Bromley 3-1 Sevenoaks Town - We're relying on others to win the league, says Bromley boss Keith Bird

BROMLEY  3-1  SEVENOAKS TOWN
Valley Express Kent Youth League Under 18 Central
Sunday 26^th February 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Hayes Lane

BROMLEY manager Keith Bird says he is targeting a top-two finish after coming from behind to beat third-placed Sevenoaks Town at a warm and sunny Hayes Lane.



Sevenoaks Town’s director of football Micky Hazard has got the youngsters at Greatness Park playing some lovely crisp passing football, but they were guilty of missing a hat-full of chances in a dominant first half and only had David Green’s 24^th minute strike to show for their efforts.

However, Bromley fought back and Belgian born striker, Clement Brunson’s deflected free-kick gave the Ravens hope just before the break.

Bromley turned the tables and it was the home side who dominated for large chunks of the second half and impressive substitute Josh Famewo fired home before Brunson scored a brilliant hooked half-volley to seal the points.

Today’s Kent Youth League win followed the first team’s first home win in Blue Square Bet (Conference) South for 182 DAYS, thanks to Hakeem Araba’s 64^th minute winner, an excellent 1-0 win over second-placed Chelmsford City yesterday.

Bromley went into the game with wins over Farnborough Old Boys Guild (4-2), Cray Valley (Paper Mills) (5-1) and Phoenix Sports (6-0), but Sevenoaks Town haven’t played since they were thrashed 5-1 at home by league leaders Tonbridge Angels four weeks’ ago.

Bird, 44, said: “The lads for the first 30 minutes completely lost their shape.  We’ve got a particular system that we’ve been playing all season and it’s been working very well for us in both the Cup and the League but unfortunately the first 30 minutes the lads didn’t do what we asked them to do.

“We made a few tactical changes on the subs side just before half time and that allowed us to get the shape back that we were looking for and I thought second half the lads dominated the game in the first 30 minutes. 

“We scored three excellent goals and then I thought we did a very professional job to see it out for the last fifteen minutes as Sevenoaks came on very, very strong.”

Sevenoaks Town manager, Paul Lansdale, 47, rued missed chances.

He said: “First 35 minutes we really should’ve finished the game. We had lots of chances, four, five, maybe six chances but all the time the game’s 1-0 you’re inviting the opposition.  They’ve got an equaliser right at the death from our poor play from my opinion and they finished the half on a high and we finished it on a low.”

But despite their lay-off, Sevenoaks sprayed the ball all over the Hayes Lane pitch and Bromley struggled to cope.

James Hunte exchanged a one-two with Green and after bursting past Jack Clayton, the Bromley skipper at the heart of defence, the diminutive Sevenoaks striker blazed a right-footed shot over the crossbar from 12-yards into the empty terracing.

A corner from Sam Kent, who was later forced off through a twisted knee, which forced Sevenoaks to play with ten men for the remaining thirteen minutes, sailed over James Smith’s head at the far post and the ball was retrieved by Kaylis Derbel, who swept a diagonal pass back to Kent, who cut the ball back to Green but the right-winger’s shot from 22-yards was caught by Bromley keeper Max Huxter.

Huxter, 17, who is with Charlton Athletic during the week, is having a second trial with Premier League outfit Aston Villa this week, although he wasn’t forced to show his goalkeeping talents as Sevenoaks were poor in front of goal.

“He’s a great keeper, technically very strong,” said Bird.  “He’s had great coaching throughout his whole career. He’s at Charlton college academy during the week and he’s with us on a Sunday and he’s also been invited along to the England Schoolboys training camp in the summer.

“He had a session down at Aston Villa last week and he’s been asked to go down to Aston Villa this week.  I think their first team goalkeeper coach is having a look at him this week.

“He’s definitely one for the future and we’re looking at him here at Bromley as a player for us for the future but I think he’s got the potential to push on beyond that.

“He’s just seventeen. He joined us having just turned sixteen.  He’s one of the younger players in the squad.”

Clayton, who was shaky early on, gifted Sevenoaks possession again when he gave the ball straight to Jonny Winter, the winger playing a diagonal pass to Toby Lansdale, who laid the ball off to Hunte, who took a touch before blasted the ball over again.

Winger Winter cut in across the face of the Bromley penalty area from the left and played the ball through to Green, who looped the ball wide from sixteen-yards.

However, it was Bromley who, despite being outplayed, had the game’s first shot on target in the 22^nd minute.

Harry Rogers released Brunson down the right and after shrugging past Jack Miles he sprinted down the right channel before whipping in a low cross, which Rob Shackleford’s initial shot was blocked and Smith’s angled drive was caught by Tom Barratt at his near post.

