Bromley hit seventh heaven on Saturday afternoon as they tore beleaguered Torquay United apart in a ten goal thriller at Plainmoor.
Having seen manager Paul Cox resign on Friday morning amidst rumoured budget cuts and director of football Dean Edwards take temporary charge of the game, Torquay were always going to be vulnerable against a Bromley side in very good form.
That said Bromley had entered the match deprived of several key players. Alan Julian, Alex Wall, Lee Minshull were all injured whilst front man Bradley Goldberg was missing from the match day squad due to personal reasons.
Manager Mark Goldberg shuffled the pack accordingly with Moses Emmanuel starting up front alongside Ben May and Anthony Cook restored to the wing on his return from injury. Emergency loan keeper Chris Kettings had joined from Crystal Palace in the week and he made his debut in place of Julian whilst Jack Holland also returned to the starting line-up at right back.
It was Torquay who made the brightest start to the match and they were unlucky not to take the lead as early as the third minute, Malachi Lavelle-Moore latching on to a long ball but only succeeding in toe-poking the ball beyond both Kettings and the far post. However Torquay were not to be denied on their second attack, James Hurst rising highest to head home from a Dan Butler free-kick to give Torquay the lead in the fifth minute of the match.
If the goal was a response to the adversity of the past 36 hours it was to be a false dawn for the home side as the following 27 minutes turned into the Moses Emmanuel show. Within three minutes Bromley were level, a line ball by Joe Anderson was picked up by Emmanuel who cut into the penalty area twisting his marker left and right before curling a wonderful effort past Dan Lavercombe to tie the game up. Not finished there, Emmanuel added a second in the 14th minute. Torquay failed to clear their lines following a Louis Dennis corner and when Ben May’s overhead kick was blocked on the line; Emmanuel was on hand to smash the loose ball to put the ravens ahead.
With Bromley now clearly in the ascendancy Anthony Cook went close twice in the 20th and 26th minute. Firstly he curled a 25 yard free kick narrowly wide of the post before forcing Lavercombe into a smart parry to keep out a fierce drive from distance.
Against the run of play Lavelle-Moore air-kicked when well placed inside the penalty area and Torquay were to pay for fluffing their lines when Emmanuel completed his hat-trick in the 31st minute. Intricate play on the edge of the area between Emmanuel, Cook and May released Dennis inside the area but as his shot was blocked Emmanuel reacted quickest to curl home his third and silence the home crowd.
In the depths of injury time, Cook once again fashioned an opportunity seeing his effort saved after a slalom-like run through the Torquay defence before Tyrone Marsh reduced the deficit turning the ball in from close range with the last kick of the half.
If the half-time break presented an opportunity for both managers to tightened up their respective defences, it appeared as if the words fell on deaf ears for the Torquay rearguard as the second half simply carried on from where the first had left off.
Mark Goldberg had been forced into a change at the break with the injured May replaced by Paul Rodgers. This pushed Holland into an emergency target man role with Rodgers moving to right back. For all intents and purposes this move should have significantly weakened the Bromley attacking threat but from the minute Emmanuel’s fizzed cross was turned in at the back post by Holland in the 59th minute Bromley proceeded to ride roughshod over the opposition.
With Holland as surprised as anyone with his goal, he nearly doubled his account in the 67th minute when Dennis played him in inside the six yard box but his left foot drive was well saved by Lavercombe. Two minutes later Dennis made no mistake with an effort of his own. Having been brought down on the edge of the penalty area, Dennis himself stepped up to curl a sumptuous effort into the top right hand corner of the net to send the Bromley hordes into raptures.
As the game continued to move at a breathless pace and Bromley attacking at will, another excellent move this time involving Holland, Emmanuel and Cook led to Cook being tripped in the penalty area by Bayan Fenwick. Despite Fenwick’s protestations referee Derek Eaton had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Cook duly seized the opportunity with a calm sidefoot effort sending Lavercombe the wrong way for Bromley’s sixth.
No sooner had Cook scored than the Bromley fans demanded a seventh goal, eight minutes later they got their wish. Another flowing one touch attack involving Emmanuel and Holland led to the latter laying off for a first time 25 yard screamer from Ali Fuseini. From the second the strike left Fuseini’s boot it was a goal and Lavercombe could do nothing but grasp thin air as the ball rocketed past him into the net.
Although Marsh tapped in late on for his second and Torquay’s third on the day, the goal could not take the gloss off a devastating and fluid second half attacking display by Bromley that moved the side up to ninth in the table after eleven games.
Indeed the win could lay claim to be Bromley’s best performance in their modern history, not only scoring seven away from home but doing it against a professional former football league club. The ravens now go into Tuesday night’s home fixture with rock bottom Kidderminster Harriers looking to extend their winning run to five straight wins.
Torquay United: Lavercombe, Hurst, MacDonald, Geohaghon, Butler, Fenwick (Murombedzi 83), Smith, Marsh, Carmichael, Briscoe (Bell 60), Lavelle-Moore (Fisher 70)
Subs not used: Spiess, Quigley
Goals: Hurst 5, Marsh 45, 85
Bromley: Kettings, Holland, Swaine, Chorley (Francis 77), Anderson, Dennis, Fuseini, Porter, Cook, May (Rodgers 46), Emmanuel (Tumwa 81)
Subs not used: Prestedge, Udoji
Goals: Emmanuel 8, 13, 30, Holland 59, Dennis 69, Cook 72 (pen), Fuseini 80
Attendance: 1653
Referee: Mr Derek Eaton