Farnborough OBG 1-8 Bromley - I’d like to see more interest in my players, says Bromley boss Dryland

FARNBOROUGH OLD BOYS GUILD 1-8 BROMLEY
Valley Express Kent Youth League Under 18 North
Friday 17^th May 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Hayes Lane

BROMLEY manager Andy Dryland says first-team manager Mark Goldberg should take an interest in many of his players who he believes are good enough to step up into reserve team football at the Hayes Lane club.

Bromley took full advantage of playing their away game against neighbouring Farnborough Old Boys Guild at Hayes Lane as they recorded their highest win of the season to leapfrog over VCD Athletic into fifth-place in the Valley Express Kent Youth League Under 18 North, with a couple of games remaining.

Bromley’s first team play in Conference South, whilst Farnborough Old Boys Guild play five levels below in the Haart of Kent County League Premier and the gulf in class between both sides was clearly evident.

Bromley opened the floodgates within seven minutes when striker Ollie Rudd scored, before right-sided midfielder Nadean Fosu produced a quality strike with the outside of his boot from 20-yards.

Bromley striker George Perfitt increased their lead, before Rudd scored his second to give the Ravens a comfortable 4-0 lead at the break.

Jack Dryland’s header made it 5-0 only 97 seconds into the second half, before Farnborough Old Boys Guild scored a consolation courtesy of striker Martin Sargent’s powerfully hit free-kick.

Rob Burgess poked home Bromley’s sixth, before George Baldwin headed home the seventh and Charlie Gray wrapped up the eighth goal late on to end Farnborough Old Boys Guild’s miserable campaign in the bottom two with 11 points from 20 games and they could finish bottom if Fisher win their last two games.

Manager Drylan, 45, admitted his Bromley side should have hit double-figures, after collecting their 27^th point of the season, although they are 21 points adrift of leaders Dulwich Hamlet, who could lose the title if Cray Wanderers win their last game of the season.

He said: “It was comfortable. It was a good game. I enjoyed it.  It’s good for the boys. It’s a good experience for the boys to play on their own first team pitch. I thought they done really well on it. They kept the ball well and done very well.

“It could have been (a cricket score).  I thought they (Farnborough) done well to keep staying in like they did. It’s a bit demoralising to keep the goals popped in against you but I thought they done well to keep it going. 

“I thought we done very well to get the eight goals. We could’ve got a few more. It was a good result.”

Farnborough Old Boys Guild manager Richard Percy, 27, admitted his side failed to play together as a team after they suffered their worst defeat of the season.

“It was a tough night,” he said.  “It’s hard because youth football for me isn’t about winning. It’s about wanting to play football and trying as hard as you can.

“When we made a mistake we were very immature and we didn’t work hard for each other and at this level you do need to work as a team to get a winning mentality. Unfortunately we didn’t have that tonight.

“In spells I thought we played some good football, no cutting edge. It broke down in the final third quite a lot.

“The boys are upset and they realised that if they can’t work individually they have to work together and it was quite negative on the pitch today.

“It’s a shame for the end of the season to end like that but the subs came on and they worked extremely hard, not just for themselves but for the team and that changed the second half.

“I don’t think we deserved to go down the way we did. First half we deserved to be 4-0 down. Second half I thought we deserved a couple more goals.  To concede four the way that we did was ugly.”

Bromley issued their opponents an early warning when Perfitt appeared yards offside when he latched onto a long ball over the top of the defence but the flag stayed down and he took the ball on before cracking a right-footed angled drive from 20-yards, which only just cleared the crossbar.

But Farnborough Old Boys Guild’s goalkeeper Steven Cullern, who was playing his last game for the club with a knee injury, was soon to be picking the ball out of his net.

Bromley produced a slick move on an over-used tired looking pitch and Perfitt and skipper Burgess combined to put Rudd through on goal down the left-hand side of the penalty area before he stroked a low left-footed shot across Cullern to find the bottom far corner with ease.

Dryland said: “It was a good finish. It always settles people down getting an early goal.  I think that did settle us down tonight.  It took us forward in the game to get a few more.

