A heroic display from Bromley saw them deservedly hold Bristol Rovers to a draw and earn a replay at Hayes Lane.

Bromley had a chance to take the lead 2 minutes in when a badly weighted backpass from Tony Craig, put Anssi Jaakola under pressure and Michael Cheek closed him down, and forced a clearance which took a deflection, however Reeco Hackett-Fairchild wasn’t able to keep the ball in play and it rolled out for a goal kick.

The Ravens came close 14 minutes later, when Joe Kizzi crossed the ball towards Adam Mekki, which met his head. However the header was unable to threaten Anssi in goal.

Rovers’ first chance of the game came just before the 30 minute mark, When Ed Upson took a shot from outside the box, however he failed to hit the target. Bristol Rovers started to gain a foothold in the game, and looked dangerous. They had a free-kick just outside the box, but Cheek blocked the ball and cleared the danger.

Luke Coulson suffered a knock, whilst challenging a Rovers player for the ball. He was unable to continue therefore forcing Neil Smith to bring on Josh Rees. The referee signalled the end of the first half, in which the Ravens more than held their own.

Bromley very nearly scored three minutes in to the second half, with a precise through ball from Hackett-Fairchild which met the run of Adam and saw him in on goal, however his shot was just off of the target.

Adrian Clifton was fouled by Tom Nichols, but re-joined the action moments however seemed to be struggling. Bromley nearly scored
from a Raymond free kick, which met the head of Michael Cheek, but he was unable to keep the ball below the bar and it trickled over.

However Bromley were behind with 12 minutes from time after a Ryan Huddart save from Sercombe but he parried it and Luke Leahy was able to convert the rebound and take the lead for Bristol.

However, The lead lasted a matter of minutes when a goaline scramble following a mistake from Jaakola in the Bristol net, enabled Chris Bush to get Bromley’s first First round goal since 2014. Bromley had the momentum and seemed to be putting Rovers under pressure after a corner taken by Raymond met the head of Rees however he was unable to direct it goal wards andit fell yards wide. Bromley were able to see the game out for a replay and are for Monday night’s draw.