Match Thread #3: Bradford City vs Bromley Saturday 24th August 2024 3:00pm

EFL League Two Fixture #3
Saturday 24th August 2024 15:00
Bradford City vs Bromley
University of Bradford Stadium

Record:
Games Won: -
Games Drawn: -
Games Lost: -

Last 5:
No data

Bromley:

When Bromley FC head to Valley Parade this Saturday afternoon it will represent the first ever meeting between the two sides. The Greater London side are newcomers to the English Football League after achieving promotion from the National League Premier via the Play Offs last season. Bromley bested Solihull Moors on penalties in front of over 23,000 at Wembley Stadium having finished 3rd in the table behind both champions and fellow promotees Chesterfield, as well as the less fortunate Barnet.

So far, the season couldn’t have gone much better for Bromley. The only smear on an otherwise perfect start of successive 2-0 wins in EFL League Two was the defeat at home to AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Cup – but Bromley would avenge that this past Saturday with a victory secured by goals either side of half time from Michael Cheek and Corey Whitely.

32 year old Michael Cheek, last season’s 26-goal top scorer, has hit the ground running with a goal in each of Bromley’s league games so far, and will be eager to prove he can continue as The Ravens’ talisman at this new level. Cheek’s goalscoring prowess cannot be denied after 11 successive seasons bagging at least double figures’ worth of goals, ranging from a low of 12 (his first season with Chelmsford City) to a high of 26 (last season with Bromley). A regular figure in the non-league scoring charts, Cheek has scored 20+ goals during no fewer than 5 separate seasons. Any doubts he might struggle to adapt to life in the EFL appear to have been dispelled early…

Cheek has been flanked in the first couple of games by Corey Whitely, who hit 9 goals last season and is already off the mark this term, as well as Swansea City loanee Cameron Congreve. Behind them operates a midfield pairing of 23 year old Jude Arthurs and 25 year old Grenada international Ashley Charles, an ex-Watford player signed from Wealdstone in the summer for an undisclosed fee.

The Bromley back line currently centres around 37 year old club captain Byron Webster, a player Bradford City fans may remember from a Play Off defeat to Millwall at Wembley in 2017, and he has found himself flanked by fellow centre halves Callum Reynolds, 34, and Millwall loanee Kamarl Grant, 21. Grant, for his part, has also helped himself to a goal this season. The newly reinforced wing back spots are presently occupied by Danny Imray, 21, on loan from Crystal Palace, and former Fulham academy player Idris Odutayo, also 21, as youth provides the pace and energy in the wide areas.

Manager Andy Woodman, an ex-Brentford and Oxford United goalkeeper, joined Alan Pardew at West Ham United back in 2006, before following Pardew to Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United, and Crystal Palace. He eventually broke into management at Whitehawk, leading them to safety in the National League South, before heading to Arsenal as Head of Goalkeeping. That would prove to be Woodman’s final role before committing to a full time managerial role at Bromley.

Woodman guided Bromley to the National League play offs in his first season at the club, after which Gillingham approached regarding their managerial vacancy the next season. Woodman turned down this opportunity, and in 23-24 guided the club he had recommitted himself towards to the EFL.

Momentum, thus far, has favoured Bromley. An opening day 2-0 win away at Harrogate Town was followed by a now-avenged EFL Cup defeat to AFC Wimbledon – the following Saturday Bromley ensured a full complement of 6 points with a 2-0 win over the Dons. Only two other teams have matched Bromley’s perfect start to league life this season, with Walsall and Gillingham narrowly ahead on Goal Difference and Goals Scored respectively.

Even more impressively, Bromley have yet to concede a league goal this campaign, despite losing 2-1 in their first ever EFL Cup game. Perhaps the difference maker was the absence of stalwart defender Byron Webster, who sat out the cup game as Woodman brought in Omar Sowunmi for his first start for the club. The former 6’6 former Sutton United defender reunited with Bromley after spending 18 months with the club from 2021 to 2023 but has yet to be selected in the league.

Look for Webster and Cheek to star for Woodman’s side, who will not look to dominate possession. Against AFC Wimbledon last Saturday afternoon, Bromley saw just 37 % of the ball, but ran away with the points after “another clean sheet built on hard graft”, and a “clear system… executed perfectly”.

Bromley won’t make it easy for City, and their status as minnows may spur them on further.

Bromley 2 – 0 AFC Wimbledon



Harrogate Town 0 – 2 Bromley



Bradford City:

A disappointing 0-0 draw in their first home game of the season against early strugglers Salford City had an air of bad fortune about it after Andy Cook appeared to have converted what would have been the only goal of the game, only for the officials to fail to award it. Cook would later be booked for sarcastically applauding the linesman on the Midland Road side to add to his sense of aggrievement. What could have been a very creditable 6 point haul from an opening pair of games against MK Dons and one-time big spenders Salford became 4 – not bad at all, though, and even a draw followed by a penalty defeat at Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup cannot prevent The Bantams from claiming a 3-game unbeaten run over the course of 90 minutes.

