WOODMAN: PATIENCE PAID OFF FOR RAVENS
THE expressing of relief is often described as being palpable.
And you didn’t need to be a body language expert to sense the mood at full-time in south-east London, 2022 FA Trophy winners Bromley booking a last-eight spot thanks to second-half goals from Michael Cheek and Louis Dennis.
“I thought we were very professional in how we went about our work today. I’ve been banging on for some time about the need for a clean sheet and we were excellent in that regard,” said Bromley manager Andy Woodman.
“Aveley were bang up for it, so we had to match their energy. And even having had a lot of the ball for large parts of the game, you just never know when it’s goalless.
“So our patience was also equally as impressive and I’m pleased for the group, because it’s come together today. We haven’t had a win in a little while so it’s nice to break that duck.”
If you were looking at the numbers ahead of the game as to what way it may go, you’d have been misguided.
Woodman’s side currently lie second in the National League but ahead of this tie against an Aveley group with promotion ambitions of their own, they hadn’t won a game within 90 minutes since beating Ebbsfleet in December.
They were the better side but lacked a cutting edge against an opponent happy and adept at operating without the football.
What they do have is one of the game’s rising stars in Ben Krauhaus.
To regular watchers of football at this level, the young midfielder’s ability is no secret and he was at the heart of much of Bromley’s good work.
His perfectly-weighted pass into Dennis presented the hosts with the best opening of the half, only for Jonathan North to produce an excellent sprawling save, before Cheek was denied seconds later by Harry Gibbs, the Aveley captain putting his body on the line. Aveley struggled to offer anything noteworthy going forward, Charlee Hughes’ frustrations summed up by a yellow card moments after he’d been warned by referee Stephen Parkinson for petulance.
There was much of the same after the break from the Ravens although this time, there was – to audible effect from a healthy crowd – an end product.
The excellent Bes Topalloj, operating as an auxiliary left-winger, strode into the penalty area with purpose and Ayyuba Jambang quickly realised he had to intervene – not-so-subtly tugging Topalloj back.
The Bromley man, to his credit, stayed on his feet but referee Parkinson pointed to the spot.
Cheek’s penalty was hit with feeling and purpose, rocketing past North before he had a chance to move.
Bromley had a second less than a quarter of an hour later, Corey Whitely and Dennis combining cutely, ahead of the latter calmly slotting past North.
STAR MAN: Bes Topalloj (Bromley) ATT: 1,311 ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: Stephen Parkinson