Blue Square Bet South
Bromley 1 Boreham Wood 1
by John Mead
David Bryant’s 82nd minute equaliser steered Wood to six points above the drop zone, continuing their fine late run of form. They have lost just one of their last ten matches.
Ian Allinson opted for a back three to “have a go at getting all three points”, which worked well in the opening exchanges. Bryant spurned a clear chance to open his account after just seven minutes. Jerome Maledon played a ball to Elliott Godfrey who lobbed into the path of the ex-Braintree Town forward. With the Bromley defence over reliant on the non appearing Assistant Referee’s flag Bryant shot just wide across goal with Lovelock to beat.
Then the industrious Nicky Nicolau sent a dangerous cross from the left just too close to Lovelock with Bryant waiting to pounce. The Kent side created a chance when David Graves got in behind the defence on the right. His effort was cleared off of the line by Luke Wilkinson.
The Bromley defence looked fallible , yet were rarely tested with Wood opting for the long ball on a bouncy surface, with Mario Noto guilty of over hitting numerous passes. Bromley failed to create any real penetrating attacks, with Tony Finn, their wide danger man snubbed out by Nicolau and Mike Cestor.
There was a scare for Wood after 54 minutes, when Wilkinson brought down Charlie Ide just outside the area. Referee Sian Massey took time out to deliberate with her Assistant for what seemed like an age before issuing a yellow card to the Dagenham & Redbridge Loan man.
The Bromley opener came out of the blue after 68 minutes. Winning a disputable free kick inside their own half, there looked little on when Liam Harwood sent the ball forward. It hung for ages in the air, allowing Tutu Henriques to escape his marker and head positively past Wes Foderingham who had little chance whilst rooted to the goal line.
This gave the struggling Kent side who had lost their past four matches their mojo back and Wood strapped themselves in for a rough ride. Noto’s poor free kick allowed Warren McBean to break sending Harry Harding through on the edge of the area. However his touch let him down and Wood were off the hook.
It took a double save from Wes Foderingham to keep his side in the game moments later. McBean’s goal bound downward header was tipped wide at the last moment by an acrobatic Foderingham, playing in front of what were his home fans for the first part of this Season, before he curled through the air to repel the follow up from the same player. Thankfully for Wood, Graves then blasted just over the bar. The long ball game then reaped dividends for Wood as Gareth Risbridger’s clearance was defended only as far as Noto. The Wood Captain lobbed the defence picking out Bryant’s perfectly timed run. With Tom Lovelock now committed to coming off his line the chipped finish into the net was exquisite.
That signalled the end of Bromley’s mojo and with Allinson immediately introducing Greg Morgan and Luke Garrard into the game, it was the home side who held on for their point at the end. Ex-Wood favourite Wes Daly forced Foderingham into a low save from a free kick, which was Bromley’s last chance to grab a winner.
Manager Ian Allinson declared the draw “A fair result! We were the better side first half and David took his chance, we could have gone on to control the game I felt. We lost our way a little second half and allowed Bromley to get behind the defence on numerous occasions. I cannot praise the players enough for showing the immense character to come from behind again. We have learnt an awful lot about life in this League, in the opening four months, when we would have struggled to come away with a point.” On the late double substitution he added, “I needed to get Greg Morgan on and push Sam Hurrell forward at the same time on the opposite flank. Having a fit again Luke Garrard to call upon to shore up the defence allowed this to happen.”
Team: Foderingham, Kamara, Cestor, Maledon, Wilkinson, Noto, Risbridger (Sub – Morgan 83 mins.), Godfrey (Sub – Garrard 83 mins.), Sogbanmu, Bryant, Nicolau (Sub – Hurrell 66 mins.).
Subs (Not used): Cochrane, Putnins.
Bookings: Risbridger, Wilkinson, Bryant, Cestor.
Goals: Bromley: Henriques 68. Boreham Wood: Bryant 82.
Man of the Match: Jerome Maledon.
