BROMLEY ON THE ORIENT: WE TRIED AS HARD AS WE COULD, SAYS JOE DOLAN

BROMLEY defender Joe Dolan said missed first half chances proved costly during their 3-0 away defeat at Leyton Orient in The FA Cup First Round yesterday, writes Stephen McCartney.


Bromley’s miserable run of never beating a Football League club in The FA Cup continues as goals from Matthew Spring, George Porter and Jimmy Smith sent 1,689 Bromley fans home disappointed.

“I’m upset really because we had chances in the first half,” said Dolan, 31, who played two games for Leyton Orient under Martin Ling in 2005.

“We stuck to our game plan and even when they went 1-0 up we had three terrific chances in the first  half and you sort of know going in at half-time you’re happy at 1-0 but at the same time you think are we going to have those chances again in the second half and  that proved to be the case.”

It was inevitable that former Cray Wanderers winger Porter would dent Bromley’s dream, when he sprinted 60 yards on a devastating counter attack in the 57^th minute before lashing a shot past Tommy Forecast into the top near corner.

“We done such a good job on him,” said Dolan, who was capped six times at under 21 level by Northern Ireland whilst with Millwall for whom he made 49 League appearances.

“We knew he was their danger man, we knew he was a decent player.  We done a job on him first half and we forced him to swap flanks.”

Porter was booed by the travelling fans every time he touched the ball in front of the Bromley fans, who were housed in the East Stand.

“That’s part of football and George has to be prepared to take that and he answered in the way that he can by scoring that goal,” replied Dolan, who took the captain’s armband as the club’s longest serving player, Tutu Henriques, 29, was forced out through an ankle injury.

“We just made a little bit of an error on the edge of their box from our corner and it’s one of those things.  It’s a shame really because we’re in the game at 1-0, we’re pushing, but it wasn’t to be.”

Dolan paid tribute to the 1,689 fans that travelled to Brisbane Road – the largest away following at the stadium all season.   The Blue Square Bet (Conference) South club brought 163 more fans than giants Sheffield United, who visited last month.

He said: “Unbelievable, it really is!  I’ve said before in previous interviews, the fans are non-league.  We know winning at Dartford gave us a chance to get somebody like Leyton Orient in the next round and it’s a terrific day out for them and obviously we tried to give them a response on the pitch.

“They stayed behind at the end and I know from being in that position before that if you haven’t done them proud they’re not going to be there, they’re going to go home, but they wanted to stay, they knew we tried as hard as we could.

“It didn’t go our way on the day but the ovation that we got at the end and what we gave back to them shows what Bromley’s got and what Bromley’s about and we have to hopefully sustain that in the league.”

The biggest disappointment, however, signing off their four match FA Cup campaign without a goal.

Dolan agreed, saying, “Absolutely.  That’s the thing.  In the first half Ginge (Gareth Williams) had a great chance, Rory (Hill) had a great chance, Danny (Waldren) had a strike and as I say I didn’t think those chances were going to come again and they didn’t in the second half.

“If we had gone 1-0 up or 1-1 it would’ve been terrific to see the fans on that stand.

“They don’t get away support like that here at Leyton Orient.  I’ve been here, I know how many people bring and that was an incredible amount of fans’.  The amount of noise they were making as well.

“For at least for 45 minutes we were in it and they had a bit of hope and we had a bit of hope.  If we had gone two or three down in the first ten minutes then it’s a disaster so it wasn’t to be but a great day for the fans’ in the end there.”

Leyton Orient clearly didn’t read the script that Dolan would get on the end of a set-piece and power a header into the back of the net to win the game for the Kent club.

But Dolan was pleased that he didn’t get abuse from the Brisbane Road faithful on his return to the club.

“I wasn’t expecting much of a response really because I didn’t do much for them,” Dolan admitted.

“It wasn’t a great period of my career and that’s all down to me.

“It was good that I’ve spoken to a few people that I haven’t seen since I’ve left and it’s always nice to go back somewhere anyway.

“The (home) fans’ didn’t get on my back.  I didn’t really have too much to do.  I was thinking about the first slice out of play.   I did head one out for a corner but they were quite respectful, which was nice.”

And Dolan admitted scoring against his former club was “very far-fetched.”

He said: “My friends kept texting me to say they’ve put money on me to score but I was 25-1, 30-1.  I said ‘there’s a reason for that’ but no it would’ve been nice but it wasn’t to be.”

Meanwhile, the club have reduced adult admission for Tuesday night’s Kent Senior Cup Sponsored by Portablefloodlights.com Second Round tie against League One leaders Charlton Athletic to £5.

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net  

Bromley  v  Charlton Athletic
Kent Senior Cup Sponsored by Portablefloodlights.com Second Round
Tuesday 15th November 2011
Kick Off 7:45pm
at Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF