Leyton Orient 3-0 Bromley - I'm disappointed that we didn't score, says Bromley boss Mark Goldberg

LEYTON ORIENT  3-0  BROMLEY
The FA Cup with Budweiser First Round
Saturday 12^th November 2011
Stephen McCartney reports from Brisbane Road

BROMLEY boss Mark Goldberg felt disappointed that his side couldn’t sign off their four-match FA Cup campaign with a goal against Leyton Orient.

The Kent side attacked Leyton Orient (who play three league’s higher in League One, although they went into the game in eighteenth place in the table, albeit eight games unbeaten) from the off, but the hosts opened the scoring within the opening seven minutes through an excellent low strike from striker Matthew Spring.

But Bromley were to rue three missed chances before the break, the best falling to Welsh striker Gareth Williams, in what was their best spell in the game.

The second goal was always going to be crucial, but former Cray Wanderers winger George Porter killed Bromley off, scoring on the counter-attack in the 57^th minute, before Bromley faced an uphill struggle to come back when left-winger Aaron Rhule was red-carded for kicking out at Porter in an off-the-ball incident, before Leyton Orient, who were defeated by Premier League giants Arsenal in the last sixteen last season, sealed progress into the Second Round when central midfielder Jimmy Smith scored a third.

Goldberg, who has now led Bromley to the First Round three times, the previous two occasions also ended in defeats to League One sides Gillingham (2006) and Colchester United (2009), spoke of his disappointment in the media scrum in front of the tunnel afterwards.

“I don’t think the game passed us by like in the past when we played against Colchester the last time,” said the 48-year-old, reflecting on the 4-0 defeat to the Essex side at Hayes Lane.

“It’s fair to say certainly in the first half we controlled a lot of the game.  I felt possession wise we had a lot of possession, we restricted Orient to one or two shots from outside the box.  We had some corners, we had forced some corners shall I say and we had some goalscoring opportunities.  If we had showed a little more composure – I think the occasion got the better of one or two of the players’ – when we had an opportunity to strike on goal, the ball went over the bar or they lost their footing and in a normal situation they would’ve hit the target!”

Leyton Orient manager, Russell Slade, meanwhile, admitted afterwards that he was impressed by Bromley, both on and off the pitch.

“I thought they played really well,” he said.  “Droylsden played well against us last season.  These teams lift themselves.  They came here, they came with belief.  They’ve played three Cup games, you have to understand that, so it’s in the blood really. 

“It’s a great fixture for them and they’ve brought so many fans’.  It’s a big occasion for them and they were terrific!

“Yes, it would’ve been hard on Bromley, but to be honest we could’ve had probably five or six.  That would’ve been harsh on them as I thought they performed magnificently.”

Bromley were without club captain Tutu Henriques, 29, their longest serving player, through an ankle injury, so former Leyton Orient and Millwall defender Joe Dolan, 31, took the captain’s armband.

The only time that the travelling support, who were housed in the East Stand, fell silent was to observe a minutes’ silence for Remembrance Sunday before kick-off and when Leyton Orient opened the scoring.

Bromley, however, started on the front foot.  Liam Harwood, playing in the centre of the park, sent a left-footed drive from 30-yards into the sparse Tommy Johnson Stand and Williams’ free-kick – in a similar position to the winner he scored at Dartford in the last round two weeks’ ago– curled past the far post.

Bromley’s hearts sunk though when Leyton Orient grabbed the lead through their first attempt on goal with 6:28 on the clock.

Spring played the ball to his strike-partner David Mooney, who had his back to goal, and the Irishman rolled the ball back to Spring, who executed a quality low left-footed drive which he bent across visiting goalkeeper Tommy Forecast into the bottom far corner from 25-yards.

Leyton Orient left-winger, Dean Cox, who was later forced off with medial ligament damage after a fair tackle by Williams, which will rule him out for at least a month, cut inside right-back Ugo Udoji, but sent a right-footed shot over the crossbar from 25-yards.

But despite their early set-back, Bromley grew in stature and took the game to Leyton Orient and at half-time fans’ felt their side should have been on level terms.

Bromley fans will be having nightmares for days as they reflect on their best chance of the game, which fell to Williams in the sixteenth minute.

