Bromley 0-0 Havant & Waterlooville - One of these days' it's all going to come together - Goldberg

BROMLEY  0-0  HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE
Blue Square Bet South
Tuesday 20^th March 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Hayes Lane

BROMLEY manager Mark Goldberg says his side have to win four of their last seven games to avoid the club’s fourth relegation in their 120 year history.

The Ravens were held to a goal-less bore draw by Havant & Waterlooville, who arrived at Hayes Lane on the back of nine defeats on the bounce.

But Goldberg took the positives out of the game – a draw that keeps them in eighteenth-place in the Blue Square Bet (Conference) South table, with 35 points from 35 games, one place above Havant & Waterlooville and three points clear of the relegation zone, which is occupied by Staines Town (32 points from 35 games), Hampton & Richmond Borough (29 - 32) and Thurrock (22 - 34)

Another positive is that former Ebbsfleet United keeper, Joe Welch, 23, kept his fifth clean sheet in eleven appearances since arriving from Stonebridge Road.

But Bromley have now extended their winless run to five games and have now gone 338 minutes since scoring their last goal.

Goldberg, who made four changes from his side who were defeated by a single goal away to Basingstoke Town at the weekend, said: “It’s been a similar story now.  I would say other than Saturday’s game at Basingstoke where I thought we only performed for the last 25 minutes, the previous four or five games we thoroughly deserved to get all three points and ended up with three.

“Three points, I think, in what, five games, which is obviously not been good enough, but the performances have been outstanding, other than Saturday’s first half.

“Five clean sheets in the last eleven games – we just have got to score goals.  We’re creating opportunities but we’re just not scoring.”

This was a game of little quality, between two struggling sides and Havant & Waterlooville created the first opening, inside the opening two minutes.

Steve Ramsey smashed a right-footed free-kick into the Bromley wall and Perry Ryan’s right-footed follow-up from 30-yards deflected over Welch’s crossbar.

Former Bromley defender, Joe Dolan, meanwhile, missed a gilt-edged chance to hand the Hampshire opponents’ the early initiative.

Ramsey floated a free-kick in behind the flat-footed Bromley defence to find Dolan unmarked at the far post but the central defender had to stretch and stroked a right-footed shot across Welch and sailing past the far post from an acute angle.

Bromley really should have broken the stalemate with their first chance after sixteen minutes, but striker Michael Malcolm failed to convert his three decent chances on a night of bitter disappointment in a game that they had to win to move five points clear of Staines Town.

Bromley were lively down the left hand side and left-back Marlon Patterson swept the ball upfield, which was knocked down by Anthony Thomas and this clever ball put Malcolm through on goal, but his right-footed flicked shot was blocked by goalkeeper Dan Thomas, the AFC Bournemouth stopper who made 17 appearances for Welling United earlier in the season.

Havant & Waterlooville failed to hit the target within two minutes when Ramsey whipped in a precise free-kick from the right, but Scott Jones sent a powerful bullet header sailing across Welch and wide of the far post.

The home faithful should have been celebrating the end of their side’s goal drought four minutes before the break – but Malcolm fluffed his lines when well placed.

Winger Albert Jarrett clipped the ball across to Anthony Thomas, who brought the ball under control with his chest, laid the ball off to right-winger Pierre Joseph-Dubios and the Frenchman played a low centre towards the near post but Malcolm tried to back-flick the ball in to the net with his right-foot just six-yards from goal with the goal at his mercy.

Havant & Waterlooville got their first shot on target within the first five minutes of the second half when Italian Christian Nanetti found space on the left-hand corner of the Bromley penalty area and his low left-footed drive forced Welch to dive low to his right to save.

Havant & Waterlooville were thankful to their pink-shirted keeper for thwarting Bromley again in the 56^th minute.

Ali Fuseini – who was voted the sponsors’ man-of-the-match - played the ball over the top of the visiting defence to release Jarrett, who slipped in Malcolm, but his low right-footed drive was blocked by Dan Thomas.

Goldberg blamed the pitch for Malcolm not adding to his two goals that he scored against Thurrock and Staines Town.

He said: “The pitch is very bobbly.  When the pitch is so dry the pitch is bobbly but another day he’d score all three.

“We’ve just got to stick at it and keep working hard and hopefully the chances will turn into goals.”

Goldberg added: “Players go through droughts, what you expect is that we don’t get all our forwards going through the drought all at the same time. One of these days it’s all going to come together.”

However, it was Bromley who created the game’s best chance in the 62^nd minute.

Anthony Thomas picked the ball up in midfield and sprayed the ball out wide to right-winger Joseph-Dubois, who cut inside both Chris Arthur and Nanetti and unleashed a powerful right-footed drive, which was heading towards the roof of the net, but keeper Thomas dived to his right and beat out the shot with his oustretched right arm.

