WOOD SETTLE FOR POINT DESPITE THOMAS CRACKER
Bromley 1-1 Boreham Wood
Tuesday 17th November 2020, 7:45pm
Hayes Lane, Vanarama National League
In a match that had more endeavour than quality, Boreham Wood secured another hard fought 1-1 draw away from home with the help of a wonder strike from our very own Sorba Thomas.
Boreham Wood were unchanged from Saturday’s encounter at league leaders Torquay United with Tshimanga perhaps surprisingly fit enough to start alongside Matt Rhead upfront after departing Saturday’s fixture prematurely after 20-minutes with a suspected hamstring strain. The visitors had the better of the first half and got off to a perfect start after 5-minutes when an excellent pass by Mingoia picked out Sorba Thomas on the left. He then cut inside and unleashed a ferocious strike beyond Mark Cousins in the Bromley goal. This was surely the best goal of Thomas’s career and shows exactly what he is capable of. The match was then stopped for 5-minutes due to a worrying head injury to Bromley’s Joe Kizzi. Fortunately for the hosts, the right back was able to continue after some heavy strapping.
Despite Boreham Wood’s territorial dominance, Bromley had the next clear cut chance when an excellent cross by Frankie Raymond found the unmarked Byron Webster, who’s free header flashed wide.
Soon afterwards, Wood might have doubled their lead when a Sorba Thomas cross was turned into his own net by Chris Bush but the referee had already blown up for a foul on Matt Rhead after initially playing on. The visitors created another chance soon afterwards when an excellent ball from Adam McDonnell again found Sorba Thomas who’s effort was well saved by Cousins in the Bromley goal.
Matt Rhead was then off target with his header from a Thomas corner just a minute later. Just as it looked like Boreham Wood would go into the break with a deserved 1-0 lead, Bromley equalised. A deep Frankie Raymond free kick cannoned off Tom Champion straight into the path of Michael Cheek who bravely out jumped Nathan Ashmore to restore parity, resulting in a 1-1 scoreline going into the break.
Buoyed by the late first half goal, Bromley were vastly improved in the second half. They won a number of free kicks deep into Boreham Wood’s territory but the Wood backline managed to hold firm. The visitors brought on Dave Stephens after 62-minutes to play in an unfamiliar midfield role alongside Gus Mafuta. This released the dangerous Sorba Thomas from his left wingback position to create havoc further forward. Bingham and Alabi both went close for the hosts before Gus Mafuta nearly won the game late on but his shot was blocked by Cory Roberts. This was the second time in three days that the former Salford City midfielder nearly became a hero late on.
Sorba Thomas again was fantastic, his running and probing was a constant menace to the Bromley backline and his goal was out of this world. This was another hard-fought point on the road for Boreham Wood, while they dominated in the first half, Bromley were the better side after the break. Overall a fair point.
Bromley: Cousins, Kizzi, Roberts, Webster, Bush, Williamson, Raymond (Trotter 81), Bingham, Hackett-Fairchild, Alabi, Cheek.
Subs not used: Kyprianou, Holland, Purrington, L’Ghoul.
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Smith, Thomas, Fyfield, Champion, Ilesanmi, McDonnell (Stephens 62), Mafuta, Rhead, Tshimanga, Mingoia.
Subs not used: Woodards, Huddart, Francis-Angol, Coulthirst.
Man of the match: Sorba Thomas.
Match report written by Brett Lewis (Non-League Paper & Wood Army member)
