Wealdstone 3-2 Bromley

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The easy thing to do after watching Bromley’s opening game of the National League season would be to compile a conventional match report. However I’ll save those for the Non-League Paper.

Every league or cup game I watch this season I’ll present a match analysis via The Good, The Bad and The Ugly template.

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

The Line-up vs Wealdstone

The Good

1. After all of the consternation about signing a new goalkeeper, and the rather disrespectful tone some took to the announcement of Reice Charles-Cook, Reice reminded people why he’s played seventy-four games across League One and Two.

He produced excellent saves on at least four occasions to both keep Bromley in the game and protect the lead. He was also very good with the ball at his feet and marshalling his defensive line. 

Some will see three goals conceded and assume he had a bad day at the office. But, other than the penalty where he will have to take a share of the blame, the goals were down to poor defending. 

2. It’s early days, but there were signs of a good partnership building between Michael Cheek and Adam Marriott. Both got into key positions throughout the ninety minutes. On another day this may have led to more goals. 

Importantly, Cheek got off the mark in this game. As I alluded to in my previous article, if he stays fit he’ll guarantee a return of at least twenty goals. If Marriott can add ten or more, Bromley will likely be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

3. Reece Hannam put in a solid debut at left wing back. He was probably more threatening than Forster going forward, excellent on set pieces, and he got through a lot of work defensively. It would’ve been a wake-up-call in terms of the demands of National League football, so it was no surprise to see him substituted on the seventy minute mark after appearing to cramp up. 

The Bad

1. This was probably one of Harry Forster’s poorest games in a Bromley shirt. Not because he had a stinker, but because his usual attacking threat seemed subdued. He rarely got at his opposing full back, and when he did get into promising positions he often failed to pick out his man or make the right decisions. 

Of course, it was just the first game of the season and Harry will produce in time, but he won’t be happy with his performance against Wealdstone.

2. Bromley had the lion’s share of possession for the first hour. But a lot of the “pretty passing”, as Andy Woodman called it in his post-match interview, was in front of the Wealdstone defence. Incisive passes that cut through the lines were missing. The plan seemed to be to switch it out wide, but, as per point 1, this didn’t really bear fruit.

3. All told, the decision to give the penalty may well have been the right one. However, one game into the season, we saw yet another erratic refereeing display. If the penalty was stonewall, there was no excuse to delay the decision for ten seconds. Whether the referee was certain or not, it looked to the neutral observer like he only made the decision after being surrounded by players and the noise of the baying crowd.

Penalty decision aside, it was another inconsistent performance by the man in the middle; a not uncommon sight in the National League. 

The Ugly

1. Defensively, Bromley were a mess. Despite the Ravens leading at the interval, Wealdstone had served plenty of notice that they were able to get into the space between the centre backs and the wing backs. This wasn’t addressed. The centre backs were too narrow and the wing backs were often caught high up the pitch as a result. 

In addition, there were too many occasions where lines weren’t cleared, leading to the team being caught in possession.

2. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the game was that all three goals were self-inflicted. The first was a long throw that wasn’t dealt with. The second was a needless penalty given away after lines weren’t cleared. The third was the result of too much space and time given to Kretzchmar and no-one picking up Cook, who had a free header.

After the equalising penalty, the players seemed to lose their composure and there was always a sense that another goal might be coming.

3.When we had to chase the game, other than going gung-ho, it was hard to see what the tactic was. Omar went up top and Mason Bloomfield was thrown on with Cheek and Marriott.

It seemed like basic route-one stuff. And, who knows, if it weren’t for a good save from the Wealdstone keeper it may have led to the salvaging of a draw. But there will be questions asked about Bromley’s tactical flexibility when the chase is on.

Match ratings

Reice Charles-Cook (7)

Harry Forster (5)

Omar Sowunmi (6)

Byron Webster (5) 

Chris Bush (6)

Reece Hannam (7)

James Vennings (7)

Billy Bingham (6)

Corey Whitely (7)

Michael Cheek (7)

Adam Marriott (6)

Subs:

Mason Bloomfield (on 79 for Forster) (6)

Ethan Coleman (on 75 for Vennings) (6)

Jude Arthurs (on 70 for Hannam) (6)

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