Kentish Football 
Fleetwood Town 3-0 Bromley - I think we've come off the pitch with regret, admits Neil Smith
FLEETWOOD TOWN 3-0 BROMLEY
The FA Cup with Budweiser First Round
Saturday 3rd November 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Highbury Stadium
BROMLEY assistant manager Neil Smith says his players let down the travelling supporters after the Kent club maintained their tag of FA Cup First Round bridesmaids.
Manager Mark Goldberg has guided the Hayes Lane club to this stage of the competition on four occasions in the past six years, but after losing to Gillingham, Colchester United and Leyton Orient previously, it was League Two Fleetwood Town that broke Bromley’s hearts after they wrapped up the game inside the opening 34 minutes at an impressive Highbury Stadium.
Bromley’s horrible statistic of never beating a Football League club in The FA Cup continues and it will be at least 68 years’ until they get over this hurdle.
Although around 300 supporters made the 565-round trip to Fleetwood, the home fans voted with their feet and their lowest crowd of the season watched the newly-promoted League Two club’s tenth FA Cup First Round tie.
Fleetwood Town grabbed an eleventh minute lead when striker David Ball scrambled the ball over the line following a long throw, before a couple of penalties from his strike partner, Jon Parkin, which were gifted to them by visiting keeper Joe Welch, sent Bromley out.
But to their credit the sixteenth-placed Blue Square Bet (Conference) South side, who stayed overnight at Blackpool Football Club’s plush facilities at Bloomfield Road, put in a much better performance during the second half and they missed chances to make more of a game of it.
Smith was devastated that the team, who were wearing yellow shirts for the first time in the club’s history, failed to produce a consolation goal that the vocal travelling fans demanded.
“We’re disappointed with ourselves really,” admitted Bromley resident Smith, 41.
“We let ourselves down, especially in the first half. We had a game plan set out and it just got wiped out with three bits of indecision.
“The first goal, from a throw in, should’ve been defended. It hasn’t been whacked in, it’s just rolled in and we give two penalty decisions and after that you’re fighting a lost cause.
“But full credit to the guys in the second half, but we have to take chances. We’ve created enough chances to give the supporters something they deserve, travelling all that way and I just feel that we’ve let them down a little bit if I’ve got to be honest with you.
“You can’t gift teams three chances and then expect to get a result and yet we’ve created and had the chances to do it and we didn’t take them!”
If Bromley can take a crumb of pleasure from their first game against Fleetwood Town is that their fans won the singing contest hands down. They kept to their feet in the main stand and sung their hearts out through the entire game and the players acknowledged their support at the final whistle.
“They were absolutely brilliant and we’ve just said (inside the dressing room) that the supporters were fantastic and they deserved better, I do feel, especially the first half where we’ve let them down a little bit, but hopefully the second half they could see we didn’t give up totally. We came out and we tried to give them something to go back home with.”
Bromley at least negotiated the opening seven minutes (the time that Matthew Spring drove Leyton Orient into an early lead last season), and Fleetwood midfielder Junior Brown lashed a left-footed half-volley high over the bar from 22-yards.
But Smith was bitterly disappointed with the manner that Bromley conceded their first goal – inside the opening eleven minutes.
Curtis Obeng launched a long throw into the penalty area and the yellow shirted defence failed to clear and Ball scrambled the ball over the line from two-yards out.
Smith said: “The thing is we worked on it on a Thursday night – this is what we’ve got to prevent – we didn’t! That’s the frustrating thing! We knew what they had, we knew they had a long throw. It wasn’t flicked on and it was just, as you say, a very, very ugly goal.”
Smith added: “Up until that goal I thought we looked ok. Everybody wanted the ball and there was another bit of madness giving the penalty away and all your preparation just goes out of the window!”
Welch was adjudged by referee Mr Ross Joyce to have pushed over Brown and the keeper was sent the wrong way when Parkin drove a right-footed penalty straight down the middle of the goal.
Smith said: “He said for the first one that he didn’t bring the player down and he didn’t think that was a penalty.”
Bromley wasted a couple of decent chances to claw themselves off the floor.
