We must win all three of them, says Bromley defender Liam Harwood

Wednesday 11th April 2012

BROMLEY defender Liam Harwood says he does not want the stigma of relegation blotting his Curriculum Vitae.

The Ravens are now entering LAST CHANCE SALOON and they must hit the form that they showed in The FA Cup (three successive wins) if they are to retain their Blue Square Bet (Conference) South status at the end of the month.

Bromley slipped down to nineteenth-place in the table following Havant & Waterlooville’s win over Salisbury City last night.

Mark Goldberg’s side are just one point above the drop zone and Hampton & Richmond Borough, who are immediately below them in the table have two games in hand and have a much better goal difference.

Bromley cannot afford to slip up and they MUST WIN their last three games if they are to prepare for their sixth season in Conference South.

They make their longest journey of the season to Truro City on Saturday, before welcoming already relegated Thurrock to Hayes Lane on 21 April, before travelling to Dorchester Town on the final day of the season.

Harwood, 24, who lives in Bromley, has issued the mother of all rallying cries ahead of their make-or-break games of a depressing campaign to avoid a fourth relegation in the club’s history.

“We must win all three of them, starting with Saturday at Truro, there’s no way around it,” said the former Margate and Tonbridge Angels defender.

“We’ll be definitely staying up, I think, so we’ve just got to win, concentrate on all those three games now.”

When asked what is needed to beat the drop, Harwood replied, “Belief. Teamwork. Commitment – all three things – and hard work!

“I’ve got a feeling we’re going heads in, all in now. We can’t do nothing else. We must stay up this season.

“No one wants to have relegation on their CV’s, so nothing else but to put it all in the last three games and get the three wins.”

Bromley have won only nine games this season, four of them at Hayes Lane.

The only time the team won three games on the bounce was back in October, when Bromley beat Welling United in the FA Cup, Havant & Waterlooville in the League and away to Margate in the FA Cup Third Qualifying Round.

Owner Jerry Dolke backed manager Goldberg with an increase in the playing budget back in January to sign ex-Football League players, but Bromley haven’t climbed away from the relegation dog-fight.

Harwood said: “Everyone’s confident. Everyone knows what their capable of.

“With this team we have now, if we started the season, this is a team (who should have been in the) play-offs at least - minimum.

“We’ve got the two of the top four out of the way now, (having played Sutton United and Dartford) so now we have to play Truro, Thurrock and Dorchester, so they’re all winnable games and we must win.

“No game in this league is easy, but if we just concentrate on ourselves and just get ready for them, we’ll be fine.”

Coach, Neil Smith, who is employed by his home-town club on a full-time basis as he fronts the Football in the Community Scheme, knows the importance of coming out of relegation trouble.

“We have to win all three. We’ve put it to the boys, they seem up for it. We’ve got to do it,” said Smith.

“But first things first. We have to win against Truro. We’ve got to beat them, which is going to be a tough game.

“It’s a long drive there (on Friday) but the boys have got to prepare right and give it everything that they’ve got, come off there like they did against Dartford, with nothing left in the tank.

“Truro are on 46 points, they probably think there safe now, but we have to go there, whether they think they’re safe, we have to go there and get a win. We can’t get anything else.”

Smith says Bromley will go all out for the victory on Saturday, with all attacking play, something that has been missing at recent games at Hayes Lane, especially when Hakeem Araba is deployed as the lone striker.

Smith said: “We’ve got to go for it. We’ve got enough forwards in the squad now. To win a game you have to score. They’re going to be very influential on how we prepare for these games.

“They’ve got a desire, they want to do well and they’re a bunch of boys’ who have to start performing!”

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net

Truro City v Bromley
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 14^th April 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Treyew Road, Truro, Cornwall TR1 2TH