Gillingham 0-3 Bromley
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Stand aside Gillingham, Bromley are now the best some say biggest team in Kent.
We can quibble about postcodes and geography, but for the purposes of League Two, and moving forward in the EFL, Bromley are a Kent/London hybrid.
Whichever way you look at it, the Ravens completed their first-ever EFL double with a comprehensive win against Gillingham.
Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 0-3 win away at Priestfield.
Have a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
The team vs Gillingham
The Good
Andy Woodman sprang a surprise with his named XI for this game. Firstly, in from the cold came Deji Elerewe. This was his first start of the season, but it felt like his first real game since signing permanently for the club last season.
Deji has had injury woes for the best part of nine months and Bromley have had to play the patience game, taking his recovery and rehabilitation very slow before bringing him gently back into the fold.
Frankly, it was as if he never went away.
When Deji was last with us, he made the left-centre back position his own with his excellent positional awareness, calmness in possession, and ability to win individual dues.
Andy moved mountains to bring him back on a permanent deal from Charlton, knowing that Deji would fit Bromley’s style of play perfectly. The intention was always to have him as a progressive LCB with the ability to move the ball out from the back.
Based on what I saw, in Kamarl (RCB), Omar (CB), and Deji (LCB), Bromley may have their future back three identified when Byron and Callum’s wily contributions are not deemed essential.
By no means am I suddenly expecting Deji to play every week, but it is a definite plus that he is back. Importantly, it means that Bromley should not need to strengthen in that area for the remainder of the season.
The fact he came off after 80 minutes tells you that the club is being cautious, so we continue to wish the best for Deji moving forward and can rejoice now that he is back in the fold.
Also in from the cold came Louis Dennis. Louis last featured as an 82nd minute substitute in the FA Cup second-round tie at Solihull Moors. Bromley had played six matches since that appearance. It felt like a genuine surprise to see Louis chosen as the person to partner Michael Cheek, but the pair have the advantage of knowing each other's game inside out.
My assumption is that Woodman, Dunny, and the backroom staff saw something in how Gillingham set up that made them want to utilise Louis’ ability to drop off the frontman and find holes and spaces that defenders don’t want to go into.
What looked like a leftfield call worked like a dream. Louis dropped into space to start and then finish the move that gave Bromley the go-ahead goal.
This doesn’t mean that Louis should/will go on to start every match moving forward, but I am a fan of horses for courses. If Woodman believes Louis has the perfect game to exploit a weakness in the opposition, play him.
That said, who now plays at Crewe on Sunday?
Deji and Louis aside, I thought the performance of the whole team was excellent. Bromley have the lowest possession stats in League Two, but no team is better without the ball.
Bromley will outwork and outhustle so many teams while out of possession and wait for their moments. They honed that style of play in the National League and have elevated it to new levels in League Two.
Gillingham were woeful in the first half, but they were also made to look woeful because they simply couldn’t match Bromley’s intensity. That has been the crux of the Ravens’ success under Andy Woodman.
Bromley were on it from minute one, took their moments well, and were happy to play without the ball for long periods of the second half. It’s all there in the DNA.
One thing I should mention, especially in light of me doing the transfer window piece yesterday, for all the noise I made about Bromley needing another striker (possibly), it is worth mentioning that of the last fifteen goals Bromley have scored, Cheek has only scored three of them.
The dependency on him is waning somewhat, but, and there is a but, he is still the fulcrum of the side. So much of how Bromley play depends on Cheek’s frontman work; drawing fouls and winning flick-ons etc.
We may not need another goal-scoring Cheek, but we could do with a Michael Cheek like-for-like player to come off the bench.
For those keeping count, in terms of League goals this season, the scoreboard reads: Cheek 12, Sowunmi 4, Thompson 3, Arthurs/Dennis 2, and eight players have one goal.
Off the pitch, a commendation must go to the 963 Bromley fans who travelled deep into Kent for a Thursday night derby match.
By all accounts, Gillingham were surprised and maybe a tad unprepared for how many Bromley fans were prepared to travel, but it really is a sign of how this club is growing at an exponential rate.
More and more Bromley fans go to games that I have never seen before. It would be fascinating to know what percentage of that 963 have only started attending Bromley games in the last four years.
That isn’t a criticism, just a reflection on what the success under Andy Woodman has brought to the club. Bromley really are a club on the rise, in more ways than one.
Having now seen Gillingham twice in the space of a month, they look like a club without any real identity.
They were horrid in the first half, and this was after manager Mark Bonner had made six changes to the starting XI. His side looked devoid of the basics and were particularly lacking the heart for the fight.
Out battled, out hustled, and to be honest also out played. What was their pattern of play supposed to be?
They sent on a sea of substitutes at half-time, and it did lead to a reaction of sorts, but as Andy Woodman stated in his post-match interview, how many times did Gillingham get in and beyond Bromley?
I think Grant Smith had one good save to make and that was it.
Their squad has been expensively assembled with the aim of getting promotion to League One, but such has been their decline, Bromley seem more likely to achieve that before the Gills do.
What Gillingham fans need to ask themselves is whether this is all Mark Bonner’s fault. If it isn’t, where does the blame lie?
The Bad
Alas, we are in the transfer window. Every time Bromley turn in yet another unbeaten performance, I wonder about the number of scouts that may or may not be turning up at our games.
The starting lineup included five youngsters who have incredible upside.
Danny Imray 21
Kamarl Grant 21
Deji Elerewe 21
Idris Odutayo 22
Jude Arthurs 23
I am not for one minute suggesting all of them could be on their way, but if you were a bigger club than Bromley, you would be foolish to not be casting a keen eye our way.
With Kellen Fisher and Ben Krauhaus having already moved on to bigger things, Bromley have a reputation for helping young talent kick on.
Every game that loanees Imray and Grant play, Bromley fans hope that we get to keep and extend the loans respectively.
We await any official club announcements with bated breath.
Speaking of Kamarl Grant, if I was Bromley, I would use some of the Newcastle United FA Cup money to convince Millwall to let us have him on a permanent deal.
Alex Mitchell had an incredible upside some years ago but was never able to break into the Millwall first team. He is now an established first-teamer at Charlton having joined them for an undisclosed fee in the summer.
Robin Stanton Gleaves, Andy Woodman, and Alan Dunne should try and test Millwall’s resolve.
The Ugly
Earlier this season, a fellow fan messaged me about some unsavoury sectarian singing at Bromley away games.
Because I hadn’t been in enough away ends this season, I wasn’t privy to them directly, so had no first-hand evidence.
Yesterday, that changed.
At some point in the second half, somewhere amidst the yoof turnout, someone decided a rendition of God Save the King, interspersed with ‘No Surrender!’, was needed.
I will simply ask the following questions:
What is the relevance of that song to Bromley FC?
Why did you and your mates feel that was necessary?
Simple questions should have simple answers.
Be as bold as you were when you sang the song.
I couldn’t pick out who started the song, but I am more than willing to have a robust conversation with said individual(s) if they want to make themselves known to me.
That’s not on a bad boy ting, just simply letting said individual(s) know that Bromley FC has never been about sectarian singing, exclusionary politics, and any related bullshit you care to mention.
If that’s your bag, go find another club to use as a vessel of hate.
Get at me in the comments below.
Match ratings
Grant Smith (9)
Kamarl Grant (9)
Omar Sowunmi (9)
Deji Elerewe (9)
Idris Odutayo (9)
Jude Arthurs (9)
Ben Thompson (8)
Danny Imray (8)
Corey Whitely (8)
Louis Dennis (8)
Michael Cheek (7)
Subs:
Callum Reynolds for Deji Elerewe 80’ (7)
Ashley Charles for Jude Arthurs 80’ (7)
Olufela Olomola for Michael Cheek 90’ (n/a)
Levi Amantchi for Louis Dennis 71’ (7)
Thanks for taking the time to read the match synopsis above.
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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Well said Mach, I did an absolute double take at the ‘no surrender’ bullshit, will be happy to call out any future instances, absolutely no place for this at our club
Agree with everything you said , I was told a few started a Tommy Robinson chant but aborted it when they read the room so to speak. We can hope that Deji stays fit & Kamarl can be signed that would be a statement signing for real. Keep up the good work Mach.