Bromley 1 Woking 1 (Woking won 7-6 on pens)
FA Trophy Round 4
19th January 2021
This delayed FA Trophy tie took place on a wet and windy evening at Hayes Lane and was played at a good pace throughout with the result always in the balance. Woking eventually won 7-6 on penalties after the game had ended all square at 1-1 after 90 minutes with no extra time being played as per the rules in the competition this season.
The Cards showed four changes from last time out against Aldershot with returning Ben Gerring, Slavi Spasov, Ben Dempsey and John Goddard replacing Nathan Collier, Tommy Block, Josh Davison and Jamar Loza.
The home side had the first opportunity to score in the fifth minute when a clearance from Kizzi was miscontrolled by Jack Cook which allowed the dangerous Cheek a sight of the goal. From a tight angle his chipped shot forced the first of many good saves from Craig Ross.
Ben Dempsey then played the ball to Slavi Spasov inside the penalty area where a great clearance prevented a good chance for the Cards to open the scoring. The visitors again drove forwards and Charlie Cooper’s speculative long-range effort forced Cousins to tip the ball onto the bar.
Woking continued to put some good passing moves together, showing the benefit of playing on an even surface afforded by the home side’s 4G pitch which appeared unaffected by the inclement weather heralding the arrival of Storm Christoph.
Bromley’s new signing Duffus showed glimpses of what he is capable of when he went past a couple of defenders inside the area and saw his deflected shot go wide for a corner.
Ben Dempsey was the first player into the referee’s notebook for a foul on the halfway line and a few minutes afterwards the official signalled an end to the first half proceedings.
Half-time: Bromley 0 Woking 0
Bromley broke the deadlock shortly after the break when Webster found Forster with a cross field pass. The Watford loanee controlled the ball well and his mazy run into the box was ended prematurely by a foul. Referee Matthew Russell awarded a penalty to the home side whereupon
Cheek picked up the ball and proceeded to blast his spot-kick home into the top corner, sending Ross the wrong way.
Just over a minute later the Cards were on level terms; a cross into the box found
Max Kretzschmar who looped a header across goal past the despairing dive of the home keeper and the ball nestled into the bottom corner. This was no more than they deserved at this point of the game.
Bromley then had a great chance to retake the lead when Bush’s long throw caused panic in the penalty area; the ball fell to Kizzi and his deflected shot forced Ross to dive quickly to push the ball wide, another excellent stop to keep Woking level.
Dowse’s Cards then had a free kick in a dangerous area and Charlie Cooper’s powerful free kick was well saved by the Bromley number one.
With barely seconds left to play Cheek ran into the box and forced a great last-ditch challenge from Ben Gerring which prevented him from winning the tie for the home side. The referee then blew his whistle for full time which meant it would be decided by penalties.
Penalties - Full-time score: Bromley 1 Woking 1
Bush was first for Bromley and he sent his left-footed strike into the bottom corner.
Max Kretzschmar was then first up for Woking and he converted for 1-1.
Cheek and then Charlie Cooper for the visitors made the shoot-out 2-2.
Cooper sends the keeper the wrong way; pic: David Holmes
Substitute Raymond then scored and former Bromley man John Goddard also found the net.
Duffus then saw his penalty well saved by Craig Ross and Kane Ferdinand also had his saved by Cousins (3-3)
Bingham converted his penalty, as did Slavi Spasov to level it up at 4-4.
Into sudden death, Trotter scored Bromley’s fifth only for Ben Dempsey to also score for Woking.
Strikes from Williamson and from Jack Cook levelled the score at 6-6.
Forster then saw his spot kick saved by Craig Ross and this gave Woking the opportunity to win the game.
Kyran Lofthouse scored his penalty to delight his team-mates and Woking had won 7-6 and progressed to the fifth round to face Sutton United.
Next up for The Cards is a home National League match on Saturday against Maidenhead United.
Woking: 13. Craig Ross, 2. Jack Cook, 3. Josh Casey (C), 4. Charlie Cooper, 5. Ben Gerring, 8. Kane Ferdinand, 10. Max Kretzschmar, 14. Slavi Spasov, 16. Kyran Lofthouse, 18. Ben Dempsey, 22. John Goddard
Unused subs: 11. Matt Jarvis, 12. Nathan Collier, 15. Jack Skinner, 19. Tyler Reid, 21. Tommy Block, 23. Jayden Wareham, 31. Mark Smith (GK)
Goals: Kretzschmar 50’
Bookings: Dempsey 40’, Casey 89’
Bromley 1. Mark Cousins, 2. Joe Kizzi (8. Frankie Raymond), 4. Billy Bingham, 5. Chris Bush, 9. Michael Cheek, 11. Courtney Duffus, 14. Kory Roberts, 16. Liam Trotter, 17. Byron Webster (C), 18. Ben Williamson, 19. Harry Forster
Unused subs: 6. Jack Holland, 10. James Alabi, 12. Tom Purrington, 13. Tarek Najia, 15. Taylor Maloney, 22. Liam Vincent
Goals: Cheek 48’ (pen)
Bookings: Webster 75’
Referee: Matthew Russell
Attendance: Behind Closed Doors
Man of the Match: An excellent all-round team performance throughout in tricky conditions, but ultimately
Craig Ross made the difference with some excellent saves over the 90 minutes as well as two stops in the shoot-out which enabled the Cards to progress through to the Fifth Round.
