LCS Events
7:45pm - TuesdayTue 25th JanuaryJan 2022
Hayes Lane | Att: 1663

Bromley
Bromley
1 - 0

Woking
Woking

Much improved Cards ready for Bromley challenge

Glen Harrington
5:22pm, Mon 24th Jan 2022
Bromley vs Woking
Vanarama National League
Tuesday 25th January 2022


Woking will be looking to build on Saturday’s encouraging 2-0 win against Wealdstone as they travel to promotion-chasing Bromley in National League action on Tuesday evening.

The Cards put in arguably their best team performance since early October, as goals from Inih Effiong and Jamar Loza secured a comfortable three points against the Stones. There were positive debuts too for defender David Longe-King, who played the full 90 minutes on the right of the three-man defensive unit, helping the Cards to a first clean sheet in 10 games and only a fourth this season; and Nicke Kabamba, who provided the assist for Loza’s goal within two minutes of coming off the bench. The pair have joined on loan until the end of the season from Grimsby Town and Northampton Town respectively.

Dowse will also be boosted by the return of midfielder Solomon Nwabuokei on Tuesday, who is available again after serving a one-match ban for five yellow cards in the league this season. He’ll likely go head-to-head with Tarryn Allarakhia for the role alongside Saturday’s man-of-the-match, Rohan Ince. Tom Champion and Jermaine Anderson missed Saturday’s game through injury, but neither is expected to be out for long. Josh Casey has Covid-19 but could be available again from next weekend. George Oakley is closing in on a first appearance since September, but is unlikely to be rushed back, particularly following the addition of Kabamba.

Opposition Watch

Bromley have gone from strength to strength this season. After finishing last year seventh and losing in the first round of the play-offs they look well set to mount another promotion challenge. They are currently in fourth place, with 44 points from 23 matches, and are just three points adrift of the league leaders, Chesterfield.

Their manager, Andy Woodman, has been strongly linked with the vacant role at League One side Gillingham in recent days, but that has not disrupted their recent form, with three consecutive wins in the league and FA Trophy to start the new year – 2-1 at home to Solihull Moors, 2-0 at Aldershot in the cup, and 2-1 at Grimsby last weekend. In fact, they have only lost one of their last eight in all competitions, with that coming at Maidenhead at the end of December.

Amongst Bromley’s biggest threats is their top scorer Michael Cheek, who has further established his reputation as one of non-league’s most dangerous marksmen with 15 goals this season, whilst fellow strikers James Alabi and George Alexander have four apiece. Defender Chris Bush is a former Woking loanee, whilst substitute goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook is the brother of former Woking players Regan Charles-Cook and Anthony Cook.

Recent Meetings

• Woking 0-2 Bromley – 2nd November 2021, National League
• Woking 3-4 Bromley – 13th April 2021, National League (Diarra, Cook, Dalby)
• Bromley 2-2 Woking – 26th January 2021, National League (Wareham 2)
• Bromley 1-1 Woking (Woking won 7-6 on penalties) – 19th January 2021, FA Trophy (Kretzschmar)
• Woking 2-1 Bromley – 26th November 2019, National League (Tarpey, Hyde)

On the Day

Bromley’s home ground is Hayes Lane. The postcode is BR2 9EF.

Ticket information can be found here. Ticket prices are £20 for Adults, Concessions £15, Young Person (16-18) £7, and Under 16s are FREE when purchased with an Adult or over 65 Concession ticket.

Ravens complete double over combative Cards

Brian Caffarey
7:30am, Thu 27th Jan 2022
Bromley 1 Woking 0
Vanarama National League
25th January 2022

The Cards suffered their second defeat of the season against an accomplished Bromley side but can take some comfort from the fact that the gap between the two sides looked narrower than in November’s 2-0 reverse at home. Woking competed strongly throughout and were in the game till the final whistle but Bromley always looked to have that extra bit of quality and composure in most areas of the pitch. And, in the end, it took a somewhat fortunate ‘lobbed’ goal by Jude Arthurs midway through the first half to separate the sides. Woking had plenty of possession in the second half as they sought an equaliser but, in spite of plenty of crosses and corners, rarely troubled the Bromley keeper, who was protected by a strong defensive outfit.

On a cold, still night Woking came out, onto a heavily-watered artificial pitch, showing one change from the side which started their encouraging 2-0 home win over Wealdstone at the weekend, Nicke Kabamba replacing the absent Tahvon Campbell, with Solomon Nwabuokei, returning from suspension, taking the vacated space on the bench.

Woking started positively, feeding the busy Tyreke Johnson on the left, as they were to do for much of the evening when on the front foot. A couple of crosses came in but it was Bromley, in their first attack, who fashioned the first real chance. Arthurs, in a quick break through the middle, slipped in top scorer, Michael Cheek. Mark Smith seemed to take the ball off his feet but lost control and Cheek was able to get a shot in. Fortunately for the Cards, the ball found the side netting.

