levi was fit and available, Bromley had Michael Cheek fit and available, and he’s the top scorer in League Two. But don’t let that detract from Levi Amantchi, who may well go on to make an impact at Walsall. He’s scored two goals in nine substitute appearances for the Saddlers, and maybe, just maybe, we got an insight into what might have been.

The Bad

Andy mentioned at full-time that he was disappointed with the nature of the goals conceded. At the time, I thought he was nitpicking, but now that I’ve watched them back, he’s right, they were too soft.

For the first, Oisin McEntee had time to miscontrol and then hook a ball back into the penalty area before anyone reacted. From there, Levi kills the ball dead with a brilliant touch and swivels to score. Could it have been stopped?

For the second goal, Jamille Matt got the jump on Deji Elerewe and got across him to chest home Connor Barrett’s cross. Lessons to be learned in both cases.

Andy Woodman sets such high standards that he will feel that it was two points dropped with three there for the taking. To look at it another way, the fact that beating the league leaders was an expectation rather than a hope is a very clear measure of how far Bromley have come.

The Ugly

It’s harsh to put this in The Ugly, but I have to say something.

Bromley have nine games left and are currently six points outside the play-offs. It might seem a stretch to say that Bromley can make a late run for the postseason, but only one of their remaining games is against a genuine promotion contender.

Andy is targeting the play-offs and will have set a clear target from the remaining 29 points available.

For what it’s worth, for those on the play-off charge bandwagon, I believe Bromley will need somewhere in the region of 23 points at a bare minimum to even stand an outside chance.

But, if I were Robin Stanton-Gleaves, I might be quietly hoping that Bromley fall just short (but with a hunger to go for it properly next season). Why, you ask?

The club is simply moving quicker on the pitch than off it. Bromley were barely ready for League Two, so how would the club cope if they found themselves three games away from another promotion?

Then again, time waits for nobody, and Andy Woodman is a serial winner. If the time is now, then so be it. But how badly do the players want it?

What did you make of the match on Thursday night? Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (7)

Kamarl Grant (7)

Deji Elerewe (6)

Byron Webster (7)

Adam Mayor (7)

Jude Arthurs (7)

Ashley Charles (8)

Cameron Congreve (7)

Ben Thompson (8)

Corey Whitely (7)

Michael Cheek (7)

Subs:

Harry Mckirdy for Kamarl Grant 46’ (8)

Brooklyn Ilunga for Cameron Congreve 74’ (7)

Nicke Kabamba for Michael Cheek 87’ (n/a)

Louis Dennis for Ashley Charles 88’ (n/a)

---

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