Our fantastic supporters' deserve to finish the season at home on a high, says Bromley coach Smith

BROMLEY coach Neil Smith has issued a rallying cry for supporters to turn up in force to celebrate SURVIVAL DAY at Hayes Lane on Saturday.



The Ravens welcome relegated Thurrock to Hayes Lane on Saturday knowing a victory in their final home game of the season should maintain their Blue Square Bet (Conference) South status.

It has been a week full of positives for the Hayes Lane faithful, and there is light at the end of the tunnel that Mark Goldberg, Murray Jones and Smith will pull the club out of the relegation dog-fight with one game left this weekend.

Bromley found themselves 1-0 down away to Truro City last weekend, but they showed the character to bounce back and claim a vital three points, courtesy of goals from Michael Malcolm and a deflected Danny Waldren free-kick.

Bromley’s tenth league win of the season pulled them up to seventeenth-place in the table with 43 points, but victory over basement side Thurrock on Saturday should be enough to beat the drop, if results go their way.

Farnborough were deducted five points last Monday after the Hampshire club lost their misconduct appeal at The Football Association and that was followed by midweek defeats for Havant & Waterlooville and Hampton & Richmond Borough.

And Bromley will be calling on a favour from their Kent rivals Dover Athletic this Saturday.  Nicky Forster’s side must beat Maidenhead United to mount pressure on fifth-placed Chelmsford City and seventh-placed Basingstoke Town as the trio fight it out for that final play-off berth.

A win for Bromley on Saturday, and defeats for Farnborough (18^th place, 43 points from 40 games), Hampton & Richmond Borough (20^th place, 39 points from 39) and Maidenhead United (21^st  place, 39 points from 40), then Hayes Lane can look forward to another season of Conference South football next August.

Reflecting on their hard-fought win, which was played in near waterlogged conditions in Cornwall last weekend, Smith said: “We got the three points!  Again, we made it difficult for ourselves because I thought in the first fifteen minutes we could have had a couple of goals.

“Truro scored, against the run of play, but it was a fantastic finish from Michael Malcolm and then we had chances afterwards.

“Obviously Danny Waldren probably hit the hardest one, it took a deflection but it went in!”

Smith, 40, added: “It was a very, very well worked win. A very deserved win to give us a great opportunity to get us the result on Saturday.

Goldberg’s best signing this season was to bring in goalkeeper Joe Welch from Blue Square Bet Premier outfit Ebbsfleet United.

Welch has conceeded only 13 goals in the last fifteen games and has been a key player in Bromley's push towards safety.

Smith added: “Again, we made it hard because we still gave them a chance right at the death when Barry Hayles had a header and Joe pulled off a great save!

“Joe’s been brilliant. A lot of it has been off the field as well. He’s really joined in the team ethic and he’s been fantastic and let’s hope, touch wood, it continues.

“He’s a massive asset to bring in at that time.  Again, Jerry (Dolke, the clubs owner) has got to take a lot of credit for it because when we had to change it, Jerry has found the money to bring these types of players in. 

“It’s worked from off the pitch to on the pitch and now we’re getting our rewards.”

This week has certainly been the most happiest for the Bromley faithful since they lost 3-0 away to Leyton Orient in the FA Cup First Round last November.

The news that Farnborough were deducted five points, to go below Bromley on goal difference, was the boost everyone needed at Hayes Lane.

“You don’t like anybody to lose points, but the situation we’re in, we’ll take anything,” admitted Smith, in this dog-eats-dog world of a relegation fight.

“Hopefully we’ll get enough points that it didn’t really matter that they’ve lost those five points or not.  That’s down to them and not us now.

“With Havant losing the same evening, it’s fantastic news for us. Another club with the same amount of games played are below us so what it does, it does leave it in our hands.

“Hampton have got their game in hand.  After they lost on Tuesday, it has no effect on us.  It is totally down to us now!”

Saturday’s game against Thurrock is EVEN BIGGER than that FA Cup tie at Brisbane Road earlier in the season and Smith has issued a rallying cry for those supporters who made that trip to east London to show their true support for the club.

Bromley have announced kids’ can watch Saturday’s MUST-WIN game against Thurrock for FREE (when accompanied by a paying adult).

“We told the boys before the game against Truro on Saturday, we have to win, nothing less. We need goals. We need to be attacking.  We can’t go out and be hard to beat.  We have to win and the same again on Saturday.

“Thurrock have got nothing to play for. They are relegated but that can sometimes let your mind think you only have to turn up because they’re relegated and you can come unstuck.

“There’s ex-Bromley boys down there and they might be embarrassed that they’ve been relegated and they won’t want to do us no favours.

“We’ve got to go in and we have to be very, very, very professional and concentrate 100% on our target, which is to stay up this season.”

Smith calls for passionate support from the terraces on Saturday. Let’s make the famous old stadium one that Thurrock will fear with passionate support from the terraces.

Smith, who works full-time at his home-town club fronting the football in the community scheme, cannot emphasise the importance enough.

He said: “This is a massive, massive game. We told the boys that at Truro on Saturday.  This is even bigger now!”

“We had 1,689 supporters turn up to Leyton Orient for that FA Cup game. This game is bigger than that.  If we can bring those supporters back it will lift the players.

“Away from home against Truro there were 100 supporters there and every player appreciates that support – believe me!   

“We would like their support for our last home game, knowing if we win then I think we’re pretty much safe.”

The mobile phone companies will be going into meltdown in the Bromley area at the weekend as fans look for the results of the teams involved in the relegation dog-fight.

“We can look at all the permutations we want in the world.  The best thing is it’s down to us. We haven’t have to hope a team loses. If we win our last two games we know we’re definitely up and that’s the target we set ourselves.  We had three games left and we said we had to win all of them.  This is the second one. If we win this, after the game we can discuss where we are. 

“Until we’re mathematically safe we have to win our last two games.  Well, the most important game now is Saturday against Thurrock at home, our last home game of the season.

“It hasn’t been a great season. We’ve had our ups – Leyton Orient in the FA Cup. A lot of it has been low and the supporters’ who have stuck behind us have been fantastic.  They deserve to finish the season, at home on a high.”

Admission charges for SURVIVAL DAY are as follows:
£12 (adults), £6 (OAP’s), £5 (students)
Kids go FREE when accompanied by a paying adult.  Half price admission for parents who arrive before 2pm. A maximum of two free kids’ per adult.
Turnstiles open at 1pm.

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net

Bromley  v  Thurrock
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 21^st April 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF