Bromley 1 Cray Wands 2 - TFT Match Report

[col]

Bromley 1 Cray Wanderers 2 – Burt Durling Trophy – 16/07/2011
Cray Wanderers came out on top in the game between Landlords and tenants thanks to a second half double from returning striker Tommy Whitnell.
Bromley started the game on top with the lively Rory Hill & Tamer Tuna going close, Joe Dolan also missed a good chance before Danny Hockton put The Ravens in front on 42minutes converting a goal mouth scramble from close range after a set piece.
After wholesale personnel changes and a kit change for Cray, The Wands dominated the second half equalising on 49minutes when Paul Agu spilled a Leigh Bremner cross and Whitnell pounced. The second came on 55minutes when Bremner was denied by Agu only for Whitnell to score the rebound. The Wands had the best of the play for the remainder of the game, with Chris Saunders and Bremner firing just off target. Bromley’s only opportunities fell to an off form Gareth Williams who was unable to really test former Bromley Keeper Andy Walker in the Cray goal on three occasions .
The tenants left with the trophy and most of the plus points from the most recent of this long running series of local derby matches.

[col]

Hockton & Williams, have we learned nothing in three years? I'd have McBean back in a heartbeat in front of these two.

[bromlee]

I am liking what i am hearing about Tuna & Hill, but what are we going to do about a goal scorer? williams is not the answer. Where is mackenzie??? and we are desperate for a keeper, do disrespect to agu, but i dont think he is good enough (yet) for ths level.

[PhilCWFC]

Paul Agu? I remember him from Football Manager 2008. He was crap.

[bromlee]

Look on the brightside, we dont support Tonbridge Angels. They got properly tonked 10-0 at home today!

[dazza]

I actually thought the first half was all us bar a couple of mix ups in defence and we should (with better finishing) been out of sight by half time. Interesting to see Harwood back in the team given he was supposed to have signed for Thurrock.After last week,seeing Ross Hill for the 2nd time i am not convinced he is what is needed at this level. Thought the academy boys 2nd half did not do as well as last week which for me is a shame given i have been banging on about them being given a chance this season.To me the 2nd half performance looked like the first team of last year,couldn't give a Brad Pitt (excuse the french). That was what disappointed me the most to be honest. Agu in goal i think proved that he is not ready for this level yet. Butler in my honest opinion would not have made the basic errors that Agu did today for Cray to get there 2 goals. I also stick by what i said last week,a forward who has some pace. I have never seen Dolan play or if i have, not been aware of him,so to see him a 2nd time,while he is big ( i will allow a bit of pre-season rustiness),i am not convinced he is the answer at the back. Tuna again i have not seen before the last couple of games so some enlightenment on him would be appreciated as well, but for me at the moment not good enough. Always hard to say what prospects are with a wholesome change at half time but, am alarmed that Tutu,Udoji,have played the whole 90 mins the last couple of weeks.What that shows me is we have no cover in right back(Udoji),defensive midfield (Tutu).If we think back to last season,A.Fray did well enough to cover right back last season so a shame he has signed for Thurrock.As for cover for Tutu,we have no one and didn't last season if you take Daly out of the equation All in all i think the 1st half if you were to add Dolby on left midfield,and a pacy striker alongside the ever increasing slimmer Hockton ( his goal today was a pure striker's instinct goal),we would actually not have that bad a team and a mid table finish could be attained.Add to that a decent centre half again someone enlighten me on Dolan) and if honest we are okay.If some fans on here are going to harp on about promotion,play offs then you really are looking through tinted glasses. Be interesting to see who stays and who gets dropped over the next couple of weeks and then we will know our squad.Only then can we really assess what we truly (no rose tinted specs allowed) can achieve this season and no who can come in for injuries or suspensions.

[mikeyh]

Tuna was at Charlton & is a Turkey u19 international they had high hopes for him but he seems to have been released ,i think when he played against us for a Charlton x1 last year he played midfield not as a support striker. Dolan played nearly 50 games for Millwall he got a bad injury went to Orient then down to Basingstoke for 3 years . Agree a Keeper & a striker who is willing to work hard to play with Hockton & we will be ok .

[Swaine's Ginger Cat]

So assuming foderingham isnt going on loan this year, butler & vines & all sorted then ?

[dazza]

Think we would all would love those two back bt but unfortunately Vines has gone to Carshalton and i can't see him ever coming back and as for Butler,last i heard he got bombed out of Boreham Wood and went to a team in the Ryman Premier i think.Could be wrong about that though.Cheers for the info Mikey.

