BROMLEY 1 LEWES 2 – LEAGUE 19/08/03

The same old story I’m afraid - we dominated the first half, missed countless opportunities to increase our early lead and then in the second half we were well and truly punished by a good Lewes side who took the chances available to them.

Grant Watts put us in front on 7 mins when he tapped in a great cross from the right from close range at the far post. Ex-Lewes man Tony Reid ran himself ragged, getting in great positions and pulling the defence all over the place. Vines had another great game at the back and in general Bromley looked a good side, playing nice football and having lots of possession, but once again our shortcomings in the final third were to cost us. During the whole first half Rooks keeper Jean-Zepherin had played his defence in trouble with underhit back passes and just before the break he did it again, but this time Grant Watts was first to the ball and was faced 10 yards out with a yawning net in front of him. The Ravens fans were already getting ready to celebrate, but we should have known better, Grant scuffed his shot straight to an amazed Jean-Zepherin who still took two goes to gather it at Reid’s feet! From that point the momentum of the game changed and it was all Lewes.

From the beginning of the second half Lewes dominated and Bromley looked a shadow of the side who had bossed the first period. Even the introduction of Amoako for a ‘shell-shocked’ Grant Watts failed to spark anything up front. We were on the back foot and losing our shape long before the inevitable equaliser, which came on 64 mins when Kennett finished off a good move for Lewes. Bobby Nolan replaced David Smith, but his only contribution was to blast three shots into the car park from 30 yards, when easy passes were on. He switched wings with the anonymous Kirk Watts, which left us with no outlet and we could do nothing with the small amount of possession we had. The Rooks winner came on 73 mins when Peter Adeniyi scored a sublime goal from wide out on the right, which sailed into the top left hand corner of the net. It was only likely to be more from that point. Bromley were dead in the water long before the final whistle signalled an end to this text book game of two halves. I left the Nest with a painful sense of deja vu.

Quote for the game: ‘Bromley FC have ruined my life.’

Team: Harwood, Potterill, Kember, Vines, Willy, Forbes, Smith Jnr, McKoy, Reid, G Watts, K Watts.

Subs: Hunt, Nolan, Butler, Amoako, Harney.