ANDY Woodman took a moment to appreciate how far his Bromley side had come before they took a shock lead but ultimately lost 3-1 to Newcastle United at St James’ Park in the FA Cup third round at the weekend.
Former Magpies goalkeeper coach Woodman saw Cameron Congreve put the Ravens in front with a superb curled effort from outside the box in the eighth minute.
The lead only lasted another eight minutes as Lewis Miley fired home a fierce shot from 25 yards beyond Grant Smith.
Danny Imray had a chance to make it 2-0 when he shot just wide of the left post after running almost the length of the pitch down the right.
Substitute Anthony Gordon made it 2-1 from the penalty spot four minutes into the second half after Matt Targett had been fouled.
William Osula scored his first Newcastle goal in the 61st minute.
It was Bromley’s first-ever game against Premier League opponents in front of a 52,088 attendance on Tyneside.
Just over a year ago, Bromley drew 0-0 at Maidenhead in the National League in front of 1,548 at York Road Stadium on their way to their first-ever promotion to the Football League.
For a short time on Saturday, they could believe they were going to spring a shock against Eddie Howe’s side.
“It was lovely. We got the goal that gave us a little bit of hope,” Woodman said.
“That’s what the FA Cup is about – to give us hope we can do something today. It was nice to score a goal at Newcastle and a good goal.
“I’ve been saying to Cam he needs to be more positive in the final third and driving him mad to get that into his game. He picked the right stage to do it. I’m chuffed for him.
“Who knows if we’d have got that [second goal]?
“We conceded when we had a man off the pitch. I’ll be up late tonight thinking if we’d had eleven players on the pitch, who knows?
“The FA Cup allows you to dream big.
“They’re a class team, class staff and class club. We gave them a game. We had to be patient and disciplined. To get beaten by the quality of goals, I’m proud of my team. The way we got beaten was the right way to get beaten.
“I had a little moment this morning. This time last year we were playing at Maidenhead and now we’re playing at St James’ Park. I had a little moment today and I’m really proud of the journey. I was chuffed for the players.”
Newcastle, who haven’t won a trophy for 70 years, drew big-spending League One Birmingham City away in the next round.
Woodman hopes Howe can deliver this season, with Newcastle also favourites to reach Wembley after their 2-0 win at Arsenal in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.
Woodman quipped: “I’m hoping I’ve played my part and they give me a pat on the back because I’ve let him go through to the next round. I always want him to get a bit of silverware.
“I really hope so because it has been a monkey on the club’s back for many years and nothing would give me greater pleasure, particularly Eddie and his staff and the team of players. They’re good human beings, you can tell that.
“I had a chat with Sean Longstaff, who I’ve known since he was a small boy and to see players you know and people you know at a football club – not just the players and the staff, but the people around the club – I really would, probably as much as any Geordie fan, be hoping they can lift a trophy this year, for sure.”
Howe sent on Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes at half-time, with Joelinton a planned change at the break.
Howe said: “We wanted to get through and win the game, and the players’ attitude has to be right. If the attitude is not right, you won’t get through.
“We always pride ourselves on that and I thought the lads responded really well. It wasn’t a perfect performance from us, we’re not deluded and we know we can do a lot better.
“But we showed the mental qualities needed and we had enough quality to get through.”
Bromley are back in League Two action on Saturday when they host Colchester United at Hayes Lane at 3pm.