[rich]

Can someone enlighten me on Harwood ? Is he at HL or Thurrock as he seems to have a season ticket for the Dartford tunnel , constantly ping-ponging between the two clubs. I like him as a player, think he's got real presence at the back and he appears to put it in for 90 mins so I hope he chooses HL for the coming season. That said, i'd also love to see Jerome back.

[dazza]

Harwood is certainly a weird one as it was only a couple of weeks ago it was announced that he had signed for Thurrock then turns up at the lane on saturday.Hope he is staying though.As for Sobers he has signed for Billericay.

[neale]

Damn, we are really going to miss Jerome "the enforcer" Sobers. Reliable and often using his towering stature and athleticism to nip danger in the bud. At this level, he is going to be hard to replace. Strange he has gone to a lower league as well. Top man as well!

[zebra]

I wonder whether it has anyhing to do with where Jerome lives.
I believe that he was late for home games on more than one occasion last season and ended up on the subs bench as a result.

[col]

I think it reflects the budget cuts at BFC. I beleive Jerrome lives north of the river and maybe the travelling south for games on less money wasn't appealing?

[Swaine's Ginger Cat]

It makes sense I guess. Bromley can't plan properly if someone arrives at the last minute & to be fair to jerome, travelling over Dartford or Blackwall is not funny on a tuesday night so if he works full time, I doubt he can guarantee being here.

But it's a real shame to see the defence dismantled as that was the area that held us together in the latter part of last season. I had this naive idea a while back that we could retain the defence, & with Finn & Mcbean presumably costing a fair bit, could replace them adequately & still reduce the budget.

As much as I rate jerome, there are other decent centre backs knocking around at this level, though I do hope Harwood stays, as he was the standot player at the end of the season for me. The hard bit is to find someone capable of creating chances, & someone to put them away.

I'm not hugely bothered about Fray leaving, but what has happened to Graves though?

Missed the 1st 2 games, but probably going to head to Welling Saturday for the Erith game. Looks like Kirk Watts & Marcus Cassius will be on display for them. I though Simon Osborn had gone there but maybe he's finally retired now or I got that wrong

[bromlee]

I know Wes is away with Palace at the mo in the west country, just hope MG is waiting for them to get back and have a chat, but back to the real world i dont think we could afford his wage. Not heard anything about Graves, but would like to see him back. All the best to Jerome, top bloke. Its all gone quiet about Corneille & Gillman as well.

[zebra]

Looks like Leon McKenzie is also at Billericay. Also there is ex-Lillywhite Jay May

[bromlee]

Both Leon & Jay have scored in pre season for Billericay. In my opinion Mckenzie is good enough for our league. Dont know if he has a contract there or not but it is looking like our options up front are becoming more limited.

[dazza]

I think the interesting thing is who we are going to be left with once the cull has taken place.How many players are going to be on contract,how many will not.We all know Harry is on one and would have commanded a decent wage.Id Harwood signs a contract then the same will apply.Think we can all assume if Tuna is taken on same thing as will be Hockton,so how much will be left? If what we are all lead to believe is true that Vines and Mcbean were our highest earners last season and the club does not want to make the same mistakes again,how much is left over from these 3? How many more will be on contract if any? There was a kid in the academy last season up front.Real big target guy.Can't think of his name right now but would prove a handful for any defence in this league and would be handy if still here,to come on and replace Hockton who i assume will stay.I stand by what i have previously stated of needing a striker with pace.
BT i have to disagree about Fray due to his abilty to come in and do a job when necessary.I can't help thinking from the two games i have seen so far that we are going to be left short in certain areas come start of the season,right back being one.

[Swaine's Ginger Cat]

But have we got the budget for someone to just come in & do a job when necessary? I'd expect to have a smaller 1st team squad with academy players coming in when necessary rather than having someone like Fray regularly on the subs bench.

I was a tiny bit disappointed that for a few games towards the end of last season that the academy players didn't get a bit more game time. A couple seemed not to be out of their depth at all & their passion made up for areas where they may have been short on, & a bit more game time rather than signing players like England, who with all due respect, is Ryman quality rather than BSS might have held us in good stead this year?

[col]

I think the Academy lads were unavailable due to the heavy schedule their team had and playing in tournament in Europe. I'd liked to have seen James Fray get a start in the first team.

[dazza]

As far as i'm aware,HB didn't not rate the academy boys and that's why he never played them.I agree with Col,James Fray should get a run in the 1st team if he is still about. I would also like to see a keeper come in who is gonna be with us for a while rather than a loan keeper.