Bromley vs Newport County preview
There is a significant number of the current Bromley fanbase that wouldn’t have been watching the club the last time Bromley and Newport County went head to head.
The last encounter was 14 years ago as County, under the tutelage of Dean Holdsworth, romped to the Conference South title with 103 points no less.
That Newport side was probably the best I’ve seen at the Conference South level but since that promotion The Exiles have pretty much set up residency in League Two.
Three seasons was all they needed to get out of the National League and Newport fans will likely feel they are now at their natural level.
For those unaware of their football history Newport County were a football league club until 1988 before a myriad of financial issues lead to them going out of business and reforming.
When we last faced Newport they actually played at Sptty Park which shows how long ago the previous encounters were.
The Exiles now reside at Rodney Parade and it was there under Mike Flynn’s five year reign as manager that they achieved two runs to the League Two playoff final between 2017-2021.
However, since then County have found themselves on a downward spiral finishing 11th, 15th and 18th in consecutive seasons.
It led to Graham Coughlan being dismissed in June this year and the latest man charged with the task of improving things is former Swansea academy coach, Nelson Jardim.
The Exiles are currently unbeaten in five, albeit with four draws in that run. However last time out they turned some heads with a 6-3 win over promotion chasing MK Dons.
They will be hoping that the thirst for goals hasn’t run out after that victory and with goals spread out amongst the team this season, Hudlin 4, Wildig 5, Baker, Baker-Richardson, Kamwa and Morris 3, unlike Bromley you cant readily identify where the threat may come from.
It is also worth noting that Newport have drawn blanks in eight of their 20 league games so far this season. Will the real Newport County please stand up?
More worringly for them at the other end Newport possess the sixth worst defence in the league.
Advantage Bromley right? Who knows….
Bromley returned from Morecambe on Saturday with another three points as they made it nine games unbeaten and only one defeat in their last 13 games.
With many of the travelling fanbase in fancy dress for the occasion, they were treated to a gritty display that rewarded their admirable charity efforts – raising in the region of £2500 for Great Ormond Street Children’s Charity.
Andy Woodman has found a style of play and shape that seems very much fit for purpose in League Two and whilst I wouldn’t stretch to say Bromley are unbeatable.
They have found that familiar mojo that served them very well in the National League.
It is rare that you will see a bad Bromley performance where the team simply isn’t at the races. Put simply the opposition has to play well to beat them.
Against Morecambe – neither Danny Imray or Michael Cheek had to be at their best for both to have a goal contribution impact. If both do influence the game on Boxing Day then I find it hard to envisage an outcome where Bromley don’t pick up points.
As with my preview before Morecambe the only real question mark for this game is when and if Woodman will rotate the squad to ensure his team is as fresh as possible in pursuit of the holiday points.
One change I could see is Congreve being replaced for another striker – Olufela Olomola seems the most likely.
Would you make any other rotation changes?
Possible Bromley XI
Smith
Sowunmi Reynolds Grant
Imray Thompson Arthurs Odutayo
Whitely
Cheek Olomola
Please note all match photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Twitter here
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Would like to see Josh get some more minutes, Fela to start, and (if we can) rest a few key guys with 10/20 minutes to go.
Levi, Charles, Webster, Jenkinson to all play a part.
Would love to see Fela get a start in one of the Xmas games , give him 70 mins or so & see if he can notch a goal.