Bromley 3-1 Altrincham

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

“Wembley is not the prize.”

Bromley have confirmed their spot in the National League play-off final. But while all around him were losing their heads in celebration, Andy Woodman was as focused as ever.

Behind the camera and in front of it, he has maintained that the ultimate goal is to get Bromley Football Club out of the National League. Come Sunday, he stands 90 minutes from achieving just that.

Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 3-1 play-off semi-final win at home to Altrincham.

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

The team vs Altrincham

The Good

Indulge me for a second. Genuine wrestling fans are familiar with an approach known as Japanese Strong Style.

It incorporates kicks and strikes from martial arts disciplines and puts emphasis on submission wrestling.

Bromley play the football equivalent of Japanese Strong Style; death by a thousand submission holds. 

If they don’t get you against the run of the play, they’ll choke you out with a low-block-press. If that doesn’t work, they’ll nick something from a set piece and grind it out. And just when you’ve been lulled into thinking they are no more than a workmanlike side, they’ll start balling with the best of them and blow the opposition away. 

In many ways, the play-off semi-final was Bromley in a nutshell. They weren’t at their best in the first 45 and a tad too cautious in their approach, but a few tactical tweaks at half-time meant the game was done and dusted inside fifteen blockbuster minutes. Death by a thousand cuts.

The second-half performance can be summed up best by the source of the three goals. 

We saw two from Myles Weston (one from a set piece and the other a sumptuous curling effort) and a Jude Arthurs header that was about sheer desire (a goal that typified his essence as a footballer). It is unlikely that either player was on Bromley supporters’ pre-game betting card.

For that, Andy Woodman has to get credit. Throughout the season, he has been at pains to point out that the entire Bromley squad would have key roles to play.

Jude Arthurs hasn’t consistently commanded a central midfield spot this season, but he has been clutch in the run-in, making himself almost undroppable in the process.

Myles Weston has struggled for minutes and impact since arriving at Hayes Lane in December, but in the most important game of the season so far, he came up top trumps.

Away from those two individuals, the most noteworthy element was the Ravens’ ability to show the requisite game management to see out the match. 

3-1 is not as comfortable a scoreline as it seems, and Altrincham had more than enough time to gather their thoughts and launch some counter-strikes. But Bromley once again showed the hallmarks of a side that has the second-best defensive record in the National League this season. 

No moment typified this more than Jude Arthurs’ last-ditch block at the death to preserve the two-goal gap.

Finally, do you remember when I said Louis Dennis would play a critical role in the run-in? 

His second-half performance may have gone under the radar, but watch it back again and note how well he connected the dots between the midfield and the attacking transitions. 

It is a squad game, and when you have someone as naturally gifted as Louis, they shine in the biggest moments.

Who knows how the play-off final will play out, but can we all now agree that we have been spoiled this season with the level of ‘success’ we have witnessed?

Andy Woodman won’t deem it a ‘success’ unless Bromley achieve their ultimate goal, and rightly so. But, before we venture to Wembley, it is worth taking some time to reflect and appreciate what has unfolded this season.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends.

The Bad

The threat Altrincham posed was always going to come through the front four on the counter. The question Bromley have to ask themselves is how well they dealt with it.

Chris Conn-Clarke seems destined for the Football League, with or without Altrincham. Bromley paid him a good deal of attention, but how well can they say they dealt with Alex Newby and Justin Amaluzor? I felt they let the two of them have a bit too much joy in the channels in the first half.

Initially, Bromley were too passive in dealing with the Robins’ dangermen. I make this point because Solihull Moors tend to play in a very similar pattern and shape.

It is more than likely that the Moors will start with Joe Sbarra, Jamey Osborne, and Tyrese Shade behind a lone frontman in Tahvon Campbell.

How Bromley deal with that front four will likely determine how the play-off final pans out. 

If the Ravens start poorly or fail to heed the threat of the fluidity they bring, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Solihull will get a stranglehold on the game.

We can point to how Bromley came roaring back at Altrincham to prove that, with tweaks here and there, the tables can turn very quickly. But Andy Woodman will be very keen for his team to adhere to the game plan from the off rather than having to adjust to going a goal down early doors. 

Myles Weston scored two goals in the game, so it feels weird to write his name in the Bad column, but let me land.

The experienced wide-man came into the side to replace Josh Passley, who is rumoured to be injured. Myles is naturally left-footed, so his inclusion at right wing-back makes it clear that Bromley lack right-footed cover in that position.

That in itself isn’t a disaster, and the management team are obviously confident in Weston’s suitability as he deputised for Passley in the two games prior to the semi-final.

However, in the first 45 minutes, there were a few too many occasions where Myles’ desire to cut back onto his stronger left foot slowed the speed of the attacking play.

It may well be the case that Passley doesn’t recover in time for Wembley on Sunday. If so, I expect Weston to deputise once more.

Do Bromley need to address this tempo disruption before then, or will the massive Wembley pitch actually favour a slower tempo?

Where do you stand?

The Ugly

The injury to Ben Krauhaus was game-changing in so much that Bromley lost their way after he went off. A period of adjustment was inevitable and it is perhaps no surprise that Bromley conceded during the confusion.

Putting the goal aside, Ben was seen wearing a medical boot post-match. This likely means that his untimely withdrawal was the last time we will see him in a Bromley shirt.

As I’ve written before, we’ve been fortunate to see Ben play a full season at Hayes Lane. Every Bromley fan hopes he hits the ground running at Brentford when he turns up with his boot bag for pre-season.

It will be very sad if he can’t grace the Wembley pitch to try and get Bromley over the line, but let us take a moment to applaud his contribution this season.

- 19 years old.

- 46 appearances.

- 10 goals.

- Countless assists. 

- Big money Premier League move.

The question now is who will be next off the Bromley production line? Does the academy have another rabbit in its hat?

Let me know what you think about the above by getting at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (8)

Myles Weston (9)

Kamarl Grant (8) 

Byron Webster (8)

Callum Reynolds (8) 

Idris Odutayo (8)

Ashley Charles (8)

Jude Arthurs (9)

Ben Krauhaus (6)

Corey Whitely (8)

Michael Cheek (7)

Subs:

Louis Dennis for Ben Krauhaus 25’ (8)

Alex Kirk for Myles Weston 65’ (7)

Olufela Olomola for Corey Whitely 82’ (7)

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