“I thought a lot of the goals were created with good moves. The boys keep the ball well. I think we’re one of the best sides in the league for keeping the ball, passing and moving and that’s what we do here.”

Percy added: “Slow start.  Silly mistakes. We tried to play football from the back. Unfortunately miss-communication, no talking and we just gave the ball away and they were in!”

Bromley keeper Ricky Vieria was called into action in the ninth minute when he dived full-length to his left to push away Matt Brown’s right-footed hooked volley from eighteen-yards, which was destined to scream into the bottom corner.

Bromley created another chance when skipper Burgess cut in and laid the ball off to Gray and the diminutive midfielder flashed his right-footed angled drive past the far post from fifteen-yards.

Bromley doubled their lead after 17 minutes with a quality strike from Fosu, which belied his young years.

Callum Naessens played the ball inside to Fosu, who flicked a first-time shot from 20-yards with the outside of his left foot and the ball looped over the keeper and dropped into the roof of the net.

Dryland swiftly said: “He doesn’t usually do that!  It’s a great finish from him tonight. He done very well.”

But Percy gave the strike the attention that it deserved.

“Individually, the second one, it was a fantastic individual goal!  It was probably one of the eight that was unstoppable!

“We had possession but we lost the ball 40-yards out. The lad come inside and credit to him on his left-foot smashed it into the top of the net so it’s a great goal!”

Farnborough Old Boys Guild were still in the game at this point and right wing-back Ryan Green came forward and was denied at the near post by Vieria, who spilt his shot beside his near post.

Cullern made a fine save to keep hold of the ball after Naessens stroked a right-footed free-kick towards goal from 30-yards, before the game quickly evaporated away from the side in yellow and red striped shirts.

Bromley produced a fine three-man passing move to score their third goal in the 42^nd minute.

Harry Gamble played a fine diagonal pass to find Fosu down the right, who played the ball inside to Gray, who laid the ball off to Perfitt, whose low right-footed angled drive flashed across Cullern and nestled into the bottom far corner of the net.

Dryland said: “It was another good finish!  The boys were doing very, very well at that stage but I thought the game was over by then if I’m honest!”

Percy felt his defender should have done better.

He said: “The defender (Harry Walker) was asked to step up because he was playing three players on. Unfortunately he followed the runner, the ball then came and he was outnumbered for the goal.”

Farnborough Old Boys Guild were facing an uphill struggle after Bromley scored 60 seconds before half-time.

Perfitt played a diagonal pass to Fosu on the right and he released Rudd through on goal again and the Bromley striker maintained his composure to round the advancing goalkeeper before slotting a right-footed shot into the empty net.

Dryland was now sounding like a broken record, saying, “That was a good finish!  I wish there weren’t so many goals, then we wouldn’t talk much about it would we? 

“It was a great finish.  All the moves were decent tonight. All the goals were decent finishes as well so I’m really pleased for the lads.”

Percy added: “The fourth one came from a goal-kick. The goal-kick was given away. I don’t think it reached 30-yards out and he got punished.  It was a great finish.  Unfortunately, us again giving the ball away from our own possession, so I wasn’t happy with that just before half-time.”

Both managers were asked what they told their boys during the half-time break.

The Bromley boss said: “Enjoy it basically!  Just keep the pressure on, just keep playing and just keep at it.  The main thing at that stage, just to enjoy it and make sure you don’t get a defeat out of that!”

Percy added: “They were told in no uncertain terms that individuality can win you a football game if it’s in the right areas but if you’re trying to be an individual in your own half and not working as a team and not looking to pass and move then you’re going to get caught out.

“The fastest thing on a football pitch is a football and they meant to use that to their advantage by passing and moving and not trying to run with it and I think it got through. Second half was much better.”

Percy was not pleased with the manner that his side crashed to a 5-0 deficit only 97 seconds into the second half when his defenders left Dryland unmarked inside their penalty area and the central defender was given time and space to guide his free header into the left-hand corner from sixteen-yards.

The Farnborough Old Boys Guild manager said: “We’ve conceded one early on in the first half and to concede in that quick time maybe they still had their head in the changing room but again I was very disappointed in that!

