Newcastle United 3-1 Bromley

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Well, that went as well as anyone could have reasonably expected.

Speaking to people pre-match, there was a shared desire to see Bromley score a goal and not get humiliated. Not only did we have our moment, for 45 minutes, we dared to dream.

We should have known it would be alright. Andy Woodman’s side are built on grafting and leaving it all out there. They did that and then some.

Bromley fans will speak of this day for years to come.

Join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 3-1 FA Cup third round defeat at Newcastle United.

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

The team vs Newcastle United

The Good

The moment. Every fan in a David and Goliath tie yearns for the moment; a chance to lose yourself and suspend disbelief; a chance to dream.

Cameron Congreve provided that moment and then some.

When the ball hit the net, there was the briefest of pauses while people thought ‘What the f**k?’

That pause was followed by what can only be described as Royal Rumble scenes on the terraces. People definitely got thrown over the top rope (otherwise known as safe-standing barriers).

At half-time, with the game finely poised at 1-1, Bromley were more than worth the scoreline. Yes, Newcastle had predictably dominated possession, and Bromley had barely come out of their half after the 30^th minute, but what did Newcastle create in that time?

Don’t get it twisted, Newcastle were deserved winners, but Grant Smith didn’t exactly have a lot of saves to make. Bromley stuck to their defensive task manfully. They closed down the spaces and managed to frustrate and deny a side three leagues above them (and with seven straight wins in the bank).

I thought Omar Sowunmi and Idris Odutayo were particularly excellent. Young Idris picked quite the moment to remind any suitors that at 22 years old, he has a huge upside, with or without Bromley.

That isn’t to say there weren’t any other notable performances. Danny Imray grew into the game defensively, and of course had Bromley’s other moment in the match. If his shot had hit the net to make it 0-2, then who knows how the game would have turned out.

At that specific moment, Bromley were the better team, and I would say it took Newcastle until the 20^th minute to get to grips with the game properly.

A word now for Deji Elerewe, who, in only his second game back, was trusted to do the full 90. In full flow, he’s a Rolls Royce of a player, and there were plenty of moments here to remind us of that. Given he played 90 minutes in a match of this magnitude, I wonder how close we are to seeing Deji slot in as a guaranteed starter week in, week out?

And how about Cameron Congreve? In my match preview, I asked him to take this moment to shine. That he did. His wonderful goal confirmed the quality many have suspected he has in his locker.

Perversely, and maybe it speaks to his academy football upbringing, he revelled more in a game of this high quality than he has in the more agricultural confines of League Two.

The challenge for Cameron is to make days and moments like this a more regular feature over the remainder of this season.

If Andy Woodman says you’re a player, then more often than not there is something of great quality there. Over to you Cameron. You’re on two for the season, set a target now and meet it.

Lastly, a shout out to every single one of the 3,000 Bromley fans who made the journey and contributed to a racket that has been praised by many a Newcastle fan.

Fans from the old school and the new school united to contribute what we could as a 12^th person, and did so with good humour and spirit. It was a reminder that Bromley is a club on the rise.

Often in these G/B/U write-ups, I take a moment to focus on the opposition and highlight stand-out quality among the players on show.

I don’t think Newcastle need me to do that, but I will say a word for their young lad Lewis Miley, who scored a quality equaliser. He is only 18 years old, but he seems very highly thought of in Newcastle.

Eddie Howe has declined the opportunity to send Miley out on loan and considers him very much part of the first-team squad. No wonder, as the youngster is also an England U21 international.

All that said, let the record show that at half-time, Newcastle brought on Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimarães to make sure of the win.

Eddie Howe said at full-time that Anthony Gordon was a forced substitute for Harvey Barnes, and that Bruno was always going to play the second 45, but if the game wasn’t 1-1, would he have made the changes?

After a couple of scares, I suspect he decided he needed that extra quality sooner rather than later. That is the biggest compliment that could be paid to Bromley’s performance on the day.

A word also for Newcastle the city. What a good vibes place. Everyone talks about the famous Toon community and culture, and it was on show for all to see.

Every single Newcastle fan I interacted with was good craic and I’m fairly certain most Bromley fans had a similar experience.

My only disappointment was that I couldn’t travel up on the Saturday to sample the nightlife properly.

The Bad

On such a momentous day, it would be churlish to be overly critical of the performers.

It was disappointing that Newcastle scored when Callum Reynolds was off the pitch. Would we have conceded otherwise?

Ben Thompson’s challenge for the penalty was a bit rash and we could have no complaints about the decision. And since I’m picking nits, perhaps Callum could have got out to Osula and got a tad tighter to prevent the shot, but we’re talking about Newcastle United versus Bromley. It is what it is.

The only real gripe I have is that once Newcastle scored the third, could/should Bromley have gone two up front in the final 10-15 just to have a go at it? Or was it better to just keep the score respectable?

Bromley’s FA Cup journey is over and we take our memories with us. However, an opportunity lies ahead for the football club.

Does this occasion change expectations and whet the appetite for more days like these?

Andy Woodman has always been upwardly mobile in his thinking, so I have no doubt that he’s looking toward the play-offs this season. Will the rest of the club align with his ambition?

It can be easy to lose sight of the overall mission after days like these, but the first target remains consolidating the club in League Two.

However, following the Newcastle game, if the club believes that even better days lie ahead, then the outlay in January will need to match that ambition. Or, failing that, the planning for 2025/26 should start now.

Speaking of 2025/26, have Andy Woodman and Alan Dunne signed a contract extension? Right now, they can demand freedom of Bromley and a couple more 00s on their wage.

The Ugly

On the journey up, a contingent of Bromley fans were apprehended on the train from London to Newcastle.

I don’t know if they made it to Newcastle, I hope they did, but the way British Transport Police were going on it wouldn’t have surprised me if they got left high and dry somewhere else in the North.

Lads, come on now. I get it, we’ve all been young twats at some point in our life (myself included), but not making it to the game, if that is indeed what happened, is a huge L.

Let that not sour anything, though. We all had a great time and that’s what matters.

What was your take on this very unique fixture? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (7)

Danny Imray (7)

Omar Sowunmi (8)

Callum Reynolds (7)

Deji Elerewe (7)

Idris Odutayo (8)

Jude Arthurs (7)

Ben Thompson (7)

Corey Whitely (7)

Cameron Congreve (8)

Michael Cheek (7)

Subs:

Ashley Charles for Ben Thompson 65’ (7)

Josh Passley for Cameron Congreve 77’ (7)

Levi Amantchi for Michael Cheek 78’ (6)

Byron Webster for Callum Reynolds 82’ (7)

Lewis Leigh for Jude Arthurs 83’ (7)

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Please note all match photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Twitter here

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