Woking continued to have their fair share of attacking play, mainly down the left, Kyran Lofthouse finding it difficult to make progress on the other flank, but the quality of crosses and free-kicks was not consistently high. The game continued to be fairly evenly balanced till midway through the half when the Ravens made what proved to be the decisive breakthrough. A superb pass found Cheek in the box, whose shot was deflected back to Arthurs. His speculative lob – or was it a deflection? – towards the far post, with Smith stranded, seemed to be going wide but somehow just crept in to give Bromley a 1-0 lead.

Smith was called into action shortly afterwards when Lofthouse, not for the first time, conceded a free-kick against the tricky Forster, but he was able to smother the shot, if a little uncertainly.

A minute later away hopes were raised as Kabamba went sprawling in the area but the referee was decisive in waving away appeals for a penalty. A quick break then provided the Cards with a very promising attack but it came to nought as Lofthouse overhit his pass to Inih Effiong.

Bromley responded with a diving header from Arthurs, which went narrowly wide, before Tarryn Allarakhia, seeing quite a lot of the ball in midfield, ended a good run with a disappointing shot well over the bar.

Bromley ramped up the pressure, seeking to double their lead before half-time, but Louie Annesley cleared off the line to keep the Cards in the game. They could reflect on the fact that they had largely matched the Ravens but had not tested the Bromley keeper, while Bromley’s more incisive attacks, though relatively few in number, generally carried a greater threat.

Half-time: Bromley 1 Woking 0

The second half began in controversial fashion. Moussa Diarra, caught on the wrong side of his man on the left flank, “cleaned him out”. A red card looked a possibility but the referee was content merely to book the Woking defender.

This was followed by another “let off” when Alexander mis-cued when presented with a very reasonable chance in the box. Bush, too, threatened to strike but failed to connect.

Tyreke Johnson put in a strong performance
Tyreke Johnson put in a strong performance
Phil Fiddes


The Cards applied some pressure through a quick break and a couple of Johnson crosses before the game was halted by an injury to Max Kretzschmar, who was forced off, to be replaced by Nwabuokei, who slotted in quickly and seemed to provide some needed added strength in midfield.

Woking finally managed to trouble Cousins as Kabamba went close from a Johnson free-kick but the referee surprisingly failed to award the Cards what ought to have been the resulting corner. The Cards continued to do most of the pressing, winning five corners in the space of a few minutes as the game approached midway through the second half. But shots from Effiong and Annesley were blocked before Ince skied well over the bar.

Although Jamar Loza came on to replace Allarakhia and looked lively, adding more pace to the attack, Woking weren’t able to put Bromley under the same degree of pressure again. Nevertheless, Kabamba went close in the 80th minute, heading wide.

Shortly afterwards the Cards were reduced to ten men, Annesley picking up two quick bookings, the second of which, though possibly dubious, was rash in the circumstances. Having survived the resulting free-kick, Woking continued to search for an equaliser. Effiong had a shot blocked. David Longe-King made space for himself with some nifty footwork but then fired well wide and Loza got in another dangerous cross, which, however, Lofthouse couldn’t quite reach at the back post. But a very solid Bromley defence saw out the game, leaving the Cards with nothing to show for their considerable efforts.

Bromley: 1 Mark Cousins, 4 Billy Bingham, 5 Chris Bush, 6 Omar Sowunmi, 7 Luke Coulson, 8 Jude Arthurs (34 Jack Cawley 81), 9 Michael Cheek, 17 Byron Webster, 18 Corey Whitely, 19 Harry Forster (2 Joe Partington 64), 22 George Alexander (10 James Alabi 72)

Unused subs: 12 Scott Wagstaff, 26 Palace Francis

Goal: Arthurs 23’

Booked: Bingham

Woking: 1 Mark Smith, 2 Kyran Lofthouse, 6 Moussa Diarra, 16 Louie Annesley, 22 David Longe-King, 17 Tarryn Allarakhia (7 Jamar Loza 72), 24 Rohan Ince, 10 Max Kretzschmar (8 Solomon Nwabuokei 61), 9 Inih Effiong, 18 Nicke Kabamba, Tyreke Johnson

Unused subs: 13 Craig Ross, 5 Joe McNerney, 12 Nathan Collier

Sent Off: Annesley (two bookings)

Booked: Diarra

Referee: Daniel Middleton

Attendance: 1,663

My Woking MOTM: Tyreke Johnson – heavily involved throughout, with most of the attacking moves coming from his flank
Bromley LINEUP
1Mark Cousins
6Omar Sowunmi
17Byron Webster
5Chris Bush
4Billy Bingham
8Jude Arthurs ('81)
19Harry Forster ('64)
7Luke Coulson
18Corey Whitely
9Michael Cheek
22George Alexander ('72)
BENCH
2Joe Partington ('64)
34Jack Cawley ('81)
12Scott Wagstaff
10James Alabi ('72)
26Palace Francis
WOKING LINEUP
1Mark Smith
2Kyran Lofthouse
11Tyreke Johnson
22David Longe-King
6Moussa Diarra
16Louie Annesley
24Rohan Ince
17Tarryn Allarakhia ('72)
10Max Kretzschmar ('61)
18Nicke Kabamba
9Inih Effiong
BENCH
13Craig Ross
12Nathan Collier
5Joe McNerney
8Solomon Nwabuokei ('61)
7Jamar Loza ('72)

Bromley 1-0 Woking | Dowse Interview

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