There's a bit of pressure on both teams looking for their first win, says Bromley coach Neil Smith

BROMLEY coach Neil Smith says their Kent showdown against Tonbridge Angels tomorrow will be the perfect time to get their first league win on the board.

The Ravens go into the big Kent derby at Hayes Lane with only Weston-super-Mare below them in the Blue Square Bet South table, having collected just one win from their first three games.

They were held to a goal-less draw by a new-look Staines Town side on the opening day, before losing to Eastbourne Borough (0-4) and came away from Chelmsford City with an unlucky 3-2 defeat yesterday.

Much-travelled striker, Richard Pacquette, opened his account for Bromley with two goals in Essex.

The 29-year-old striker has made Bromley his 22nd different club (including spells out on loan) and he has scored over 100 career goals.

Smith, 40, who played for the likes of Gillingham, Fulham and Reading, knows the team must grab three points against Tommy Warrilow’s side to climb out of the relegation zone.

“The first one I think we should have come away with more than a draw,” reflected Smith.

“The second one we didn’t deserve anything with the performance we put in.

“The third one, again, the boys put in a performance that deserved more than a defeat.

“Obviously we’ve got to work harder and we’ve got to do better because we gifted them all of the goals to them like we did on Tuesday.

“The plus side of it was going forward. We were better with the two goals with Richard Pacquette.

“Richard has settled in really well. He’s a great character to have in the team. He’s helping all the younger boys. He’s still finding his feet with us at the moment, but with his experience he is someone that we’ve needed.”

Mark Goldberg’s side won only four league games at Hayes Lane last season and the Bromley faithful watched a goal-less draw there on the opening day of the season. 

When asked what kind of game he is expecting against Tonbridge Angels tomorrow, Smith replied, “A tough physical game, knowing Tommy like I do!  They’ll want to get the ball down and play, but they’ll have that bit of steel in them as well. It will be a tough game.

“There’s a bit of pressure on both teams looking for their first win of the season, but I’m hoping the performance that we put in against Chelmsford on Saturday we can get a result and hopefully get our first win, especially for the supporters that have been backing us.

Tonbridge Angels and Bromley both go into the game sitting in the relegation zone – but Smith wants to get their season up and running.

“No it doesn’t look good,” admitted Bromley based Smith.

“It’s only three games into it.  It’s disappointing we know that. We think we should have more points than we’ve got.  The only game that we’ve been really disappointed with was the Tuesday one against Eastbourne Borough when we didn’t do ourselves justice at all.

“We didn’t come away with anything, but we think we should have deserved something in the other two games.

“You don’t look at the league after three games and say it’s a relegation dog-fight already, as there are 39 games to go. There’s a long way to go and we know it’s going to get better.

“We’re going to go into the game and we know it’s going to be tough and give everything that we’ve got to get our first win under our belt and move up the table and put a little bit of pressure off the boys.”

Smith admitted playing at the 74-year-old Hayes Lane stadium puts pressure on the team.

“I don’t know if the boys are putting pressure on themselves as it’s a home game to get a result,” said Smith, who grew up in Bromley.

“We want to make it a fortress and difficult for teams to beat us.  Maybe we go away from home without that pressure of having to get that result. When you’re at home everyone is expecting you to get the win and the boys put pressure on themselves.

“We want to make Bromley Football Club a real difficult place to play, but we don’t want to put pressure on ourselves any more.  We want to do the best we can but your home form is what you win championships with.”

The Ravens escaped relegation in the penultimate game of last season by two points and finished a disappointing seventeenth-position in the Conference South table.

And when asked what the club’s aspirations are this season, Smith replied, “Obviously not a dog-fight like we had last year!  I know it seems funny after three games we’re in a so-called relegation fight and we hope to be well above that by the end of the season.

“We don’t want a season we had last year and with the players we’ve got we shouldn’t be there but they have to demand more from themselves.

“We finished the season on a high in beating relegation and having a good run of games without losing but that counts for nothing now and we start afresh. 

“Above midtable and see where we are at Christmas is what we’re looking at - at the moment.”

Sierra Leone born, winger, Albert Jarrett, 27, will be drafted into the squad and Smith admitted Bromley have missed him during his three-match suspension.

He said: “We’ve missed players like Albert down that left-hand side.  Michael Malcolm has come in and done extremely well but he’s not an out-and-out left winger.

“Aaron Rhule is still a young boy and still learning his trade. We have missed Albert but we have been looking after him in training and things like that but he can come into the squad tomorrow.”

Smith has found a way of stopping Tonbridge Angels’ striker, Frannie Collin, xx, who won the Conference South golden-boot and player-of-the-year award last season in the club’s first season at this level.

“You stop him by meeting him at his house and not letting him get in his car!”, quipped Smith.

“He’s a formidable striker. We know that and he can score any sort of goal inside or outside the box.

“Tommy’s fought off other club’s to keep hold of him this year so they’re determined that he’s has another season he had.

“What you do, you don’t dive in on him. You have to mark him tight and be aware of him and even if he’s having a quiet game he can pop up at any one stage and score a goal.

“The defenders have to concentrate on him and other players and not take their eye of him for any one minute, from the first minute to ninety minute plus.”

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net

Bromley  v  Tonbridge Angels
Blue Square Bet South
Bank Holiday Monday 27^th August 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF