Bromley 2-3 Salford City

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Mar 31, 2025

I think we can safely say there will be no postseason this year.

Bromley were very good for the first and last 15 minutes, but in between, Salford scored three goals and claimed all three points.

As ever, join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from the 2-3 home defeat against Salford City.

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

The team vs Salford City

The Good

Bromley started the match really well and attacked with the kind of purpose that suggested they could blow Salford away. The lead, when it came on eight minutes, was a deserved one, and perhaps Bromley will look back and say they should have made that early pressure count for more than just one goal.

There was little else to rave about other than the performances of some of the subs. Idris Odutayo has largely been resigned to a place on the bench since he returned from injury as Adam Mayor has done enough to keep his shirt.

However, in his 28 minutes on the pitch, Idris gave a timely reminder of the dual defensive and attacking quality he brings to the side. He and Brooklyn Ilunga added more from an attacking standpoint than Mayor and Congreve, which raises a selection dilemma for Andy Woodman ahead of the trip to Newport on Tuesday night.

Mayor had a poor game by his standards, but the cross that led to the first goal is a reminder of the threat he can pose in the final third. Is there an argument to say he should be playing further forward now that Idris is back?

Michael Cheek got his 18th goal of the season, which makes him the outright top goal-scorer in League Two. Remind me again why Matty Stevens won the EFL London Player of the Season award.

Putting the sloppy defending to one side for a moment, it wasn’t a bad attacking performance from Bromley. Remember Corey Whitely’s chance just before half-time? He should have buried that.

A look at the match stats tells the story.

Bromley had more possession, more shots on goal, more touches inside the opponent’s box, and more corners. On another day, with the exact same attacking performance, they may well have won the match, but the goals conceded made the overall performance look much worse.

Salford weren’t anything particularly special, but they were clinical when chances presented themselves. If Bromley had gifted the same chances to a National League side then they might have got away with at least one of them, but at this level, you simply cannot be so lackadaisical.

I thought there were a couple of standout players in Salford’s ranks, starting with Haji Mnoga, who gave Adam Mayor a torrid time from right wing-back and collected two assists for his troubles. His performance was a timely reminder that, sometimes in football, how you get on at one club is not an indicator of your true ability.

Haji was once on loan at Bromley from Portsmouth and did not have a happy time of it. He looked like a fish out of water and never quite got to grips with life at Hayes Lane. But what I saw on Saturday was a player full of confidence and in a good place in his career. More power to him.

Credit as well to Ben Woodburn. He came off after 65 minutes, but I thought that everything good in the Salford midfield came through him. He always seemed to be available to pick the ball up in spaces that could hurt Bromley and looked exactly like a player who played 58 times in the Championship over the last two seasons.

Woodburn’s pedigree is a reminder that Bromley are coming up against unprecedented quality this season. For all of the noise about a play-off chase, it’s useful for fans to remind themselves that Bromley are battling against strength in depth that they can’t match (yet).

This was one of those games where, in critical moments, Bromley played like a side made up of recent National League players and young loanees when some seasoned League Two nous was needed.

The Bad

I thought Bromley looked way too open in the middle of the park, and as a team, the defensive structure was subpar.

Bromley seemed to lose their way from the 20-minute mark onwards, and for that reason, I thought Andy would make some subs at half-time. I tweeted at the interval that I expected at least two to be made, so I was surprised that he waited until the hour mark.

Knowing that McKirdy was on the bench meant that there was an option to move Danny Imray backwards and put Harry in front of him. This was an option before the game, never mind at half-time.

Similarly, Cameron Congreve, who was at fault for Salford’s first goal, could easily have been hooked at half-time as he didn’t look himself after the mistake. It’s not like Andy hasn’t made this kind of bold move before, but he chose to stick rather than twist.

I had warned ahead of the game that perhaps Bromley were a bit spoilt for choice vis-à-vis selection going into this game. It was always going to be tough to work out the best configuration with the pieces available.

Andy would have seen things in this game that he wouldn’t have liked, so I expect him to shuffle the pack again at Newport.

One thing to consider now that Danny Imray is back is whether Bromley should revert to five at the back. But in a shape like that, where do you fit the likes of Mayor, Congreve, McKirdy, and even Corey Whitely?

Bromley have looked more solid when the midfield three (Arthurs, Charles, and Thompson) are all playing, but it compromises some of the attacking players if you try to fit all three.

But needs must. If Imray is fit, he should play. But if Bromley want to play 4-2-3-1, does he play at right-back or right-wing?

This is before we consider the approaching return of Carl Jenkinson.

Ahead of Newport, what shape and personnel would you deploy?

The Ugly

Bromley have seven league games remaining, and the plan will be to finish as high as possible in their inaugural season. However, we are approaching a point of the campaign where heads start to turn towards next season.

Assuming none of the following will be back on loan next season (Imray, Grant, Mayor, Congreve, Kacurri) and the following will be one year older (Webster, Cheek, Whitely, Dennis), Andy Woodman will perhaps have the biggest rebuilding job on his hands since he joined the club.

Andy has performed brilliantly in his four seasons at the helm and has created yet more history by establishing the team in League Two and reaching the FA Cup 3^rd round for the first time ever.

But improving Bromley next season will require a lot of creative wheeling and dealing to make the budget stretch.

Andy Woodman is not a manager who rests on his laurels, so he will be targeting a push for the top seven next season. To achieve that, should we assume this summer will see a major squad overhaul?

He chose to keep faith with about 90% of the squad that got Bromley promoted last season, backing the team spirit, togetherness, and shared culture to see them through. That bet paid off, meaning Bromley have never been in serious trouble this season. Can he repeat the trick with a raft of new arrivals?

Doing so will require getting the right characters through the door. It’s not as simple as better quality; that’s now how an Andy Woodman team works. Here, character is king.

If you were Andy Woodman, what would you be prioritising ahead of next season in terms of squad strengthening? Any names on your shopping list?

Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (6)

Kamarl Grant (5)

Omar Sowunmi (6)

Byron Webster (5)

Adam Mayor (5)

Jude Arthurs (6)

Ben Thompson (6)

Danny Imray (6)

Corey Whitely (6)

Cameron Congreve (5)

Michael Cheek (7)

Subs:

Harry Mckirdy for Kamarl Grant 60’ (6)

Brooklyn Ilunga for Cameron Congreve 60’ (7)

Nicke Kabamba for Ben Thompson 70’ (6)

Idris Odutayo for Adam Mayor 70’ (7)

Ashley Charles for Jude Arthurs 70’ (7)

From Bromley with love

Discussion about this post