“They were asked to win the second half but I thought when we got it back after that it was disappointing to go 5-0 down so soon after half-time.”

Dryland added: “That settled us down again to take us through to a comfortable win at the end of it.”

Farnborough did pull a goal back, however, in the 50^th minute, but by then it was too little, too late.

Positioned out on the right, striker Sargent struck his right-footed free-kick towards the far post from 30-yards and the ball inexplicably looped over flat-footed keeper Vieria and dropped into the far corner of the net.

Percy said: “It’s what he likes to do!  He does it a lot more in training than he does in a match, but I think out of frustration he’s just hit that as hard as he could!

“It’s his last game at youth team football. He deserves that after his hard work over the last three years, especially with me.

“It hasn’t been his best season but to top it off with that was fantastic. Again, that’s a bit of individuality you need to maybe win you a game but when you’re 5-0 down it’s a mere consolation.”

Bromley substitute Matt Catmull dragged his shot past the far post when he was played in by Gamble, before Gray clipped the ball over the top of the defence but Rudd missed his hat-trick chance by chipping the ball wide of the near post when he only had the stricken keeper to beat.

Bromley patiently waited until the 67^th minute to score their sixth goal when man-of-the-match Fosu was released down the right again before he cut the ball back to the edge of the box for Burgess to poke his shot into the bottom right-hand corner past a goalkeeper that was having a bad night.

Percy pointed the finger of blame to his goalkeeper.

He said: “Again, he’s got to be more confident. But I think today the way Steve let his head go, he was more worried about other people’s performances and in some extent he didn’t want to be here today. Unfortunately he’s off to another team and I wish him all the best, but I feel he did play like that today, that it didn’t really matter to him. Unfortunately as a team, he’s your number one, so you need him.

“He picked up a little knee knock but he said he was fine.  Our sub goalkeeper (Connor Wykes) went on the bench as (an outfield) player but he (Cullern) was adamant he was fine.”

Dryland added: “I think by that time we killed them off really. They’re just clutching at straws. We looked like we’d go on and score a few more. It’s a good night for the boys.”

Bromley’s seventh goal came 100 seconds later when Burgess chipped a free-kick into the box for the unmarked Baldwin to leave Cullern rooted to the spot as his header sailed into the bottom left-hand corner.

Dryland said: “It’s about time with George.  He don’t score many with his head and he’s a centre half so he could do a little bit more of that but he’s done well with the header.”

Percy added: “Again, I thought in my eyes it was a goalkeeping error!  I thought the goalkeeper could’ve come and claim that in his six-yard box!  They put a good delivery in but to be fair the gap their player had three yards to run and head in to an empty net.”

Farnborough central defender Connor Ives – one of three fifteen-year-olds in the team – the other two being Matt Brown and Billy Mickle – came up from the back to head wide following a free-kick into the Bromley penalty area.

Bromley striker Perfitt somehow curled a right-footed shot wide of an empty goal, before Rudd made a run down the inside left channel and whipped in a cross towards the near post where an unmarked Perfitt glanced his header into Cullern’s gloves to make a morale-boosting comfortable catch.

Farnborough’s defending tonight was woeful throughout and Bromley wrapped up the game when Perfitt released Gray through on goal and he slotted his left-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner when he only had the keeper to beat.

Dryland said: “He’s done well this year Charlie. It’s a great little tuck inside and he’s tucked it away nicely and it sets us up for the night really. We’ve got a presentation after this as well so the boys will be in good spirit.”

Percy did well to remember all the eight goals that his outclassed side shipped in at Hayes Lane and reflecting on the last one of the game he said: “I can’t remember, let me….It was, I do remember! We had a corner. We kept the ball alive. We gave it away and they countered attack and they were five-versus-three, played it along, a good lay-back and a tap in.”

Outclassed Farnborough Old Boys Guild rallied and created a couple of late efforts, which saw substitute Drew Strong drill a right-footed drive wide from 30-yards, before he whipped in an outswinging free-kick from the by-line, which saw Ives rise to head straight at the Bromley keeper.