Forecast launched a huge kick up field and big target-man Hakeem Araba won his aerial challenge and knocked the ball down to Williams, who was in acres of space some sixteen yards from goal.  But Williams swept a low right-footed shot towards the bottom corner, which brought a diving save from goalkeeper Ben Alnwick, low to his left.

But Bromley squandered yet another excellent chance in the 25^th minute.

Marlon Patterson threw the ball to Williams, who clipped the ball into the penalty area and Danny Waldren was denied a First Round debut goal when his initial shot was blocked inside the penalty area and the loose ball fell to Araba, who turned and lashed a right-footed shot over the bar from ten-yards.

And an even better chance arrived for Bromley eight minutes later when Williams’ corner from the left dropped to Rory Hill, who lost his composure and was also guilty for lashing a right-footed snap-shot over from 12-yards.

Goldberg said: “I feel a little bit disappointed with the scoreline and the fact, certainly in the first half we were well in the game.  We probably had more chances then they had. I don’t know what the stats were?”

Porter, who was booed by the Bromley faithful every time he got the ball, switched from right flank to left flank when Leyton Orient lost Cox through to injury, although the winger switched back to the right flank for the second half, playing in front of welcoming support from the home fans in the West Stand.

Cox’s replacement, Jamie Cureton, went close to opening his goalscoring account for the east Londoners, a right-footed shot, which screamed past the far post from 25-yards, which left Forecast rooted to the spot.

Williams almost replicated his Dartford winner on the stroke of half-time, curling a right-footed free-kick over the top of the near post from 20-yards.

But Bromley were still in the game as the first half came to an end, but knew the second goal was always going to be crucial.

Goldberg said: “I was proud of them at half-time.  We believed that we were capable of getting back in the game.  We’ve done it before, we’ve come back from 1-0 down (against Welling United), 2-0 down (at Margate) this season and we’ve come back and won.

“I thought in the early part of the second half we were very much involved again.  We started brightly and we forced a corner and then unfortunately naivety of certain players, they decided we’re all going forward and we were caught on the break.”

Unfortunately it was the manner of which Porter scored Leyton Orient’s second – a devastating counter-attack – in the 57^th minute that killed Bromley off.

Bromley forced a corner which was swung in by Williams from the left and the ball fell to Hill on the very edge of the penalty area and his shot was charged down.  The home side cleared the ball out to Porter on the right flank, who was still inside his own half and he sprinted down the right flank for 60-yards with no support from a red-shirted team-mate.

Goldberg was furious that his side left just one man back and left-back Patterson was beaten by electrifying pace, as Porter cut in from the right and once inside the penalty area, lashed a powerful right-footed drive past the stranded Forecast and into the top near corner from sixteen-yards.

Goldberg fumed: “I’ve just explained to the boy’s that’s why I asked them not to go gung-ho forward.  We’ve got to make sure that we keep our discipline and certain players have got to keep in their positions and react to any breakaways.  We didn’t react – they did!

“It was just a ridiculous goal to give away that second goal.  Leaving just one player back for a corner is just ridiculous and we got caught out on a breakaway goal. 

“I think without giving that away we’re still in the game.”

Forecast made a comfortable save just two minutes later to deny Mooney scoring with a low drive from 30-yards.

However, Bromley were reduced to ten-men when seventeen-year-old Aaron Rhule was red-carded for an off-the-ball flashpoint with Porter.

The pair were involved with a tussle for possession in the corner of the pitch and once the ball broke away, from my position from the press box at the very top of the West Stand, it appeared that Rhule kicked out at Porter.

Referee Gary Sutton sought advice from his assistant, and the baying home fans got their wish as Rhule was red-carded and Porter picked up a yellow card.

Goldberg admitted: “I suppose the game was pretty much lost then!”

All of a sudden, Slade turned into Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger when he was asked his thoughts on the incident.

He said: “I didn’t see it to be honest!”

He added: “Obviously there was a collision in this bottom right-hand corner and the referee and the linesman had seen it really clearly.  I don’t know.  I can’t comment on that to be honest!

