Bromley vs Barrow AFC preview
The obvious question following Bromley’s unexpected victory at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night is whether the Ravens can follow it up with a win at home on Saturday against Barrow.
Barrow, like so many of the teams Bromley will face this season, are a familiar foe from their National League days.
The two teams met on ten occasions in the National League before Barrow were promoted as champions in 2020.
Since then, as they have adapted to life in League Two, Barrow have had two rocky seasons with multiple managers, followed by two top-nine finishes.
Former FC Halifax Town manager Pete Wild was the architect behind those successive 9th and 8th-place finishes in 22/23 and 23/24, but he and the club parted ways at the end of last season.
In his place has come former Gillingham manager Stephen Clemence, who started life in the Barrow hot seat very well, scoring 16 points from his first seven games.
However, while the Bluebirds are 8th in the table, Bromley meet them during a dip in form. They have only won once in their last six league games, losing four and drawing one, and they have only scored three goals in that period.
But form doesn’t seem to count for much in this season’s League Two. Now that the season is 12 or 13 games deep, it has the feel of a league where the teams can all beat one another.
Interestingly enough, four of the five games Bromley have lost have come against teams that are currently in the top seven. Food for thought.
In terms of the Barrow squad, Clemence has tried to build on the team that narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season.
In terms of his more eye-catching signings, Katia Kouyaté has joined from Everton, while Ben Jackson and Connor Mahoney have arrived from Huddersfield and Theo Vassell has joined from Salford City.
However, whether Clemence is the manager to take Barrow to the next level remains to be seen.
One thing that will be under scrutiny is how Bromley fare against Barrow’s defence. Bromley have posed an attacking threat in every match this season, but Barrow have the second-best defensive record in the league.
Will Barrow shut Bromley out or will Barrow’s poor form continue?
Something has to give.
Andy Woodman was delighted with his charges on Tuesday night and few could begrudge him a smile of relief after his side executed their dogged game plan.
It bears repeating that, 12 games into their League Two season, Bromley have been competitive in every single game.
Arguably, they should have far more points to show for their efforts, but self-inflicted errors have been their Achilles heel.
They showed none of that on Tuesday, keeping a clean sheet and bagging three points in the process.
The demand will be for more of the same on Saturday against Barrow.
One would expect that the starting lineup will look very familiar to Tuesday, with the only question mark hanging over whether Michael Cheek will be fit.
Don’t expect Woodman to give anything away on that front. The first you will know about Cheek’s availability is if you see him warming up prior to the game.
If Cheek is fit, and deemed ready to start, then I assume he will replace Levi Amantchi.
Tuesday night was also the first time that Bromley’s opposition had clearly done their homework on Danny Imray; recognising that you can't give him the freedom to run at you.
If Barrow act with similar caution, that is no bad thing. Bromley should want teams to overload defensively on one side as it will free Corey Whitely and Idris Odutayo on the other side to wreak some havoc.
Is that something Bromley could/should utilise more?
Anywho, which XI would you pick for the Barrow encounter?
The From Bromley with Love XI
Smith
Sowunmi Webster Grant
Imray Thompson Leigh Odutayo
Whitely
Cheek Olomola
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
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