Scunthorpe United 1-1 Bromley

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Two weeks ago, with Bromley due to play away at Scunthorpe, I wondered if the game would even play to completion. Home fans' hatred of Scunthorpe United’s owner, Pete Swann, had inspired a  pitch invasion protest in a recent game against Woking and the chances of a repeat performance seemed incredibly high.

That changed when Scunthorpe were saved from the brink last week. David Hilton completed a deal that included the football club, the stadium, and the land surrounding it. The positivity this brought was immediately evident with Scunthorpe’s 0-1 win at Halifax Town on Wednesday night.

In that regard, Bromley’s visit was always going to be more difficult than the average fan realised. We pitched up to play Scunthorpe at precisely the wrong time and it showed throughout the game.

The Iron played on the front foot, particularly in the first half, and there was a raucous atmosphere in the stands. If you believe in the notion of a crowd being a 12^th-man, Scunthorpe’s fans were that and then some.

It probably also helped that Scunthorpe were being watched by their new manager, Jimmy Dean of Peterborough Sports fame.

Scunthorpe United FC @SUFCOfficial

⚽️ CLUB STATEMENT Scunthorpe United is delighted to confirm our new management team, as Jimmy Dean joins as First Team Manager, Chris Plummer arrives as Assistant Manager and Michael Nelson becomes Head Coach. More details 👉 scunthorpe-united.co.uk/news/2023/janu… #UTI #IRON

Does that excuse Bromley conceding late on? No, but it does provide context for the difficulty of the match. 

As ever, I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 1-1 draw away at Scunthorpe United.

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

The Line-up vs Scunthorpe United

The Good

The good things that Bromley produced arrived in the second 45 minutes, and they came about because of a change of shape, from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2, and the introduction of Charley Kendall.

I stated a few weeks ago that changing to a 4-2-3-1 formation wasn’t the be-all and end-all of Bromley’s improved fortunes. Being flexible enough to switch systems when needed is much more important across a season.

The 4-2-3-1 set-up caused Bromley to be outplayed in the first half, but a switch to 3-5-2 evened things up in the second. A lot of that was down to the introduction of new Lincoln City loanee Charley Kendall. 

The reason for bringing Kendall into the club is to have a striker who can run in behind a defence and stretch the play. In other words, an upgrade on George Alexander. If we go by his National League South record, Kendall may prove to be a greater goal threat than Alexander, which is the cherry on the cake vis-à-vis the deal.

It was Kendall getting beyond the backline that led to the Bromley goal. His pace opened up a gap that Fisher and Vennings were able to exploit, with the latter crossing for Cheek to score a simple tap-in at the back post.

Speaking of Michael Cheek, that’s now 6 goals in his last 12 games (10 starts). Dare I say, the signs are pointing to him making up for his subpar first half of the season in the run-in.

It bears repeating that if Bromley are going to make it to the postseason, Cheek’s goals will almost certainly play a large part in that. He definitely has his mojo back and that makes Bromley a much harder proposition to deal with. 

Away from Bromley, I want to send a shout-out to the Scunthorpe fans themselves. We met quite a few before the game and it’s fair to say they’ve endured an awful lot over the last five seasons; struggling against an owner who seemed prepared to sink the club they love. 

Football clubs, largely speaking, still represent the heartbeat and soul of their local community and the Scunthorpe faithful have had their loyalty tested in the most extreme ways. 

Saturday felt like a great outpouring of relief and pent-up emotion for them. Much as I wanted to see Bromley hold on for the three points, I couldn’t begrudge Scunthorpe having something extra to celebrate on the day.

They have their club back and frankly that was the most important narrative of the day.

The Bad

It’s just as well Andy changed the shape at half-time as we had to ride a storm for a large majority of the first half. From the outset, it felt like Bromley wanted too much time on the ball and weren’t up for the physical challenge. 

Scunthorpe out-worked and out-pressed us in the first half, and they seemed to be able to turn the ball over at will. Once in possession, their transition ball was often on the inside of Bromley’s fullbacks, Fisher and Topalloj, which stretched us time and again. 

That said, we got away with it. 

When Bromley switched formations and got the go-ahead goal in the second half, it was always going to boil down to whether they could get a second to kill the tie. They didn’t, and Scunthorpe got a deserved equaliser.

The question the performance raises is whether we have to be more selective with who we play 4-2-3-1 against.

Attack is your best form of defence until the attack doesn’t work. Woodman chose to start with Krauhaus (possibly because Harry Forster was still carrying a tweak) and it didn’t pay off. But what other option did he have if we were going to play that shape?

In many ways, the performance shows why Woodman is still trying to get extra bodies through the door. 

While it’s right to say that draws won't be enough, the draws are reflective of what Andy has at his disposal. His options are limited in terms of game-changing players who can adapt to different scenarios, but there’s still time to change that.

The Ugly

As aforementioned, I felt that we weren’t a match for Scunthorpe physically in the first half. This echoed an opinion voiced to me about the 1-1 draw with Dagenham and Redbridge on Tuesday night. 

Bingham and Vennings are ball players and Arthurs has a great engine, but with the departure of Ethan Coleman to Gillingham, have we lost a bit of robust bite in the middle of the park?

Our match-up with Scunthorpe looked like Coleman’s type of game, but we’ve yet to replace him with a like-for-like player. 

Or is it not as simple as focusing on the midfield two? The change of shape seemed to nullify the lost battle, so was it the personnel or the system that was really to blame?

Either way, I can't help but feel it echoes my earlier assessment. At the moment, Bromley don’t have the strength in depth to respond to all possible scenarios.

The transfer window closes in a few days and it’s my bet that Andy Woodman is going to be a very busy man as he tries to find answers to this conundrum.

Get at me in the comments below.

Match ratings

Reice Charles-Cook (7)

Kellen Fisher (7)

Byron Webster (7)

Omar Sowunmi (7)

Besart Topalloj (7)

Billy Bingham (6)

James Vennings (7)

Ben Krauhaus (6)

Corey Whitely (6)

Louis Dennis (6)

Michael Cheek (7)

Subs:

Jude Arthurs for Billy Bingham 75 (6) 

Harry Forster for Louis Dennis 78 (7)

Charley Kendall for Ben Krauhaus 46 (7)

Editor’s Footnote

I wasn’t at this one, away games aren’t on my radar at the moment, but I echo Machel’s sentiments about the Scunthorpe faithful. One foul step could put almost any club, and its fans, in the same position. 

We should count our blessings that Bromley seem to have stable stewardship. The owner’s decisions might not be to everyone’s taste, but they’re geared towards moving the club onward and upward. How quickly that can all change. 

Forza Scunthorpe!

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