Bromley picked up a vital three points in their bid to secure a top three National League finish with a comfortable 2-0 win over Halifax Town thanks to a fantastic double strike from Corey Whitely either side of half time at Hayes Lane on Saturday afternoon.
Andy Woodman made three changes to The Ravens starting line up bringing in Byron Webster at the back, Ashley Charles in midfield and Olufela Olomola up front, keeping the usual 5-3-2 formation.
Christening their new Macron kit, Bromley got off to a positive start with Michael Cheek firing across goal when latching on to a Webster knock down.
As the initial pace of the game slowed Halifax came into things a bit more and The Ravens dropped deeper, Andrew Oluwabori posing a real threat down the left with his footwork and pace, but once they weathered the pressure the home side rallied again.
Olomola fired wide when well placed and then he had a powerful header tipped over by Sam Johnson for a corner. The Shayman failed to the clear their lines from the corner and as the ball dropped twenty five yards from goal, Whitely unleashed an unstoppable volley that flew past Johnson to make it 1-0.
Bromley almost made it two when soon after, Cheek saw his shot acrobatically cleared off the line by Luke Summerfield. In first half injury time Halifax almost drew level when Adam Geroge set up Oluwabori, but this shot was well saved by Grant Smith.
The second half saw The Ravens make the perfect start, Josh Passley found Cheek on the right who set up Whitely on the edge of the area and the Bromley midfielder crashed the ball high into the net for 2-0.
Bromley pressed again from there, but eventually the game opened up, Halifax briefly came back into things when Oluwabori headed wide from a free kick and at the other end Ben Krauhaus hit the underside of the bar from just inside the box, the ball bouncing out to safety.
The Shaymen had a spell of possession just after the hour, but they just seemed to run out of ideas in the final third. Whitely fired over after some patient build up play from Woodman’s team, but from there the game looked to be petering out to quiet finish right up until the 95th minute when Besart Topalloj and George were both sent off for an off the ball incident spotted by the Linesman following a Halifax set piece.
The Ravens will now have to prepare for the trip to Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night without Topalloj, but sitting in second place ahead of Barnet on goal difference and looking to be back to somewhere near their best.
Bromley: Smith, Passley, Kirk, Webster, Reynolds, Topalloj, Charles, Whitely, Krauhaus (Arthurs 83), Cheek, Olomola (Amantchi 89). Subs Not Used: Orlowski, Vennings, Grant.
Halifax: Johndon, Golden, Senior, Oluwabori, Evans, Hunter (Hoti 58), Summerfield (Cosgrave 87), Stott, George, Wright (Thompson-Sommers 58), Harker. Subs Not Used: Jankins, Chikukwa.
Goals; BFC – Whitely 37 & 46mins.
HT 1-0 FT 2-0
Ref: Callum Walchester