Bromley 3 Tonbridge 0

Match 45/14/1154 - Tuesday, 2nd December 2014 - FA Trophy 3QRR

Bromley (1) 3 Sobers (o.g.) 5, Ademola (pen) 58, Slabber 68
Tonbridge (0) 0
Att. 408

Entrance: £6
Programme: None produced
Mileage: 80/3,172

Match Report

More often than not in cup competitions the minnow has one chance to slay the giant and if they don’t seize the day then the opportunity passes. From all accounts, Tonbridge played really well in the initial game of this FA Trophy tie and fully deserved their replay against Conference South pacemakers Bromley, but on a cold night at an everlasting hoodoo ground, the opportunity had, indeed, passed.

Whether it was the heavy rain prior to kick off, a lack of interest in the qualifying rounds of the competition or a Crystal Palace home game on the same evening that restricted the attendance it was disappointing to see Hayes Lane so poorly populated. Even more annoying was the lack of a programme, evidently due to production difficulties, but even given that excuse, it is pretty shabby of a club of Bromley’s size to be unable to produce one.

Any hopes that Tonbridge’s lamentable record at Hayes Lane, no victory since a Kent Senior Cup tie 20 years ago, would be ended was immediately pushed to the back of the mind when, after five minutes, Jerrome Sobers turned a cross from Louis Dennis into his own net.

It was a tough start for the visitors and for 20 minutes they found it difficult to contain their hosts. Several goal scoring attempts were wasteful, but on 25 minutes, Damian Scannell was denied by a fantastic block from Laurence Ball.

In a torrid period just prior to the break, Bromley spurned three separate opportunities to go into half-time with a substantial advantage with Jordan Robertson the chief offender.

On the night, Tonbridge’s bench was probably as strong as it could be, but envious eyes would have been cast along the line to see Scannell, Jamie Slabber and Adam Birchall waiting in the wings.

Sobers, who probably was a long way short of being fully fit, was forced to make way on the hour and eight minutes later the game was effectively put to bed. Moses Ademola stepped inside Chris Piper and the Tonbridge midfielder clumsily brought him down. Ademola stroked home the penalty to double the advantage.

After 68 minutes, Slabber executed the final twist of the knife when he produced an outlandish finish from a cross by Ademola at the far post. The ball appeared to have eluded the substitute but with the tightest of angles he squeezed the ball into the net.

Adam Birchall made a substitute’s appearance with 15 minutes remaining and it is sad to see him play a peripheral role after his injury-wrecked spell at Gillingham.

Tonbridge did better than okay for periods in this game, but for all their craft and industry in the middle of the field it was in the final third where their lightweight attack foundered on the mountainous Rob Swaine.

With a night shift beckoning in deepest, darkest Bermondsey I took my leave with five minutes remaining. The drive to work took me through a brightly Christmas decorated Chislehurst and gave me time to reflect that despite the score line, Tonbridge had some bright spots of their own on the evening and perhaps Santa will bring them a much needed striker.