The longer the game went on, the more frustrated the Hayes Lane crowd became and Havant & Waterlooville squandered an excellent chance to snatch the victory with twenty minutes remaining.

Bromley defender Jerrome Sobers – who became the 49^th player to wear a Bromley shirt this season, having signed on a dual-registration with Ryman Premier League side Billericay Town – made his only mistake on an excellent return by gifting possession to Nanetti, who burst forward down the left and centred low towards an unmarked Ollie Palmer, but a poor touch allowed Welch to collect.

Goldberg was pleased with Sobers’ performance on his return to the club and said he hopes the central defender plays a big role for the remainder of the season.

He said:  “Magnificent, absolutely magnificent, for Jerrome to come in and just fit in the way that he did tonight.  He hasn’t been with us all season, although I did try to get him pre-season but he had injuries.

“In the end it’s worked out really well for both ourselves and Billericay and Jerrome.  He’s dual-signed.  I’m sure he’ll play a part as the season goes on.”

Welch then made a comfortable low save to his right to deny Ryan scoring with a low right-footed drive from 25-yards, before Palmer knocked the ball down to Scott Jones, whose right-footed drive flashed past the far post.

The quality of Havant & Waterlooville’s shooting late on in the game was woeful as both Palmer and Pearce cracked shots from the edge of the Bromley penalty area into the trees behind the terracing at the car park end of Hayes Lane.

Goldberg, meanwhile, explained why he introduced substitutes Hakeem Araba and Aaron Rhule so late in the game, by which time some of the home fans had made their way towards the exit.

“There wasn’t much going wrong in terms of the way we were still creating.  We weren’t tiring in the end.

“I saw Albert (Jarrett) was needing a second wind so we brought AJ (Rhule) on, who gives you a little bit of extra pace. 

“We were hoping that Hakeem (Araba) would, might hold the ball up so we could take a bit of pressure of our defence but in the end I don’t think if we had made the substitutions any earlier it would’ve made any difference.”

Goldberg added:  I’m not going to say anything more than I’m proud of the way our players’ set themselves out to play today.  The way they created, the way that they dominated the majority of the game.

“I think we restricted Havant to, what, two or three real chances. We must’ve had more than six or seven, which I would think were goalscoring opportunities so if we keep doing that, we’re going to win more games than we’re going to draw or lose.”

Bromley welcome thirteenth-placed Farnborough to Hayes Lane on Saturday, followed by ninth-placed Weston-super-Mare  on 31 March.

Bromley then travel to fourth-placed Sutton United, and welcome second-placed Dartford to Hayes Lane over the Easter period.

They end their campaign with a trip to fifteenth-placed Truro City, a home game against basement side Thurrock and then a trip to Dorchester Town.

When asked how many points his side must collect to beat the drop, Goldberg said: “I would think we probably need 11 or 12 points I would think to be safe.

“I think we’re still going for two points a game.  My target is a minimum of 12, hopefully 14 points.

“We believe that there is enough about us that we can push on and escape relegation.”

Goldberg didn’t appreciate the comment that the club’s home form was “diabolical”, considering that they  have won only three games (Boreham Wood, Sutton United and Chelmsford City) in 17 league games on home soil.

“Well, with an attitude like you’ve got, probably impossible,” said Goldberg, to a reporter who has supported Bromley since 1989, the season Bromley lost their Vauxhall League (now Ryman) Premier Division status.

“But if we don’t concentrate on the fact people like you call our form and our displays diabolical and just concentrate on what we believe in terms of positive belief that the way we are actually performing well at the moment.  We’re just not getting the points. We can turn those good performances into points and that’s what we’re going to aim to do.”

Bromley: Joe Welch, Tutu Henriques, Marlon Patterson, Ali Fuseini, Jerrome Sobers, Liam Harwood, Pierre Joseph-Dubois, Michael Jones, Michael Malcolm, Anthony Thomas (Hakeem Araba 88), Albert Jarrett (Aaron Rhule 90).
Subs: Lewis Taylor, Salifou Ibrahima, Gareth Williams

Booked: Aaron Rhule 90

Havant & Waterlooville: Dan Thomas, Jake Newton, Chris Arthur, Perry Ryan (Paul Hinshelwood 74), Joe Dolan, Sam Pearce, Eddie Hutchinson, Steve Ramsey, Scott Jones (Dan Thompson 85), Ollie Palmer, Christian Nanetti.
Subs: Ryan Woodward, Sammy Igoe, Lyall Beazley

Booked: Sam Pearce 53, Scott Jones 80

Attendance: 303
Referee: Mr Robert Hyde (London E1)
Assistants: Mr Neil West (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex) & Mr Peter Georgiou (Wimbledon, London SW17)