Sevenoaks deservedly drew first blood, taking the lead when Bromley’s left-back Nathan Bird failed to tackle Green, and the Sevenoaks right-winger smashed a right-footed drive past Huxter into the top near corner.

Lansdale said: “It was a good finish and I thought we were going to go on from there, I really did!

“We looked strong, we looked like we were in control of the game but in fairness to Bromley they held out and they came on really strong in the last ten minutes of that first half and got an equaliser.”

Bird added: “I think they were a good side and the first 30 minutes they deserved to be 1-0 up.   If we hadn’t defended so well I think they could actually been 2-0 up.

“I wouldn’t take anything away from them with the goal.  I thought we responded very, very well and Sevenoaks did very, very well in the last fifteen minutes (of the second half).  I’ve got no problems with their first goal.”

Bromley boss Bird explained why he made two tactical changes to bring off left-back Bird and four-goal hero against Phoenix Sports in their last game, Shackleford, before half-time.

“We’ve got two excellent left-backs. It was a toss-up as to who would play,” explained Bird.

“Tommy (Degiorgio) who played there last week took a knock in last week’s game and his knee has swollen up so we’re concerned about his knee giving up on him.

“Nathan (Bird) has been playing there for a regular basis as well.  He’s come down unwell in the last 24 hours and it was a toss-up which one to play.  It was more chance Tommy’s knee going than Nathan pulling up but it was very evident, although Nathan played well and his shape was good, he was struggling because of the illness.

“The second change was Rob Shackleford, who was playing as an attacking midfielder,” added Bird.

“We felt he was playing too flat with a centre forward.  We were looking for a 4-5-1 shape and he was playing like a 4-4-2 and he’s head’s gone down a little bit. 

“He had an excellent game last week scoring four goals so we wanted to give him a bit of time but we felt we needed to get that 4-5-1 shape back in and Joshua (Famewo) sat in the hole very nicely.”

Bird’s replacement, Josh Famewo, stroked a left-footed free-kick over a four-man wall, which arrowed just wide of the right-hand upright just before the half-hour mark, before Sevenoaks missed another chance.

A long ball released Hunte, who shrugged past Clayton, but the Sevenoaks striker dinked his shot across Huxter and the ball flashed just past the far post.

Bromley fought-back in the final five minutes as Gary Beckett drove a free-kick into the penalty area and Smith laid the ball off to Harry Rogers, who looped a right-footed shot wide of the far post from 15-yards.

Bromley showed resolve despite their earlier battering as they restored parity with 44:31 on the clock.

Brunson stepped up and smashed a right-footed free-kick from 25-yards which deflected off the wall and looped up and over Barratt’s outstretched arms and crashed into the roof of the net.

Lansdale admitted he was disappointed with the way that Bromley scored from a set-piece.

He said: “I was disappointed that we were even in a position to give that free-kick away.  It came from not moving the ball fast enough, which resulted in us losing possession and then panicking and giving a free-kick away.”

When asked what was said in the dressing room during the break, the Sevenoaks boss replied, “We spoke to them about the character, about their ability to physically compete but continuing to try and play football.  Unfortunately this season we’ve seen occasions when we’re almost too nice and that doesn’t mean we want to be dirty players but we need to be more physical.”

Bromley woke up from their slumber and they almost increased their lead inside stoppage time but Sam Cannon’s left-footed shot from eighteen-yards curled agonisingly wide of the far post, past Barratt’s despairing dive to his right.

Sevenoaks regretted missing yet another chance, after only 56 seconds into the second half.

Kent whipped in a free-kick into the penalty area from 30-yards and Miles came up from the back to loop his header over the crossbar.

But Bromley scored a killer second goal in the 53^rd minute when the impressive Famewo finished off a fine three man move.

Cannon picked the ball up down the left channel and slipped the ball through to Brunson who unselfishly laid the ball off to an unmarked Famewo, who smashed a low right-footed drive into the corner, leaving the Sevenoaks keeper flat-footed.

Bird praised the little impact player, saying, “Joshua’s a very talented player.  He played for us last year and we kept him from last year’s squad.  We’ve been working on him to have more variation in his game. He’s very good running at players.  We’re playing him in a hole this year rather than an out-and-out striker but on occasion he’s been taking on so many players and not using the ball enough so we’re pleased with his progress particularly in the last couple of months.  He’s responded to that.  He’s a player who has to have the balance when to run at players and pass the ball.”

Lansdale, meanwhile, admitted the Bromley number 10 changed the game in the home club’s favour.

