City 1 Bromley 3
Apr 17, 2024 13:27:35 GMT
Post by Rijs on Apr 17, 2024 13:27:35 GMT
In many ways, this was a game that summed up our season. We didn't deserve to win it; Bromley were the better side in the first half and they defended their lead well in the second. Their finishing was more clinical and they protected their goal more tightly. Between the boxes, City had quite a lot of possession and often looked in control, but they could not turn that into goals and points.
Ross made some surprising changes, given that the three players he dropped had all played well a few days before: Fleet (who had a slight groin strain, apparently), Roddy and Coyle made way for Krasniqi, Kabongolo and Humphrey-Ewers. Ross said these players needed time on the pitch, but the changes (and there have been so, so many changes this season, most of them forced by injury) did not help the team achieve his aim of giving the fans something to cheer about at the end of the season. Instead, the Hoops began nervously and gifted the opposition two goals within five minutes. As there was no real first-half response, despite the best efforts of a few (notably Ashby, captain for the night, Potter and Burley), the match was effectively over by half time. Ross said our crowd was quiet, but when you go down 2-0 in embarrassing fashion at the very start, it has that effect until the players show some real fight at the other end and create chances, which was not happening.
The introduction of Reece and Zac after the interval transformed the team. Suddenly, with the old star trio together at last, the old confidence returned, passes were zipping about from one player to another, Williams-Bushell and Humphrey-Ewers were inspired and came to life, and Bromley were on the back foot. A goal was coming, we felt sure. But it came against the run of the play at the wrong end. One uncharacteristically loose pass in midfield from Zac was intercepted, the ball went quickly forwards down our right, was crossed to the left and in the back of the net in no time. Game over, and Bromley just had to defend and run the clock down.
To their credit, the Hoops did not give up but continued to play some attractive football, and chances came. Harvey Greenslade, working his socks off against two defenders as usual, had a chance but got underneath it. Then we had three shots on goal within as many seconds, all somehow blocked or saved. And then Fleet chipped a delightful ball over the top for Greenslade to control on his chest, and slot home, a just reward for his and City's efforts. We still had fifteen minutes and added time left, but Bromley were not going to let that happen again.
I like Harvey Greenslade, who seems an honest player with plenty of promise, but who needs someone experienced like Parker up alongside to give him knock-downs and take up one defender's attention. He is, as some have said, probably not quite up to this level just yet, but he is going to get there if he keeps working like this. And at the other end, we continue to be impressed by another loanee, Tom Watson, who pulled off another superb save near the end. That said, he will be disappointed that he did not save the free-kick which made the second goal. I was also impressed by a strong performance from Giles Phillips. It would be amazing if City could keep players like these next season but of course, they won't, and they cannot recruit replacements until they know where they are going to be.
In the end, we knew it would be hard for our part-time team to stay up in a largely full-time league, and the difficult was made impossible by the exceptionally long injury list we have had for most of the season. With key players like McEachran, Ashby, Kirby and Carroll missing a lot of it, and others such as Fleet, Parker, Roberts, Potter and Moore missing quite a lot, we have never been able to field our strongest eleven together. We have used three teams' worth of players, many of them short-term loanees, some of whom like Sanderson were very good but were recalled early. We have had four goalkeepers. As a result, we have not been able to build any rhythm, and there was only one period in the early autumn when we put a string of results together. We needed to win matches later that autumn against the teams in the lower half but were unable to, and from then it was clear to all we were going down as the pundits predicted before. But thanks to Ross and Andy, the heads have rarely dropped and the team spirit has been good. We have had some good times (Boreham Wood and Hartlepool at home, and Ebbsfleet away especially) as well as a lot of narrow defeats in games where we should have got more. Despite the disappointments - thanks for the ride, boys, and good luck for that last match on Saturday at Altrincham.
Ross made some surprising changes, given that the three players he dropped had all played well a few days before: Fleet (who had a slight groin strain, apparently), Roddy and Coyle made way for Krasniqi, Kabongolo and Humphrey-Ewers. Ross said these players needed time on the pitch, but the changes (and there have been so, so many changes this season, most of them forced by injury) did not help the team achieve his aim of giving the fans something to cheer about at the end of the season. Instead, the Hoops began nervously and gifted the opposition two goals within five minutes. As there was no real first-half response, despite the best efforts of a few (notably Ashby, captain for the night, Potter and Burley), the match was effectively over by half time. Ross said our crowd was quiet, but when you go down 2-0 in embarrassing fashion at the very start, it has that effect until the players show some real fight at the other end and create chances, which was not happening.
The introduction of Reece and Zac after the interval transformed the team. Suddenly, with the old star trio together at last, the old confidence returned, passes were zipping about from one player to another, Williams-Bushell and Humphrey-Ewers were inspired and came to life, and Bromley were on the back foot. A goal was coming, we felt sure. But it came against the run of the play at the wrong end. One uncharacteristically loose pass in midfield from Zac was intercepted, the ball went quickly forwards down our right, was crossed to the left and in the back of the net in no time. Game over, and Bromley just had to defend and run the clock down.
To their credit, the Hoops did not give up but continued to play some attractive football, and chances came. Harvey Greenslade, working his socks off against two defenders as usual, had a chance but got underneath it. Then we had three shots on goal within as many seconds, all somehow blocked or saved. And then Fleet chipped a delightful ball over the top for Greenslade to control on his chest, and slot home, a just reward for his and City's efforts. We still had fifteen minutes and added time left, but Bromley were not going to let that happen again.
I like Harvey Greenslade, who seems an honest player with plenty of promise, but who needs someone experienced like Parker up alongside to give him knock-downs and take up one defender's attention. He is, as some have said, probably not quite up to this level just yet, but he is going to get there if he keeps working like this. And at the other end, we continue to be impressed by another loanee, Tom Watson, who pulled off another superb save near the end. That said, he will be disappointed that he did not save the free-kick which made the second goal. I was also impressed by a strong performance from Giles Phillips. It would be amazing if City could keep players like these next season but of course, they won't, and they cannot recruit replacements until they know where they are going to be.
In the end, we knew it would be hard for our part-time team to stay up in a largely full-time league, and the difficult was made impossible by the exceptionally long injury list we have had for most of the season. With key players like McEachran, Ashby, Kirby and Carroll missing a lot of it, and others such as Fleet, Parker, Roberts, Potter and Moore missing quite a lot, we have never been able to field our strongest eleven together. We have used three teams' worth of players, many of them short-term loanees, some of whom like Sanderson were very good but were recalled early. We have had four goalkeepers. As a result, we have not been able to build any rhythm, and there was only one period in the early autumn when we put a string of results together. We needed to win matches later that autumn against the teams in the lower half but were unable to, and from then it was clear to all we were going down as the pundits predicted before. But thanks to Ross and Andy, the heads have rarely dropped and the team spirit has been good. We have had some good times (Boreham Wood and Hartlepool at home, and Ebbsfleet away especially) as well as a lot of narrow defeats in games where we should have got more. Despite the disappointments - thanks for the ride, boys, and good luck for that last match on Saturday at Altrincham.
