We've got to get back to winning ways, says Bromley coach Neil Smith

BROMLEY assistant manager Neil Smith says the club returns to reality when they face Harrow Borough at Hayes Lane on Tuesday night.



The Ravens suffered a 3-0 defeat away to big-spending League Two outfit Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup First Round yesterday.

A sloppy first half and two penalty gifts from keeper Joe Welch gave Fleetwood a 3-0 lead inside the opening 34 minutes, but the vocal 300 supporters who made the 565 mile round trip to the Lancashire coast were proud of the team’s second half performance.

Fleetwood Town’s lowest crowd of the season (1,696) watched their first FA Cup tie as a Football League club, as the travelling Bromley faithful outsung their counterparts throughout the entire game.

Fleetwood Town have proved what a spare £10m can do.  It was only eight years ago when Fleetwood played a FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie at Tadcaster Albion in front of just 81 people – and now the club are in fourth-place in League Two!

But Bromley return to benefiting from home comforts when they host Ryman Premier League side Harrow Borough in a London Senior Cup (sponsored by Coventry Scaffolding) Fourth Round tie on Tuesday night.

Smith, 41, said: “It’s the reality of it and that’s what the FA Cup does to you.  One minute you’re playing in the League and you’ve got a fantastic stadium, and now we’re playing against Harrow Borough!

“We’ve got to get back to winning ways. There’s no if’s or but’s about it. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Smith revealed manager Mark Goldberg will make changes against a side that arrive in Kent sitting in 12^th place in the league below.

He said: “I think we’ll give a few people a run out, people who have been knocking, wanting starts.  We can give them some game time now and see how good our squad really is.”

Bromley then welcome Staines Town to Hayes Lane as they commence their FA Carlsberg Trophy campaign next Saturday.

The Ravens were held to a goal-less draw by Staines on the opening day of the season and Staines slipped down to eighth-place in the Blue Square Bet South table following their 4-1 home defeat to Tonbridge Angels.

Tommy Warrilow’s side climbed up to eleventh-place in the table, three points adrift of fifth-place, courtesy of goals from Tom Davis, Frannie Collin (2) and Lee Browning.

As a result of inactivity in the league, Bromley slipped down a place to seventeenth-place, two points clear of the relegation zone.

Smith wants his side to play well for 90 minutes and not in spells as has been the case against Maidenhead United and Fleetwood Town.

“We’ve got to have the confidence that we had in the second half yesterday and the first half we had (against Maidenhead) last Tuesday.  We can’t just do it in fits and starts.  

“When we play in the spells we’re very good, but then when we don’t we’re not very good.  We’ve got to maintain that consistency throughout the game and have a good 90 minutes, not a good first half or a better second half. We have got to start doing it for 90 minutes!”

“We want a good FA Trophy cup run now. We haven’t had one for ages and I think this is the year where we have to try and do it.

Smith insists the players will be picked up for the week ahead.

He said: “We will do because we have to pick them up.  It’s great that we have a game Tuesday because we can get it out of the system straight away going into the FA Trophy.

“They’ll be very disappointed with themselves but come Monday and Tuesday we’ve got to think about the next game.”

Bromley will bank £24,500 from the prize money collected from their FA Cup wins over Sutton United, Dover Athletic and Worcester City.

The money doesn’t stop there for all the clubs that make the FA Cup First Round, with more money to arrive during next season.

Every replay from the Third Round onwards has to set aside 10% of the profits, after costs, to go into a pool for eventual reward to all club’s making the First Round.  Fleetwood’s match day programme revealed this tends to be around £6,500.

All the First Round competing clubs also enjoy a £2,000 cheque for a charity of their choice from revenue made at the following season’s Community Shield curtain raiser.

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net  

Bromley  v  Harrow Borough
London Senior Cup (sponsored by Coventry Scaffolding) Fourth Round
Tuesday 6^th November 2012
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF