Four wins will keep us up, says Bromley coach Neil Smith

BROMLEY coach Neil Smith says his side must claim four wins from their last ten games to avoid relegation from Conference South.



The Ravens played their 200^th game in Conference South on Tuesday night, being pegged back by Staines Town in a relegation dog-fight in front of a pitiful crowd of just 233 at Hayes Lane.

Bromley’s fans’ are asking questions just to why Staines were given around 40 minutes to prepare for kick-off, which was delayed for an hour due to their visitors’ arriving at Hayes Lane after 8pm, due to an accident on the M25 Motorway – a game that Bromley had to win!

Loyal fans recalled the day when Graham Roberts piled pressure on the referee to force Bromley to kick-off at the scheduled 3:00pm kick-off despite Bromley arriving at Yeovil Town with minutes to spare thanks to Bank Holiday August traffic en-route to Somerset back in Yeovil’s Ryman Premier League days.

Bromley received a slice of luck when a clearance from Staines keeper James Courtnage struck his left-back Adam Thompson and the ball fell to Bromley striker Michael Malcolm, who won a foot-race with Danny Gordon to slot into an empty net in the 22^nd minute.

Bromley squandered some excellent chances to put the game to bed, Courtnage denying Tutu Henriques, Malcolm and Anthony Thomas, before Staines boss Steve Cordery pulled off a tactical masterstroke, adopting a 4-2-4 formation and former Bromley striker Ali Chaaban broke the hearts of the Hayes Lane faithful by smashing home a volley through a crowd of players to find the back of the net, with 50:36 on the clock at the death.

The draw dents Bromley’s survival hopes, having picked up a woeful 33 points from 32 games, but they are two points clear of third-from-bottom Staines in eighteenth place in the table and the Bromley side will need to collect four wins from their last 10 games – or equal Staines’ results to avoid an unwanted record of suffering their fourth relegation in their proud 120 year history.

Mark Goldberg’s side face Eastleigh at Hayes Lane on Saturday, before playing nine other cup-finals in the shape of Basingstoke Town (away), Havant & Waterlooville (home), Farnborough (home), Weston-super-Mare (home), Sutton United (away), Dartford (home), Truro City (away), Thurrock (home) and Dorchester Town (away).

Smith said: “I know it sounds ridiculous but there’s still a few teams above us on 36 points and we need to start dragging them into it so they start feeling a little bit nervous as well.

“I think a couple of results went our way on Tuesday night so it’s another point gained and we have to gain as many points as we can.

“Will ten draws, which will get us 43 points, would that keep us up? I don’t know, but we need wins on the board.  The earlier we get them the less panicky we’ll be.”

Smith, who held his hand up over Moses Swaibu’s embarrassing second yellow card, when the central defender picked up his second yellow card for not leaving the pitch to change his shirt in the third minute of injury time, although Swaibu must also face the blame, knows things are now in dire straights at Hayes Lane.

Smith added: “If we can get 45 points then I don’t think we’ll be in the bottom three.  If we won the four games that should see us alright, but we’ve got to win the four games and Staines Town should have been one of them.”

Otherwise, it’s a return to the Ryman Premier League, for the first time since May 2007.

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net

Bromley  v  Eastleigh
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 10^th March 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF