Bromley were eliminated from the Buildbase FA Trophy by Woking as they went down 6-7 on penalties at Hayes Lane, following a 1-1 draw. 

After a few minutes played, it was the Ravens that had the first proper opportunity to score. A hopeful clearance from Joe Kizzi was poorly controlled by Jack Cook – with the Woking defender failing to clear the ball and allowing Michael Cheek through on goal. From a difficult angle, Cheek’s chipped effort forced an instinctive save from Craig Ross. 

It was then the visitors’ turn to attack. Ben Dempsey passed to Slavi Spasov inside Bromley’s penalty area, and the Woking forward found himself in a good position, and it took a brilliant Bromley defensive clearance to prevent a certain shot on target. Woking then attacked again, this time forcing the save of the game from Mark Cousins. Charlie Cooper’s speculative effort from distance forced Cousins to tip the ball on to the bar, an incredible save from the Bromley number one.

New signing Courtney Duffus showed glimmers of what he is capable of, when he weaved past a couple of Woking defenders inside the oppositions penalty area and saw his deflected shot go wide for a corner.  

Early on in the second half, it was Bromley who would take the lead. Byron Webster produced a fantastic crossfield pass, which was well left by Chris Bush to find Harry Forster. The Watford loanee took the ball down well and produced his trademark run into the Cards’ penalty area and was taken down, resulting in a penalty to Bromley. Amazing play from the midfielder, whose pace was too much to handle for the Woking defence. Michael Cheek stepped up and smashed the ball home, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Moments later, the visitors would respond instantly. A looping cross into the box found Max Kretzschmar, who expertly looped a header across goal and into the bottom corner. Despite the equaliser, Bromley had another great chance to take the lead. Chris Bush’s long throw in caused havoc in the Woking penalty area, the ball was cleared to Joe Kizzi whose defected effort made Ross dive quickly to his right side and tip the ball wide. As the game reached the hour mark, Woking were awarded a free kick in a dangerous area and it was Cousins’ turn to try and emulate his opposition keeper’s reactions. Charlie Cooper’s powerful free kick was palmed away by Cousins to safety. 

A highly competitive game saw few key chances for both teams in the latter stages of the match, despite both teams playing in an attacking style. Then, with seconds left to play, Cheek held the ball up well and charged into the opposition’s penalty, box gliding past every defender in his sight. An amazing last ditch challenge from Ben Gerring prevented the Bromley forward from surely getting his 13th goal of the season in some style. The game was to then be decided by a penalty shoot out. 

Chris Bush stepped up first for Bromley and sent his left footed strike into the bottom corner. Goalscorer Kretzschmar was the first player up for Woking and converted his effort. Cheek and then Cooper for the visitors made the shoot out 2-2. Frankie Raymond scored Bromley’s third penalty then former Bromley man Goddard also found the net. Debutant Duffus then saw his penalty well saved by Ross and then Kane Ferdinand also had his penalty saved by Cousins. Billy Bingham converted his penalty, as did Spasov to make the shoot out 4-4. Liam Trotter scored Bromley’s 5th in the shootout, only for on-loan Charlton Athletic man Ben Dempsey to also score Woking’s 5th. Strikes from Ben Williamson and from Woking defender Jack Cook made the game 6-6. Harry Forster then saw his spot kick saved by Ross and Woking had the opportunity to win the game and progress to the next round to face Sutton United. Kyran Lofthouse scored his penalty, and Bromley were eliminated.  

Line up: 1 Mark Cousins, 2 Joe Kizzi (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

Report by Alex Exadactylos