“I don’t think it changed the game because we were 2-0 up at the time and it was just unfortunate for the sake of the game that they’ve lost a player.”

Porter slipped a pass in-between right-back Ugo Udoji and Dolan to put Cureton through on goal but his low right-footed shot clipped the near post and out for a goal-kick.

But Bromley’s FA Cup luck, that saw them get past their Kent rivals Welling United, Margate and Dartford in the qualifying rounds, evaporated when Leyton Orient scored a third goal in the final twelve minutes.

Porter’s replacement, right-winger Moses Odubajo, smashed a low right-footed drive from 25-yards, which beat the goalkeeper and bounced off the very foot of the near post and the ball fell kindly at an unmarked Smith, who applied a low right-footed finish past Forecast, who is on loan from Championship club Southampton.

Losing three-nil was harsh on Bromley, a fourth goal would have been more of a blow, but Bromley had defender Rob Gillman to thank for hacking the ball off the line with his left-foot after Cureton fired the ball goalwards after Mooney cut the ball back to him after some hesitant goalkeeping from Forecast.

Slade was just relieved that Leyton Orient, who made £1.5m from their FA Cup exploits last season, which ensured owner Barry Hearn made the club a half-a-million pound profit, had avoided being on the end of a giant-killing.

He said: “The early rounds are tricky and they’re difficult to get through as it proved last season and Bromley were no different.

“They were strong opposition for us and they can be proud of what they’ve achieved today.”

Bromley’s players appreciated the standing ovation from their fans’ at the final whistle, but their miserable run in The FA Cup continues but next up is Tuesday’s home clash against Charlton Athletic in the Kent Senior Cup (where admission has been reduced to £5) and a vital Blue Square Bet South league game at Chelmsford City next Saturday.

Goldberg, however, felt their fans’ were let down, as the Ravens’ didn’t score a goal to remember the day by.

He said: “I don’t think we did them proud, really I’m disappointed but at least the lads’ got a really good ovation at the end from the supporters’ and I think they were probably applauding our first half display probably better than our second.

“But once you go down to ten-men, the fact that we’re still creating opportunities or at least still in the game was credit to the lads’ because it could’ve been a lot worse once we went down to ten and we were  tiring.

“Today, I thought all the free-kick’s we had and the corners and the possession and the goalscoring opportunities, to not at least score a goal and still be in the game with ten minutes to go was a big disappointment for me.

“We’ve got to pick ourselves up.  I think it’s fair to say that it wasn’t quite a rout.  It wasn’t quite a 3-0 victory by the way the scoreline shows.   I think anybody who was watching it might give us a little bit of credit with the way we performed today.

Goldberg gave this message to the Bromley fans’, “It’s fantastic support.  We’ve got to be proud of them.  They really gave us a day to remember. I hope we gave them a day to remember.  I’m disappointed that we didn’t give them the goal.”

Leyton Orient: Ben Alnwick, Matthew Spring (Marc Laird 81), Scott Cuthbert, Terrell Forbes, Leon McSweeney, George Porter (Moses Odubajo 76), Jimmy Smith, Stephen Dawson, Dean Cox (Jamie Cureton 35), David Mooney, Charlie Daniels.
Subs: Elliot Omozusi, Lee Butcher, Mike Cestor, Billy Lobjoit.

Goals: Matthew Spring 7, George Porter 57, Jimmy Smith 78

Booked: George Porter  65

Bromley: Tommy Forecast, Ugo Udoji, Marlon Patterson, Liam Harwood, Joe Dolan, Rob Gillman, Rory Hill (Orlando Smith 70), Danny Waldren (Bradley Goldberg 70), Hakeem Araba (Warren McBean 70), Gareth Williams, Aaron Rhule.
Subs: Nathan Green, Paul Agu, Salifou Ibrahima, Leon McKenzie.

Booked: Danny Waldren 28

Sent Off: Aaron Rhule 65

Attendance: 4,452 (1,689 Bromley supporters)
Referee: Mr Gary Sutton (Lincolnshire)
Assistants: Mr Richard Kendall (Luton, Bedfordshire) & Mr Ian Rathbone (Northampton, Northamptonshire)
Fourth Official: Mr Adam Crysell (Braintree, Essex)