Defender Liam Harwood pumped a long ball towards the edge of the Fleetwood penalty area and their last minute hero against Worcester City in the last qualifying round, Richard Pacquette, stuck out his chest to direct the ball into Pierre Joseph-Dubois’ path and after cutting onto his right foot the Bromley striker curled his shot agonisingly over the top of the far post from an acute angle from 10-yards.
The French striker then cracked a speculative right-footed shot from 30-yards, which was comfortably saved by Fleetwood keeper Scott Davies.
Smith said: “He’s tried to curl it into the top bins, top corner. He’s got to hit it low and we might get a rebound.
“The second one was well worked again and he’s just hit the keeper. I don’t think we’ve made the keeper actually work to keep the ball out. We feel a little bit disappointed.”
But after knocking out Sutton United, Dover Athletic and Worcester City, the Bromley faithful knew their exit was confirmed eleven minutes before half-time.
A long ball put Obeng through on goal and pink shirted Welch suffered with a rush of blood and advanced to the corner of the box and was lucky to only receive a yellow card as the last-man brought down Obeng when he was put through on goal.
Welch was once again sent the wrong way by Parkin, who this time opted to fire his right-footed penalty into the left-corner.
Smith said: “I just don’t know why he did what he did? It was a rush of blood! Everything that we’ve worked on in training on Thursday was just wiped out within 34 minutes.”
When asked whether his keeper was lucky to escape a red-card, Smith admitted: “Yes, I do! I’ve got to be honest. He (the referee) could’ve done it and luckily he didn’t. I’m just confused about what happened in the first 34 minutes – what they were actually thinking?!”
At this stage, Bromley were destined to be on one hell of a beating, but thankfully Micky Mellon’s side didn’t create another first half opening and Bromley went in at the break three down.
When asked what was said inside the visiting dressing room, Smith revealed: “Well we turned round and said ‘let’s go and win the second half’ and I think we created the chances. We had the better chances. Pierre had a couple, Richard Pacquette’s penalty appeal – they get the penalty, we don’t!
“For me it was let’s give the supporters something to go and cheer about. We might not win the game but let’s give them something to go back with.”
Smith admitted Bromley gave Fleetwood Town – who gave former Scotland skipper Barry Ferguson, 34, his debut – too much respect.
He said: “I’ve just said that to the guys. I think we did because Barry Ferguson’s playing. Maybe they did look at Barry Ferguson and thought wow! I thought we looked at him. It’s a lovely stadium. It’s a lovely pitch. I thought we thought we forget about the actual game!”
Ferguson was given a standing ovation from the Fleetwood fans following his substitution with eight minutes left.
Former Gillingham ace Smith said: “He’s a class act. He has been for many years. You could see some of the touches that he had out there. I thought Ali Fuseini did exactly the same for us today. I thought Ali Fuseini was brilliant for us.”
“At half-time, I actually thought, ‘hold on a minute, they’re actually not that great! Let’s get at them and I think we did. I think we played some fantastic stuff without getting the final product.”
Bromley released the shackles and finally took the game to the fourth-placed League Two outfit and all that was crying out was a yellow shirted player to give the travelling supporters a morale boosting consolation.
That should have arrived inside the opening three minutes of the second half when Ali Fuseini fed Joespeh-Dubois, who laid the ball off to Elliott Buchanan, and Danny Waldren’s low cross found its way to an unmarked Joseph-Dubois, who swept a shot straight at Davies from four-yards.
However, a fine move from Fleetwood should have been finished off by Ball, who flashed a low left-footed shot just wide of the right-hand post in the 50th minute.
Bromley right-wing back, Sanchez Ming, then had time and space to whip in a cross but Pacquette’s right-footed shot on the turn sailed past the right-hand post from 22-yards.
Bromley’s moment, however, should have arrived in the 55th minute when sloppy Fleetwood keeper Davies kicked the ball straight to Joseph-Dubois, who was inside the penalty area without a defender anywhere near him, but he lost all of his composure and his right-footed stroked shot was saved by the keeper, who dived to his left to make amends.
Smith said: “The keeper’s given him the ball, I think he panicked. He didn’t realise he had more time than he did. Again, he didn’t make the keeper really have to work for it and after that you’re looking at the players and you think we get one goal, who knows? You saw it the other night (when Bromley threw away a 3-0 first half lead to beat Maidenhead United 3-2 on Tuesday night), we’ve seen it happen, but it wasn’t to be.”
