RAVENS ARE ALL CAUGHT UP THINKING OF WEMBLEY
BROMLEY warmed up for the FA Trophy final with an entertaining draw with already relegated Dover Athletic.
A first-half goal from Chris Bush looked to have set Bromley on their way to a comfortable victory but drama in the final nine minutes saw a Danny Collinge brace cancel out Corey Whitely’s goal to ensure Dover moved into positive points for the first time this season.
It was a performance that Bromley manager Andy Woodman felt was about the bigger picture rather than the result, he told The NLP.
“Myself and the chairman spoke about the focus for the end of the season. He knows what I’m trying to do and today helped me answer questions ahead of Wembley. The headline will be the result but the plus is we are starting to get players back.”
A dominant first half performance saw Bromley threaten to score a hatful but top scorer Michael Cheek was unusually wasteful. First, he headed Luke Coulson’s corner free kick wide when unmarked before he forced Dover goalkeeper Alexis Andre Jr to tip another goal bound header over the crossbar.
Dover’s marking from set pieces was to be their Achilles heel and it came as no surprise when Bush found himself with the freedom of the six-yard box to head home Coulson’s corner.
The second half was a far more even affair and but for a smart save from
Bromley custodian Ellery Balcombe, Dover could have found themselves level just past the hour mark.
Henry Woods played in Michael Gyasi but the striker’s fierce drive was parried away.
Bromley continued to probe at the other end and Ransom did well to bravely block a Cheek effort before Andre Jr tipped away Billy Bingham’s 25-yard drive.
Dover continued to compete gamely and when Jack Nelson found himself in acres of space he saw his strike tipped just beyond the post by Balcombe.
However they were not to be denied a deserved equaliser nine minutes from time – Collinge heading beyond Balcombe after Ransom helped on a set-piece.
With Dover now pressing for a win, Gyasi saw another low effort saved by Balcombe but that all looked to be in vain when Coulson and Whitely combined in the final minute to restore Bromley’s lead.
However more drama was to come in deep into injury time as Collinge equalised with another header from Wilkinson’s corner to ensure Dover grabbed a share of the spoils.
Dover boss Andy Hessenthaler said: “We’ve had a tough week with illness but we dug in and to be honest I thought we created the better clear cut chances.
“We deserved to get the two goals and we earnt a fantastic point.”