Bradford City’s new look defence have conceded just 2 goals in 3 games, and though MK Dons ran City ragged at times in search of an equaliser in the season’s opener, both Grimsby Town and Salford City might count themselves lucky not to have lost in games they were otherwise outgunned in terms of possession and shots on goal (and on target). Graham Alexander can be forgiven, then, for showing a certain level of assuredness even if it hasn’t always been shared by the fans.

Let’s hope the significance of a potential victory on home soil to Bromley is not lost, then. Bromley may not be one of the more fashionable names to have risen from the National League in recent seasons, but they have acquitted themselves superbly so far, and will be no pushovers. Their scalp will be no less significant than that of MK Dons, at least at this stage. Bradford City will have to be at their organized best to stop free scoring forward Michael Cheek, whilst making the most of their own veteran hitman in Andy Cook – who should, like Cheek, be sat on 2 goals for the campaign.

Cook may have a tough time against veteran defender Byron Webster, which is why it is to be hoped long aerial balls are kept to a minimum. Even at 37, Webster’s experience and 6’3 frame make for a formidable barrier towards goal for any frontman. Calum Kavanagh, who has yet to score this season, might be expected to have more of a role in this fixture. With Fulham loanee Olly Sanderson breathing down his neck, he, like the midfield trio of Richie Smallwood, Antoni Sarcevic and Alex Pattison, will need to be at their best to stave off similar competition in the likes of the ever-popular Bobby Pointon and Jamie Walker. Clark Oduor, too, has started the season brightly during his cameos, and has linked up nicely with Pointon particularly in the EFL Cup game against Grimsby Town.

It’s not that City don’t have attacking options, but there will be a slight concern that the Bantams revert to old habits as they once again average a single goal-per-game – an all too familiar story at the start of last season under veteran manager Mark Hughes. Getting firing on all cylinders as soon as possible is a must, and Graham Alexander has players that are good enough to do that at his disposal.

Wing backs Brad Halliday and Tyreik Wright are both quality players, but it’s the ‘new’ boys Sarcevic and Pattison (Pattison must feel like a new signing after long periods out injured last season) that hold the key to unlocking opposition defences, one might feel.

Bromley would surely love to boast players with the experience and reputation of Sarcevic and Smallwood – City have to be cruel and show the Ravens what it’s like to possess players of the calibre they have thus far been unable to attract. That will mean matching Bromley’s effort and work rate, whilst also displaying the guile and passing expected of two top League Two players.

Bradford City 0 – 0 Salford City



MK Dons 1 – 2 Bradford City

 

Prediction:

Bromley will look to frustrate City and unsettle the large home crowd, while looking to make the most of swift, counter-attacking football that frequently relies on their devastating hitman Michael Cheek tucking away his chances. Neill Byrne, Ciaran Kelly and Aden Baldwin will have to be at their best to stifle a veteran front line that also includes 33 year old Corey Whitely, but it will be a case of individuals taking the responsibility to win their own battles. Halliday and Wright will be tested by the young ex-Premier League academy wing backs in Danny Imray and Idris Odutayo, but most also push back and try to create opportunities at the other end of the pitch as well. Right wing back Imray, in particular, has drawn praise from Bromley boss Andy Woodman thus far this season, the Crystal Palace loanee having shone in a 2-0 win over AFC Wimbledon this past Saturday. Tyreik Wright and Ciaran Kelly must shackle the ebullient young wide man whilst simultaneously trying to press him back.

The familiar sight of a dogged back line committing themselves to a full-blooded defensive effort will be nothing new for long-suffering Bradford City fans, but that effort and commitment alone won’t be a good enough excuse for City’s highly paid stars should they fail to find the target this coming weekend. They must find a way to break Bromley down, even after both Harrogate Town and AFC Wimbledon have failed, and bagging the first goal of the season against the EFL’s newest defence is the order of the day, no questions asked.

Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Salford City doesn’t really help Bradford City in terms of expectations, either. Salford City have lost every other game this season 2-0 (that’s 3 defeats by that margin), yet Bradford City once again failed to find the net in front of their own supporters, a story that feels as old as time. Now with unfashionable, overachieving Bromley heading to Valley Parade, patience among the faithful may have already started to reduce even at this early stage of the season. Salford City was a must-win game based on the two sides’ respective starts this term; failure to beat them simply piles more pressure on this fixture whether Graham and his players like it or not.

Ultimately, one would expect class to shine through. Smallwood, Sarcevic, Cook, and Wright are all players one would have been deemed ‘too good’ to go to the likes of Bromley, and they have to show why those reputations are a real thing. Even if Bromley can hurt City on the break, and even if they do commit themselves as well and as doggedly as you would expect (to a well-versed playbook, one might add), this is one City simply have to win – not only to reinforce a promising start to the campaign in terms of results, but simply out of pride.

Yes, Cheek might score for Bromley – but City have to show they, too, have firepower, and more than enough to overcome last season’s National League Play Off winners. The pick is a 2-1 win.

Final Score:

Bradford City 2 – 1 Bromley