He said: “He turned the game.  He turned it into their game and not our game.  We couldn’t deal with him.  We have him a lot of time, a lot of space. He ran the show.”

Bromley wrapped up their victory as early as the 63^rd minute with a goal that would not have been out of place in Conference South – and higher!

Cannon clipped the ball into the Sevenoaks penalty area from midfield and Brunson cracked a stunning hooked right-footed half-volley over his shoulder from sixteen-yards and the ball sailed across Barratt and dropped into the bottom far corner.

Bird described the two-goal hero a revelation, saying, “We signed him just before the Christmas break and he’s been a revelation.  He struggled in the first 30 minutes of the game.  I think that was because there was too much of a gap between him and the midfield. He had too much work to do there but the goal he scored at the end there was just fantastic and what he does very well to get his body in between the defender and the ball excellently as you saw the quality he’s got. He managed to turn and hit a half-volley.  The boy is just fantastic quality.”

That goal stunned Sevenoaks and they only had a speculative fierce 35-yard drive from Kent, which bounced wide at the half-way point of the second half.

Bromley went close when Brunson laid the ball off to Smith in space, but his right-footed drive from 20-yards was caught by the visiting keeper at the second attempt.

Ironically, Sevenoaks fought back after they were forced to play with ten-men as boss Lansdale had already brought on his two available substitutes, peppering the Bromley goal late on.

Lansdale said: “We went down to ten with Sam Kent going off.  It could mean he’s out for the rest of the season unfortunately but actually I felt we looked stronger funnily enough with ten than we did eleven.  We created more chances in that period than we had done in the twenty minutes prior to that!

Huxter made a comfortable save at his near post after Sevenoaks substitute Bradley Ralph unleashed an angled right-footed drive from outside of the box.

Midfielder playmaker, Jordan Broome then released Winter through on goal and his shot was destined to roll over the line but for an excellent sliding goal-line clearance from Lenny Beckett in the final four minutes.

Bromley could have increased their lead further, but substitute Tom Parker dragged his shot agonisingly past the far post when in a good position, before a couple of Sevenoaks chances (from Ralph and Hunte) went over the crossbar.

The last chance fell to Bromley when Alex Edwards pumped the ball into the penalty area and Brunson went for his hat-trick, an audacious overhead kick, with his back to goal, which brought a comfortable low catch from Barratt.

But Bird was pleased with the outcome.

He said:  “It was a pretty even sided game. I think in the end the result, a win for us was the right result.  3-1 possible complimentary to us. 2-1 would’ve been a fairer result.”

Bromley have seven league games left to play and has games in hand over all five  teams above them in the table, but Bird wants to catch leaders Tonbridge Angels, who are thirteen points clear of Bromley, but have played four games more.

Bird, who takes his side to Tunbridge Wells next Sunday, said: “I think there’s no bad sides’ in this league.  Every team is a threat.  We have seven games left.  Next week’s game is important because it’s in our hands to finish at least in the runners-up position.  If we win all seven of our remaining games we’ll be at least runner-up and then we’re relying on Tonbridge Angels to drop points from their remaining (three) games and if they do then we could even win the league.”

Lansdale’s side, meanwhile, travel to play Farnborough Old Boys Guild in seven days’ time.  Farnborough leapfrogged over Sevenoaks into third place today and Lansdale’s side are now eight points adrift of the Angels, with two games in hand.

He said: “We’ll keep pressing away.  Winning the league will be nice for us. It’s not key for us. We said that last time.  What’s essential is to keep the lads to understand what they can do, learn from their mistakes and make them better players.  If we end up in the top three, top two or top that’s the bonus.

“We’re a young side and we’ve got a good season ahead of us next year and we’re happy, we’re pleased with the progression.  You’re not going to get every game when everyone’s playing fantastically.”   

Bromley: Max Huxter, Alex Edwards, Nathan Bird (Tommy Degiorgio 26), Lenny Beckett, Jack Clayton, Gary Beckett, James Smith, Sam Cannon, Clement Brunson, Rob Shackleford (Josh Famewo 37), Harry Rogers (Tom Parker 67).
Subs: Kieran Boon, George Parker

Goals: Clement Brunson 44, 63, Josh Famewo 53

Sevenoaks Town: Tom Barratt, James Wortley, Sam Kent, Sam Wade (Jordan Knight 66), David Green, Jack Miles, Toby Lansdale (Bradley Ralph 53), Jordan Broome, James Hunte, Kaylis Derbel, Jonny Winter.

Goal: David Green 24

Attendance: 39
Referee: Mr John Quirke (Maidstone)