Bromley felt they should have been awarded a penalty after Pacquette was fouled by last-man Youl Mawene, who escaped with a booking, and Bromley were instead awarded a free-kick agonisingly inches away from the line.
Bromley linked up well down the left when Buchanan cut the ball back to full-back Marlon Patterson, who whipped in a first time cross towards the far post but Pacquette sent his header wide of the post.
Then Fleetwood almost punished Bromley when a long kick straight over the heart of the Bromley defence by the keeper was lashed over the bar by Parkin.
Goldberg, whose son Bradley has made it through to the FA Cup Second Round following Hastings United’s win today, brought Ali Chaaban into the game and the striker penetrated the Fleetwood defence and after cutting in from the right his left-footed drive took a deflection as it screamed wide of the far post from 25-yards.
Chaaban then popped a right-footed drive towards goal after his run took him to within 30-yards from goal but Davies made a comfortable low save.
Parkin was denied a hat-trick in the final seventeen minutes when he curled a looping left-footed shot on the turn into the top far corner from the edge of the Bromley box, but an offside flag had been raised.
A move involving Fleetwood’s Obeng and Parkin resulted in substitute Jamie McGuire flashing a deflected shot just past the foot of the right-hand post, before Parkin’s through ball put Ball through on goal, but after cutting inside he sent a right-footed shot sailing just over Welch’s crossbar.
Parkin wasted a decent chance when his right-footed chip from outside the penalty area was comfortably caught by Welch, but with rings off “we only want one goal!” echoing from the standing visiting supporters in the seated main stand, Smith was upset that his side failed to give them a goal that their immense support deserved.
Smith admitted: “We just feel like we haven’t given a good account of ourselves. We wanted to give the supporters something to go back home with your heads held high with and I think we’ve just missed a chance. We’ve missed an opportunity.
“I think we’ve come off the pitch with regret and you should never do that as a football player until the second half but by then it was probably too late.”
Smith had this message to the club’s loyal fan base who made the trip: “I can’t thank them enough! The support was fantastic. We feel we’ve disappointed them and we’ve let them down a little bit.
“To come that way and the support they gave, they never stopped signing and they’re backing us all the way. As a man I really appreciate that. That’s how we want them every week. I think we’re getting the younger supporter in. I think they’re doing that and the ones that have seen it before. We want that every week.
“I’m very disappointed. I’m absolutely devastated for the boys because I don’t think they’ve done themselves justice and you don’t get many chances to do it and we had one today and we didn’t take it.”
Bromley, meanwhile, have reduced admission prices for Tuesday night’s home game against Ryman Premier League side Harrow Borough in the London Senior Cup (sponsored by Coventry Scaffolding) Fourth Round.
Fleetwood Town: Scott Davies, Connor McLaughlin, Youl Mawene, Rob Edwards (Steve McNulty 31), Dean Howell, Curtis Obeng, Lee Fowler, Barry Ferguson (Jamie Milliban 82), Junior Brown (Jamie McGuire 68), David Ball, Jon Parkin.
Subs: Barry Nicholson, Steven Gillespie, Tom Barhuizen, Chris Maxwell
Goals: David Ball 11, Jon Parkin 17 (pen), 34 (pen)
Booked: Youl Mawene 57, Lee Fowler 58
Bromley: Joe Welch, Sanchez Ming (Michael Malcolm 63), Marlon Patterson, Ali Fuseini, Jerrome Sobers, Liam Harwood, Danny Waldren (Aaron Rhule 80), Elliott Buchanan, Pierre Joseph-Dubois (Ali Chaaban 63), Richard Pacquette, Tony Finn.
Subs: Michael Boateng, George Howard, Mike Jones, Ian Daly
Booked: Joe Welch 54
Attendance: 1,696
Referee: Mr Ross Joyce (Middlesbrough, Cleveland)
Assistants: Mr Robert Jones (Higher Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside) & Mr Gordon Johnson (Ormskirk, Lancashire)
Fourth Official: Mr Lee Metcalfe (Preston, Lancashire)
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