Boreham Wood 0-2 Bromley - We've got a team that should do better in the league, admits Neil Smith

BOREHAM WOOD  0-2  BROMLEY
The FA Carlsberg Trophy First Round Replay
Monday 26^th November 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Meadow Park

BROMLEY assistant manager Neil Smith says he wants his side to take their cup performances  into the league after they progressed into the FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Round for the first time since 2004.

Bromley booked a home tie against Blue Square Bet (Conference) Premier side Kidderminster Harriers in the last 32 on 15 December after being the first non-league side to win at Boreham Wood this season.

Central midfielder Danny Waldren held his nerve to open the scoring from the penalty spot five minutes before the break, before Boreham Wood, who went into this game in fourth place in the Blue Square Bet (Conference) South table, were reduced to ten-men after giant target man Inih Effiong picked up his second yellow card in the 57^th minute.

Bromley wrapped up the victory courtesy of striker Joe Pigott, 18, who scored his first goal for the club in only his second game whilst on loan from Charlton Athletic.

Smith, 41, was pleased with his side’s better performance and admitted they were lucky to have a second bite of the cherry after such a poor performance during the 1-1 draw at Hayes Lane on Saturday.

“Yes, really, really pleased after the not so great performance on the Saturday.  We felt we let ourselves down,” said Smith.

“It was always the case of the real Bromley Football Club showing up and we did today.  We worked hard. It’s always going to be hard because Boreham Wood are flying high.  They’re used to playing on Monday when other teams aren’t, obviously the conditions and I think we deserved the win in the end.”

Boreham Wood’s immaculate playing surface at Meadow Park withstood the miserable wet conditions and Bromley seem to play to their potential on such pitches.

And Boreham Wood adopted a shoot from distance policy during a first half which saw the Hertfordshire side on the front foot.

Boreham Wood’s first chance arrived inside the opening six minutes when left winger Greg Morgan had time and space to unleash a low angled drive with his right-foot from 25-yards, which forced Bromley keeper into diving low to his right to tip the ball around his post.

Smith was impressed with Boreham Wood’s diminutive right-winger Mauro Vilhete, who is on loan from League Two side Barnet.

He said: “He’s a very good player. I thought all game he looked dangerous.  I thought Sanchez (Ming) and Marlon (Patterson) had to do well against him.

“I thought the back four played well today. I thought the back four kept us in it and then the midfield, Danny (Waldren) and Ali (Fuseini) were immense in there winning more second ball then they have done and even Aaron (Rhule) coming in on the left hand side looked just as dangerous. We just needed that end product.”

Morgan whipped in a fine cross from the right and the ball came out to Graeme Montgomery, whose left-footed drive from 25-yards bounced wide.

Vilhete then caused Bromley left-back Marlon Patterson problems before playing the ball inside to Montgomery, who took a couple of touches before sending his left-footed drive over from 25-yards.

Vilhete then played another ball inside, this time to Chez Isaac, who after cutting inside looped his left-footed shot over from 22-yards.

Boreham Wood should have deservedly opened the scoring in the 24^th minute after Morgan swung in a corner from the left and big central defender Charlie O’Loughlin’s downward header was volleyed off the line by Patterson, who was well positioned beside the right-hand post.

Bromley’s first attempt on goal, however, came within two minutes when central midfielder Ali Fuesini opted to play a free-kick across the pitch to Liam Harwood and the central defender sent a speculative left-footed shot towards goal from 40-yards, which cleared the crossbar.

But Bromley grabbed the lead, against the run of play, five minutes before the break.

Keeper Welch launched a big kick straight down the middle of the pitch and Pigot chased the bouncing ball and was awarded a penalty after he was brought down by Boreham Wood’s right-back Ben Nunn, who was booked.

Waldren stepped up and steered his right-footed penalty past the diving Boreham Wood keeper James Russell, who guessed the right way by diving low to his left, but couldn’t prevent the ball finding the back of the net.

Smith said: “Joe Pigott has won the penalty.  I think he got pulled down.  He got in behind the centre half and he was pulled down and Danny, fair play to him, he took the decision that he was going to take it and he slotted it away especially after missing two.  He had a lot of pressure on him, bless him, and he did really well.  A great finish and it sets us in for half-time to regroup, settle down and we knew it was going to be backs against the wall second half.”

Visiting keeper Welch made another comfortable save, this time when left-back Ben Jefford went for goal from outside of the box, before Pigott curled a left-footed shot wide of the far post after cutting in to the box at the other end before the interval.

Bromley’s highly-rated keeper Welch was forced into punching the ball away at his near post after Jefford curled in a dangerous free-kick from the right by-line inside the opening eight minutes of the second half.

But any hope that Boreham Wood had of beating a side in the bottom four in the league evaporated when Effiong picked up his second booking on the night.

Considering he was booked for something that he said to referee Mr John Busby while Bromley celebrated Waldren’s opener, Effiong deserved his second booking.

The incident happened right in front of the away dug-out, so Smith had a clear view on the striker going in two-footed on Bromley defender Moses Swaibu, who was attempting to see the ball out for a throw-in

Smith said: “It was definitely a booking! Moses isn’t going anywhere, he was on the touchline and the centre forwards lunged in two feet and it was worthy of a yellow card.  Obviously he’s been booked before.

“I was more concerned with our own player and the referee made the right decision.

“It’s not a 50-50 challenge.  Moses is seeing the ball out and the guy came in from the back.  I don’t like seeing challenges like that! I like seeing good, solid 50-50 challenges, I don’t mind that, but when it was like that, no, it’s not nice!”

