Bromley 2 Hampton & Richmond Borough 0

Sunday 26th February 2006

Bromley recorded a great win over third placed Hampton at a very cold and windy Hayes Lane on Saturday with another fine display of solid defending and direct forward play, writes Colin Head.

Bromley’s management team had to reshuffle the side when Adrian Stone pulled up in the warm up and brought in new signing Donal O’Sullivan from Southall for his debut.

It was former Ashford Town player O’Sullivan who had the first chance of the game when he was played in by the lively Sam Wood, but Borough Keeper Matt Lovett just beat him to the ball.

The promising start continued when Ellis Remy headed just over from a corner, but Hampton slowly started to stamp their authority on the match and some very nasty fouls went unpunished.

Colin Luckett was floored by a terrible late foul from Francis Quarm and soon after the former Dulwich man caught goalkeeper Andy Walker in the chest and face with his studs, a challenge Referee Mr Smith did deem to be worth a yellow card.

To compound the home supporters frustration Adam Greenaway was then booked for a fair looking tackle.

Just before half time Hampton pushed Bromley back and Walker had to make a good save from Jon Henry-Hayden, before Kelvin McIntosh shot just wide.

Bromley started brightly in the second half with a series of corners and lots of possession.

However, this pressure paid off on 52 minutes when Tutu Henriques scuffed the ball past Lovett for 1-0 following a corner.

Des Boateng pulled the strings in midfield and Wood provided a constant threat out wide as the Kent side really stretched Borough.

O’Sullivan had two efforts saved and Wood was also denied by Lovett, but Hampton also tested the home goalkeeper with Walker making good saves from Marcello Fernandes and former Margate defender Aaron Barnett.

Panikos Oritis came on for his debut replacing O’Sullivan who had given everything and he looked lively, while Borough threw on all three of their subs.

The nerves among the home supporters were beginning to surface given the number of late goal conceded at home this season, but they were nearly eased when a massive goal kick by Walker was volleyed just wide by Remy.

With the game heading for injury time Bromley were pushed back and had to resort to some industrial defending.

Walker made an excellent diving save from Rob Paris before the victory was sealed in stoppage time, following a great run by Boateng the ball ran lose to Remy and his low effort caught Lovett flat footed and the ball rolled past hime.

The players celebrated with the fans at the end knowing that this was another big step toward securing Ryman Premier Division football next season.

* Wealdstone are the visitors on Monday, 27^th February in the quarter-finals of the Westview Cup. The game at Hayes Lane kicks off at 7:45pm.

Bromley: Walker, Greenaway, Luckett, Henriques, Willy, Gardener, Drewett, Boateng, O’Sullivan, Remy, Wood. Subs: Donovan, Oritis, Vines, McLeod, Stone.
Hampton & Richmond Borough: Lovett, Harper, Morley, Barnett, Paris, Wells, Inns, Godfrey, Henry-Hayden, Quarm, McIntosh. Subs: Fernandes, Gardener, Lake, Sodje, Connor.