WWW.BROMLEYFC.COM - MATCH REPORT
WALTON & HERSHAM 3 BROMLEY 3 – LEAGUE 03/04/04
After twice being two goals in front Bromley only came away with a point from Stompond Lane after failing to stand up to a very physical and direct Walton side who basically got away with injuring five of our players thanks to a spineless refereeing display by Mr Haines.
The game started with Walton on top and they had a good shout for a penalty turned down and one effort cleared off the line by Forbes before Bromley had really mounted an attack. Both sides were frustrated by the very dry and bumpy pitch, which made controlling the ball very difficult. Bromley came into the game more and on 20 mins they took the lead when a Drewett cross was knocked in by Zahana-Oni after Watson had put the keeper Gindre under pressure. 4 mins later it was 2-0 to the Ravens when a long range looping effort by McKoy came back off the bar and Watson bundled the ball home at the second attempt past Gindre. It was all going really well until Gus Hurdle’s deliberate effort to injure Mark Watson succeeded when he lunged with both feet into his ankle. Ref Haines only showed the former Brentford man a yellow card for this horrifying assault and Watson had to go off with a serious looking injury. From that point Walton saw fit to fly into out of order challenges at every opportunity. Most Bromley fans though Falana should have come on to add some much needed strength, but Instead Macca introduced Amoako. With Amoako & Harney both receiving treatment the Swans got back into the game on 42 mins when they got a penalty for a trip in the box. Harney had to go off injured as Lampton smashed home the penalty for 1-2. There was still time for Luckett and Drewett to both be pole axed before the break and they both had to limp off at the half and begin the second half far from 100%.
Not long into the second period Bromley looked to have done enough when a Vines cross was batted out to Potterill who headed home from 10 yards. Despite Amoako looking offside it was 1-3! The second two goal lead only lasted 10 mins as on 62 mins some awful flat footed defending by Bromley saw Nwokeji get in the box and square the ball to Gibss who rolled the ball in from close range. Walton then pressed on and the challenges got nastier. Harwood had to make a good save before on 85 mins Walton grabbed an equaliser that Danny could do nothing about. A low shot from distance by Thompson took a nasty deflection and Harwood was wrong footed as the ball trickled over the line for 3-3. Ahmet Suleymanoglu was introduced for his Bromley debut, but looked very unfit and lacking in pace. No one could work out why Falana or George didn’t get on, the new man’s only effort was to sky a cross over the bar. The game ended in a draw, which ironically just about puts and end to either side’s top seven ambitions.
Quote for the game: ‘Walton are like Uruguay in 1986!’ – John X.
Team: Harwood, Forbes, Harney, Wilfort, Luckett, Smith, Drewett, McKoy, Watson, Vines, Zahana-Oni.
Subs: Amoako, Falana, Suleymanoglu, Potterill, George.