Boreham Wood skipper O’Loughlin once again came up from the back for a corner and sent a looping header towards goal, which was comfortably caught by Welch from underneath his crossbar.

Bromley really should have wrapped the game up in the final twenty minutes.

The Kent side hit Boreham Wood on the counter attack and substitute Tony Finn played the ball to Elliott Buchannan, who opted not to shoot but cut the ball along to Fuseini, whose initial left-footed stroked shot was parried by Russell at his near post and his weak follow up shot was cleared off the line by Boreham Wood substitute Mario Noto, who got back to clear.

The impressive Sanchez Ming and striker Pierre Joseph-Dubois combined and the French striker (who headed Bromley’s 88^th minute equaliser on Saturday’s) reached the by-line before whipping in a precise cross towards the far post and Fuseini’s hooked shot was clawed out by Russell, but the Bromley skipper looped his header agonisingly over the bar from three-yards.

Smith said: “He’s hit the target, which we ask him to do, but I think he should’ve done better and then it’s come back to him again and he doesn’t get a good connection and the guy clears it off the line.

“We’re always looking for that second goal, even when you’re playing against ten men or not, you’re always looking for that second goal just to put a little cushion between you.”

Reflecting on the former Millwall star’s second chance, Smith added: “He’s had the first shot at the keeper. It’s come back at him, tried to head it over him and he’s headed it over.

“He’s sitting in the dressing room now absolutely distraught even through we’ve won. He knows he could’ve made the game a little bit easier for us because all it needs for them to score a goal and we’re under pressure.”

But Pigott showed Fuseini how it’s done when Bromley sealed their victory with thirteen minutes remaining, by which time the rain had stopped.

A pass from substitute Michael Malcolm put Pigott through on goal and the teenager kept his composure to round keeper Russell before slotting the ball into the empty net from close range, much to the delight of around 50 travelling fans sheltered under the covered terracing down the side of the pitch.

When asked about Pigott’s contribution, Smith said: “He did better tonight. It’s another game for us. Obviously he only came in on the Thursday evening so he’s got to get used to the boys.

“I thought he done well today. He held the line well against two experienced centre halves tonight and he took his goal really well.  Some people might have hesitated or hit it straight at the keeper but he had the confidence to take it around him and then just slot it home.  It was a relief when it went in.”

Welch kept his clean sheet in-tact when he tipped Noto’s curling right-footed free-kick from 30-yards over his crossbar inside injury time.

Smith added: “Having the ten-men doesn’t mean anything when it’s a free-kick in the box so what we had to do was be professional and see the game out and I think we did in the end.

Bromley are undefeated in all of the cups this season, apart from the FA Cup when they lost 3-0 at League Two big-spenders Fleetwood Town in the First Round.

When asked why Bromley appear to perform better in the Cups than the bread and butter of the Blue Square Bet South, which sees them one point above the drop zone, but with games in hand, Smith replied, “It seems when we have that one game we get up. We’ve got to have that consistency.  We knew that we can play well – we’ve done it!

“We have to now start being consistent and start putting this run of results together, not just doing it for the Cup games. We’ve got to do it every week. 

“But I think we’ve got a team that should do better than where we are.”

Bromley play four league games before welcoming 1987 FA Trophy winners Kidderminster Harriers to Hayes Lane in the last 32.

Bromley have got past Staines Town and Boreham Wood, both in replay’s away from home and Smith said: “I don’t think many people gave us a massive chance. We probably didn’t deserve a draw (at home on Saturday). We ground it out and we got lucky with the goal if you want to say that because it was the only ball we put in the box and Pierre got on the end of it and we’ve deserved the win tonight.

“Kidderminster is another game. We’ve got four league games before that and at the moment we need to start picking up points.

“I’ve been lucky to make the FA Trophy Final, that was for Woking against a good Grays side (at West Ham’s Upton Park in 2006,) so I know what it’s like to get to the final. It’s achievable, it really is!

“You need a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck. Unfortunately in the league you can’t have the luck all the time but in a cup game you get that run of luck and all of a sudden you just think it’s your day and that’s what we’re going to need, but a lot of hard work against Kidderminster. We have to get these four league games out of the way and then we’ll sort that one out.”

Boreham Wood: James Russell, Ben Nunn, Ben Jefford, Mauro Vilhete, Charlie O’Loughlin, Callum Reynolds, Greg Morgan (Mario Noto 67), Chez Isaac, Inih Effiong, Omer Riza, Graeme Montgomery (David Hutton 86).
Subs: Raheem Stirling-Parker, Omar Beckles, Cameron Baker-Owers

Booked: Ben Nunn 39, Inih Effiong 40, Mario Noto 77

Sent Off: Inih Effiong 57

Bromley: Joe Welch, Sanchez Ming, Marlon Patterson, Ali Fuseini, Moses Swaibu, Liam Harwood, Danny Waldren, Elliott Buchanan (Michael Malcolm 72), Pierre Joseph-Dubois, Joe Pigott (Richard Pacquette 81), Aaron Rhule (Tony Finn 66).
Subs: Jerrome Sobers, Mike Jones

Goals: Danny Waldren 40 (pen), Joe Pigott 77

Booked: Danny Waldren 63, Moses Swaibu 90

Attendance: 188
Referee: Mr John Busby (Wallingford, Oxfordshire)
Assistants: Mr Anthony Da Costa (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) & Mr John Steel (Ely, Cambridgeshire)
Fourth Official:  Mr Robin Cox (Banbury, Oxfordshire)