Walsall 2-2 Bromley

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Total unison among Bromley fans. We’d have taken a point before the game, bitten your hand off for a point at half-time, yet we ended the game utterly disconsolate at having to settle for a point. The kings of the draw found a way again, but was it a point earned or two dropped?

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

The team vs Walsall

The Good

We travelled to the team in 2^nd place while sitting in 21^st ourselves. Plenty of teams would have geared their game plan towards stifling the attacking threat of the league’s second-highest scorers and holding out for a point, perhaps nicking a goal from a set-piece along the way. That’s not where Andy Woodman is at the moment.

He opted for two up front, with Corey Whitely tucked in behind. Bromley don’t get much more attacking than that. At no point did the players or the bench give the impression that they had made the journey in search of anything other than three points. Maybe they are desperate for that elusive win, but it seems more likely that the coaching staff have instilled a belief in the squad that they can get a result against anyone. And why not? They have been competitive in every game they’ve played, even sometimes with ten men.

This was a game of equals, belying the nineteen-place difference in table positions. Bromley gave as good as they got and nowhere was this clearer than the talismanic Michael Cheek. We know he’s more than just tap-ins and penalties, but he does them anyway. And you only have to see his equaliser to know that he’s more than just a good decision-maker in the box.

Bromley’s healthy (for an away side) possession percentage of 44% shows just how often they managed to avoid losing possession when playing direct balls. A lot of that success was down to Cheek. His accurate knock-downs and flick-ons, and the errors he forced from defenders, allowed Bromley to gain possession in the dangerous areas. He must be such a pain to play against. When he’s paired with Fela running through on the shoulder, Bromley offer a solid threat from open play. That was especially evident in the first half of this match.

Would Bromley survive without Cheek if he ever retired? We are hopefully talking about the distant future, but life without Cheek would require a different game plan, probably involving a shake-up in several other positions. I vote ‘yes’ to the idea of a Michael Cheek statue to replace that weird elephant on a bike in St Mark’s Square.

The Bad

Good luck to the team psychologist (Woody?) who needs to ensure that the squad doesn’t develop a complex. The more the team gets used to conceding late goals, the more nervily they will defend. Putting aside the defending from our own corners for a moment (see below), Bromley’s defending was pretty calm and assured. The quality of their efforts pretty much blunted Walsall’s potent attack.

Once the game passed the 80-minute mark, however, things changed. Suddenly, players were snatching at balls they had waited for earlier in the game and were hoofing clearances that had been playing out more intricately before. We probably didn’t help in the stand by bellowing ‘anywhere!’ or ‘get rid!’ whenever the ball fell to a Bromley defender.

Add to this a seeming unwillingness to push for a third goal, aiming instead to get the corner flag involved, and maybe those late equalisers are more about mind than body. There’s a fine line between clever game management and nervy play in the closing stages, but they seem to be one and the same for Bromley at the moment.

The Ugly

Bromley suffered two breakaways from their attacking set-pieces, one led to a goal, the other demanded a decent save from Grant Smith.

No doubt the coaching staff will be addressing this problem, but from an amateur perspective, the one time I do not want a Bromley player to try and beat their man is when they are the player left back for our own set pieces. That feels like a decent time to hoof it back into the box for the giants still up there from the set-piece.

The issue is probably intensified by the relative lack of pace of those giants. We have a squad with clear strengths and some weaknesses. Play to the strengths and do all you can to avoid giving opponents the chance to exploit the weaknesses.

What did you make of this one?

Player Ratings

Grant Smith (7)

Omar Sowumni (8)

Byron Webster (7)

Kamarl Grant (8)

Danny Imray (8)

Jude Arthurs (7)

Ben Thompson (6)

Idris Odutayo (8)

Corey Whitely (7)

Olufela Olomola (7)

Michael Cheek (8)

Subs:

Cameron Congreve for Olufela Olomola 76’ (6)

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