Bromley complete their campaign with two away games. They can leapfrog over fourth-placed Bridon Ropes if they beat them on Sunday, before finishing their campaign at VCD Athletic on 23 May.

Dryland said: “Now with the league as it is we can’t win anything so we just want the boys to see it out now, see an awful season out really. It’s been the worst season I’ve ever known so I just hope they go there and they do well and they enjoy it.  That’s the main thing.  We just need to enjoy it and play the season out.”

Looking further ahead to next season, Dryland says his players can push on through the ranks so they can continue to play slick passing football, which is appreciated by the Hayes Lane faithful.

“Hopefully with the boys being 18 now, hopefully the first team and the reserves recognise our 18s and give them a chance,” said Dryland.

“There’s at least five or six boys that really do need to be pushed on now so I’m hoping tonight that they’re going to be down here and some of these lads become part of this Bromley set-up.

“We’ve got a nucleus of five or six. Rob Burgess is very good. Nadean Fosu is very strong, Callum Naessens.  There’s not one of our side that’s not comfortable on the ball and that’s how we’ve coached them.   I feel that all of them could all go and do a job, especially reserve football at the moment.  It’s a big step from here to first team, but if they can recognise these players and can get them playing through the reserves and nurture them, I feel we have potentially a few players who can turn out.

“There’s a lot of options for them to go into. I think a lot of them are going to stay and play in the second year of 18’s next year, but I’d like to see a little bit more interest from the first team in these players because they’ve come through the youth section.  Some of them have been with us for four or five years and they deserve a chance really, so I’m hoping they do get a chance.

“I’ve been here about five years now. I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve brought them through to 12-13-14’s right the way through and some of these boys have been with me for five years’ so I’d like to think I’ve put my little stamp on them.”

Percy, meanwhile, is disappointed with his side’s bottom-two finish and hopes his players adapt to their new surroundings next season.

He said: “There’s been an improvement in the 15-year-old’s who are playing three years above their age limit and that has been a massive, massive improvement. It’s been a pleasure to coach these lads who have moved forward and hopefully we’ll be a lot stronger in the new league we’re going in.

“We’re going to go into the Kent Schools Academies League so hopefully a good bunch of lads who will work hard and we get the team ethic right and move into the next season.

“We’ve got seven or eight players from this team staying on for next year.

“It’s about improvement and every time we win a game it’s good but at this level it’s about improving them and getting them into a senior side. We haven’t done very well in youth football but we’ve had eight players in our youth team represent Farnborough Football Club at Kent County level, be it first team and reserves and some of them have been very, very good. I see them moving on up from that and my job as a coach, that’s what I want to see – not winning games at youth level.”

Percy was delighted that his three younger players were not overawed playing at one of the best footballing venues in Kent.

“They weren’t overawed and you could see that because they were the better players out there and those three would fit into that Bromley side that trounced us today.

“Bromley were very good going forward but not only that when they lost the ball they got 11 men behind the ball and they were very quick and very strong up front.

“If you’re going to defend like that, defend as a unit and you’ve got the pace and the speed to go forward you’re going to give any team a problem and I expect them to win their last couple of games.”

Farnborough Old Boys Guild:  Steven Cullern, Ryan Green (Yank Dubzylie 82), Ashley Chappel (Michael Grimes 34), Jason Martin, Sam Fitzgerald (Drew Strong 60), Connor Ives, Harry Walker, Matt Brown (Jason Chappel 65), Jason Chappel (Jake Scott 34), Martin Sargent (Connor Wykes 70), Billy Muckle.

Goal:  Martin Sargent 50

Bromley:  Ricky Vieria, Harry Gamble, Callum Naessens, Charlie Gray, George Baldwin, Harvey Scott, Jack Dryland (George Perfitt 56), Rob Burgess, George Perfitt (Matt Catmull 46), Nadean Fosu, Ollie Rudd.

Goals:  Ollie Rudd 7, 45, Nadean Fosu 17, George Perfitt 42, Jack Dryland 47, Rob Burgess 67, George Baldwin 69, Charlie Gray 88

Booked:  Harvey Scott 30

Attendance: 50
Referee:  Mr Nicholas Cornwell (Maidstone)