We can look up and fight our way into the lights, says Bromley defender Tutu Henriques

BROMLEY stalwart Tutu Henriques says he can now see the lightness from a very dark long tunnel as the Kent club go into the final week of the season with safety well and truly in their grasp.



It has been a very long and difficult campaign for the Hayes Lane outfit but one defeat in their last seven games has given them a chance of escaping relegation from Blue Square Bet (Conference) South.

Bromley were held to their TENTH home draw of the season by basement side Thurrock as missed chances cost them a victory in yesterday’s agonising goal-less draw.

But that point has put Bromley in eighteenth place on 44 points and they can cement their place in the division on Tuesday night, without playing.

Second-from-bottom side Hampton & Richmond Borough face play-off chasing Basingstoke Town at the Beveree and if the south-west Londoners fail to beat Basingstoke then Bromley go into Saturday’s final game of the season away to Dorchester Town safe.

There will be a number of Bromley supporters making the trip to Hampton’s ground on Tuesday night, just hoping Basingstoke can extend their unbeaten run to four games to spark mass celebration for the Hayes Lane faithful.

Basingstoke are in sixth-place in the table, with 67 points and a point will see them leapfrog over Chelmsford City into the final play-off berth, with one game to go. 

South African Henriques, 29, who made his 312^th appearance for the Kent club yesterday, will be taking a keen interest on Tuesday night’s match.

He said:  “Basingstoke are a good outfit and they’re still playing for something.  They need to put a performance to try to chase the play-offs and just too really finish their season well.

“It bodes well for us. Pressure is a funny thing and it forces bad decisions to be made out on that pitch.

“I wouldn’t like to be in Hampton’s shoes. I fancy Basingstoke’s chances.  Hampton have been lurking behind us with games in hand so it’s down to them to carry it through to the last game of the season.

“We’re still in a good position and I’ll be watching minute by minute play wherever I am on Tuesday.”

The pressure is on Hampton & Richmond Borough, who suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Welling United yesterday, who clinched victory courtesy of goals from player-manager Jamie Day and Joe Healy.

“They have to produce a win and it’s one thing going out there to try to get any kind of point in a hard game against a good opposition. 

“I’m feeling very optimistic of Basingstoke’s chances of taking three points, so I know when the pressure’s up people react differently.”

Henqriues admitted yesterday that his team-mates felt the tension throughout yesterday’s frustrating game against Thurrock, who walked off the Hayes Lane pitch relieved of stealing a point in a one-sided game.

However, if Hampton & Richmond Borough do snatch victory on Tuesday night, Bromley travel to tenth-placed Dorchester Town next Saturday knowing that they must collect at least a point to stay up, or rely on Havant & Waterlooville and Hampton slipping up on the final day pressure cooker.

Loyal supporter Jim Brown has put his hand in his own pocket in the tune of £700 to hire a coach for supporters to travel down to Dorset for free.  The coach is fully booked and Henriques paid tribute to the supporter and insists the passionate vocal support will be appreciated by the players.

“Jim Brown, the loyal club man, fantastically dug deep and did produce a coach for supporters,” said Henriques.

“For us, any away game where we hear supporters and people are pushing us on and urging us on, like the kind of noise that we had yesterday, which was absolutely fantastic, goes a long way of pushing that one or two percent more that is required when you’re competing against an opponent.”

Manager Mark Goldberg added it was “great” gesture.

He said: “I just wish we were going there to have a party, instead of going there to work very, very hard.  Let’s hope we still have a party at the end of it!”

Bromley do have a talented goalkeeper, Joe Welch, who has pulled off some vital saves since he joined from Ebbsfleet United in January.

The 23-year-old has kept seven clean sheets in seventeen games since departing Stonebridge Road for Hayes Lane.

“Joe Welch is a calming influence and a goalkeeper who can be relied upon,” said Henriques.

“For me it’s all about concentration and he’s got that in abundance and when the key moments come in the game he makes the right decision. 

“He’s not the loudest goalkeeper, he’s not all bark. He’s definitely resolute and he’s a good cover and definitely a top keeper so I’m a big fan of him.”

The Bromley faithful are now positive that the club can avoid the stigma of their fourth relegation of their history and Henriques is feeling positive about the week ahead.

“If we’re playing for something it adds an extra to your game.  Good or bad we’ll see where we go.   We will run harder, we will play harder, we’ll be resolute.  We will have steel and we’ll try our damn hardest and we can only hope the result goes our way.”

And when asked whether he is thinking about relegation, the fans’ favourite replied, “No!  Not really.  We must always be positive in life and optimistic.  Fortunately we can look up and fight our way into the lights.  Darkness is something I don’t look down into.”

Bromley, who have won only four league games on the over-used Hayes Lane pitch, perform better on their travels and Goldberg will know what his side must do in Dorset by the time Saturday is here.

He said:  “We need at least another point, don’t we?

“We need to go to win anyway.  We’ll do the same as we did at Truro, go there and get all three points.

“I’d rather not be in this position. There you go.  We just have to deal with it, man up and go there and try and get the points.”

Goldberg insists his players to find that killer instinct against a Dorchester side who came away from Tonbridge Angels with a 2-1 defeat yesterday.

“We can’t improve upon the creativity yesterday, it was excellent. It’s just the finishing.  We do work on it so it’s just some reason no-one is making that final ball that’s coming in.

“We need to have that killer instinct.  Either we’re not because we haven’t got the ability or we’re not, I think maybe not clinical enough because we haven’t got the killer instinct.  I’m not sure which of the two it is right now.  It might be a bit of both.”

As Tim Hutton, head of club development, wrote in his programme notes yesterday, “With more ups and downs than most seasons, Bromley will be hoping it ends on a high note.   Here’s to another roller coaster of a year, and to one word that has kept players, staff and supporters going throughout – believe!”

Beleive that Basingstoke Town will avoid defeat at Hampton & Richmond Borough on Tuesday night!

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net

Dorchester Town  v  Bromley
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 28^th April 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at The Avenue Stadium, Weymouth Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2RY