In Part 2 of the Bromley season review, Colin Head looks at how the Ravens fortunes drifted from shock title chasers to playoff contenders at the turn of the year.

November 2019

November was a month of contrasting fortunes for Bromley FC. It started with a 1-0 defeat at Wrexham, before two epic FA Cup ties with Bristol Rovers came either side of an eventful 3-3 draw at home to Harrogate Town, where Bromley came back from 3-0 down.

The initial draw away at The Memorial Stadium will go down in Bromley folklore, for the first time in most fans living memory the Ravens held their own against Football League opposition and were only edged out by a single goal in the replay, live on TV, after having two goals disallowed. 

After the dust had settled on the cup exit Neil Smith’s side picked up a crucial 2-0 win away at local rivals Sutton Utd, grabbing two goals against the run of play to keep pace with the leaders. Ben Williamson scoring on his debut after joining from Eastleigh and Michael Cheek netting again. Sadly this was followed up by a 2-1 loss away at Woking on a Tuesday night, injuries and suspensions caught up with the Bromley squad, plus the loss of Marc Anthony Okoye after it was confirmed he had suffered a career ending knee injury.

The heavy early season schedule that saw half of the league fixtures completed by the end of November certainly took its toll on the squad with Neil Smith stating he was down to the bare bones.  

The month ended with a 1-1 draw at home to Yeovil Town, Smith’s side conceding a 97th minute equaliser after both sides had a player sent off in the first half. Influential defender Chris Bush’s red card was later rescinded by the FA but versatile defender Rarmani Edmonds-Green was recalled by Huddersfield Town and went straight into their first team line up.

December

December started with a 2-1 win at Chesterfield, Williamson & Coulson scoring late on, but Chris Bush was sent off retrospectively on advice from the referees assessor, handing him another three game ban.

With a depleted squad Bromley then exited the FA Trophy away at National League South Dorking Wanderers, losing 3-0 and never laying glove on their opponents from a division below. On the Saturday before Christmas The Ravens then lost again 3-2 at home to Eastleigh and the poor run continued on Boxing Day at Dover Athletic with a 3-0 reverse.  Just when all looked doom and gloom, a 3-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge lifted sprits with goals from Cheek, Coulson & Rees.   

January 

January proved to be a difficult month for Bromley as they struggled to find form and slipped from the top of the table down into the play off places in the National League. Having had an up and down December the new year kicked off with an impressive 3-0 win over Dover Athletic at Hayes Lane in front of a bumper crowd.

Any optimism for a push into 2020 was dented though by a 2-1 loss away at Notts County the following Saturday with defender Chris Bush being sent off for the third time in the season.    

The Ravens Kent Senior Cup campaign only lasted the one game, when a mix and match side was despatched 2-0 at home to Gillingham, Adam Mekki missing a penalty for The Ravens at 1-0. This was to be Mekki’s last game in a Bromley shirt before he joined Ebbsfleet United on loan later that week.

In a busy seven days for the club, winger Reeco Hackett-Fairchild joined League One Portsmouth for what was rumoured to be a record transfer fee while Michael Chambers joined from Wrexham and winger Corey Whitely came in on loan from Newport County. Both players were involved in the next match when third placed Bromley travelled to league leaders Barrow for an evening kick off in front of the BT Sport cameras. Despite creating some good chances Neil Smith’s side lost 2-0 conceding two poor goals, one coming direct from a corner.

Although conceding the title race, Smith remained upbeat in his post match interview, sighting a response in the final game of the month at home to an in form Barnet. Sadly it wasn’t to be, as more defensive errors saw Barnet win 2-1 with goals either side of a superb Josh Rees equaliser. Rees’ form had been one of the few positives in 2020 as he rediscovered his goal scoring touch so prevalent in his previous spell with Bromley. 

Smith’s reaction to the Barnet loss was a lot less complimentary of his players, criticising defensive errors and saying they were shooting themselves in the foot too often.

The manager tried changes in shape, personnel and formation, but  he couldn’t find the formula to re-ignite the challenge at the top of the table. January ended with The Ravens in fourth with 50 points from 32 games. The play offs were still a realistic goal, but a poor run of two wins in ten games needed to be turned around sooner rather than later. 

In the final part of the season review, Colin will look at how and why the Ravens poor form continued up until the pandemic and the lessons learnt