By Mitchell Hall at Hayes Lane
THERE was a chaotic end to the game at Hayes Lane on Saturday as Bromley equalised in stoppage-time to secure a 1-1 draw against Barrow.
Barrow took the lead through Gerard Garner 20 minutes in and held on until the 91st minute, when a controversial penalty decision resulted in visiting manager Stephen Clemence being sent off for protesting before Michael Cheek levelled for the Ravens from the spot.
The win made it four points from a possible six for Andy Woodman’s side after they had gone nine League Two games without victory before beating Doncaster Rovers 1-0 the previous Tuesday. The Ravens moved up to eighteenth in the table with this point.
It was a slow start at Hayes Lane as both sides attempted to feel each other out early on. Bromley found it difficult to play through Barrow’s well-organised midfield, but coped well initially against the pressure of the tricky Katia Kouyate when defending.
That would not stop Kouyate from continuing to try his luck though, as he constantly got on the ball near the halfway line before driving towards Danny Imray and Omar Sowunmi in an attempt to take them on directly. His tenacity earned him a yellow card after a tussle with the towering Sowunmi near the sidelines in the seventeenth minute.
If Kouyate needed any more motivation, that was it, as in the 20th minute he slipped by Imray before feinting past Sowunmi, leaving him for dead near the left side of his box. Kouyate then pulled an inviting cross back across the face of goal, where Garner latched on to it and swept it to the far post beyond the fingertips of goalkeeper Grant Smith.
Barrow should have capitalised further on this relentless spell of pressure, especially when a 32nd-minute corner fell to Theo Vassell on the far edge of the six-yard box. He seemed sure to score, but somehow hit the shot way over the bar, before pounding the ground beneath his feet in frustration.
Bromley began to grow into the game towards the end of the half, moving the ball well through midfield and creating some speculative chances without really threatening an equaliser.
Manager Woodman clearly wasn’t pleased with what he had seen from his side. He made a triple substitution at half-time, taking off both starting strikers, Olufela Olomola and Levi Amantchi, and replacing them with talisman Cheek and Louis Dennis.
Carl Jenkinson was introduced for his home debut in the 75th minute and his presence helped his side to dominate possession and push forward.
Bromley had a flurry of chances to equalise, including two agonisingly close headed efforts from Dennis and Sowunmi, before Cheek was inches away from sneaking the ball past the Barrow goalkeeper Wyll Stanway, who tipped it wide with his outstretched foot.
The luck didn’t seem to be with Bromley as time ticked down. That was until the 87th minute when Cheek headed towards the back post where Sowunmi nodded his effort over but referee Daniel Middleton had seen a handball by Kian Spence in the melee of limbs in the area.
Clemence’s protests earned him a red card and a long trudge across the pitch towards the changing rooms.
Meanwhile, the pressure of the bizarre circumstances, which had gone on long enough to tick the game past the 90-minute mark, had been building on Cheek. He finally had the chance to spot the ball and step up to take his penalty, which he smashed emphatically into the top-left corner to level.
Woodman praised the returning Cheek and highlighted the depth of options off the bench.
He said: “You wouldn’t want any other player stepping up to take that penalty, he was cool as ice and hit the back of the net like he does.
“The subs managed to change the game and make a difference.
“Let’s be honest, Bromley Football Club bringing Carl Jenkinson on off the bench, it’s a blessing for us.”
Woodman refused to get ahead of himself after the last two games. He added: “We’ve still got work to do. The problem we have is that the minute we think we’re there, we start to become unstuck a bit.”
Bromley will have a break from league action next Saturday when they take on National League side Rochdale away in the first round of the FA Cup. Kick-off is 3pm.
