Honours were event in an eventful Kent Derby on Saturday evening at Hayes Lane with the Gills sealing a controversial injury time equaliser to salvage a draw after falling two behind.

The much-anticipated top of the table match was labelled as a serious examination of both teams’ promotion credentials, and both teams will have emerged as serious promotion contenders based on this showing.

Gillingham had the first effort of note in the fourth minute as Nevitt raced in from the right only to blaze his shot over.

The game came into life three minutes later with a brilliantly executed direct move that consisted of two touches from Smith’s long clearance. Cheek nodded the ball into the path of Kabamba who unleashed a stunning drive on the turn into the bottom left corner of the goal past a stationary Morris.

Bromley’s direct approach was working well, and they doubled their lead in the 13th minute this time through Cheek with an expertly guided header from an angled cross from the left from Odutayo.

Cheek became Bromley’s greatest goal scorer of the modern era surpassing Butch Dunn’s record of 132 goals. 

Cheek and Kabamba were proving to be a handful for the Gills back line. A lovely move on the 21st minute nearly saw Bromley add to their lead with a sublime slide rule pass from Kabamba releasing Ifill down the right, but Cheek could not convert his deep cross at the back post.

Kabamba was at it again in the 23rd minute as he sprang through on goal only to be denied by the fingertips of 41-year-old Morris. The ball ricocheted to Cheek whose placed header was scrambled off the line by the Gillingham defence.

Gillingham were struggling to get a foothold in the game and an organised Bromley defence limited Williams to a 35-yard short that blazed over the bar in the 35th minute.

Three minutes later, however, the Gills should have pulled one back. Sowunmi struggled to sort his legs out as Andrews raced through on goal and his angled shot just flicked the foot of the on-rushing Grant to go wide.

Bromley closed out the half with no further incident and went into half-time knowing that they were sitting proudly at the top of EFL Division Two. There were outstanding performances all over the pitch. The midfield, led by Charles were in dominant form, Cameron was a calming influence at the back, Kabamba was causing problems and Smith pulled off some very important saves. Gillingham’s biggest threat came down the right in the form of Hutton.

The first of two pivotal moments in the game occurred shortly after the re-start with Cameron having to go off with a head injury in the 51st minute.

Bromley seemed unsettled at the back and Smith was quickly called upon to make a save at point black range following a Gillingham free kick in the 53rd minute.

Two minutes later there was confusion again at the back as Gillingham grabbed a lifeline. A long throw from Hutton found Andrews completely unmarked in the box, and he dinked his header over the despairing Smith in the Bromley goal. 

The Gillingham fans started to find their voice as both managers made a flurry of changes seeking to find an advantage. Bromley nearly regained their two-goal advantage in the 60th minute as Krauhaus played in Cheek who scuffed his shot onto the right-hand post. As the ball was recycled into the box it was Kabamba’s turn to have his low shot deflected to the left of the goal.

Gillingham had been looking much more dangerous, but they seemed to lose momentum a bit following the changes.

It was Bromley that went close again in the 80th minute. A lovely raking pass wide by Arthurs found Pinnock who marauded forward and rifled a shot straight at Morris. The rebound fell to Cheek whose volley was again headed off the line by the Gillingham defender.

Bromley looked to control the match as the clocked ticked down and survived a scare in the last minute of normal time following good work by substitute Vokes to hold off three challenges and slide debutant Jonny Smith through, but Grant Smith was alive to the danger and rushed out to block his shock.

With time running out Gillingham surged forward again in a move that resulted in the second and highly controversial pivotal moment. Former Bromley prodigy McCleary raced down the left into the box sprawling under pressure from keeper, Smith. Despite referee Durkin not having a clear view of the incident he believed that contact had been made and pointed to the spot.  

Clark stepped up and calmly planted the ball in the middle of the goal past Smith to send the large Gillingham support into raptures.

The draw helps maintain the Gills unbeaten record to the season and places them top of the league, and they celebrated like they had won the league!

For Bromley, it was a bitter pill to swallow after an industrious performance and as the wonderful new East stand starts to take shape this battling and still unbeaten Bromley team are providing double grounds for optimism.

It’s very early days but the two top football league clubs in Kent appear to be on the rise!

Bromley travel to Oldham Athletic next Saturday while Gillingham entertain Notts County at Priestfield Stadium.

Teams

Bromley Starting XI: Grant Smith, Ashley Charles, Omar Sowunmi, Kyle Cameron (51 Byron Webster), Michael Cheek, Mitch Pinnock, Nicke Kabamba (86 Marcis Dinanga), Will Hondermarck, Corey Whitely (56 Jude Arthurs), Marcus Ifill (56 Ben Krauhaus) and Idris Odutayo. 

Unused substitutes: Sam Long, Ben Thompson, and Jemiah Umolu.

Gillingham Starting XI: Glenn Morris, Romaeo Hutton (62 Jonny Smith), Max Clark, Andy Smith, Ethan Coleman (56 Nelson Khumbeni), Armani Little (62 Gareth McCleary), Josh Andrews (70 Aaron Rowe), Jonny Williams, Robbie McKenzie, Elliot Nevitt (62 Sam Vokes) and Sam Gale.

Unused substitutes: Jake Turner and Lenni Cirino.

Referee: James Durkin

Attendance: 3,005