Bromley exited the Kent Senior Cup at the first hurdle, losing out to a Charlton XI in an entertaining game at Hayes Lane.
In front of a good crowd who took advantage of the Football for a Fiver offer, there were plenty of goals for fans to enjoy.
The game got off to an open start with Callum Harriott going close for Charlton and Mike Jones firing over for Bromley.
The Addicks took the lead on 3 minutes when Ruben Bover finished smartly in the box with the home defence static. Charlton then had a strong spell of dominance with Paul Benson and Michael Smith both forcing a couple of saves from Tommy Forecast. Salifou Ibrahima & Lewis Taylor both had chances saved by Nick Pope, but Bromley didn’t really create enough to get back in the game before the break.
Bromley finally got going just after half time when sub Aaron Rhule set up Hakeem Araba who finished well for 1-1 on 47 minutes. Smith had an effort saved by Forecast soon after, but his next effort was too much for the home keeper as the striker flicked a header past him for 2-1 on the hour.
Araba had an audacious flick saved by Pope and Smith went close again at the other end as things really opened up. On 76 minutes Bromley drew level when Rhule was brought down by Freddie Warren and Araba confidently tucked away the penalty.
Both sides went for the win and the final goal of the game came on 87 minutes when Smith beat Forecast to a cross and headed home to make it 3-2 to the visitors.
In injury time Rhule had an effort cleared off the line, but The Ravens were unable to pull back again and lost out to their League One neighbours.
This was an encouraging display by Mark Goldberg’s men and now and they face a tough trip to Chelmsford on Saturday in the league.
Bromley: Forecast, Udoji, Green, Dolan, Gillman, Smith, Ibrahima (Rhule H/T), Harwood, Jones (Hill 60), Taylor, Araba.
Subs not used: Patterson, Agu, Lockett.
Goals: Araba (47) & (pen 78).
Charlton: Pope, Warren, Fox, Doherty, Lennon (Azeez 82), Bover (Sho-Silva 73), Pritchard, Poyet, Harriott (Davisson H/T), Benson, Smith.
Subs not used: Phillips, Popo.
Goals: Bover (4), Smith (61) & (87).
Match Rating 3/5
Referee: Mr Butler
Attendance: 399
Star Man: Hakeem Araba (Bromley)
Picture supplied by Ed Boyden. To see more of Ed’s pictures, visit www.edboydenphotos.co.uk