Bromley gained revenge for their Boxing Day humbling at the hands of Dover with a reverse of the scoreline and performance on New Years Day

A Frankie Raymond penalty on the stroke of half time gave Bromley a fortuitous lead and they added to that with goals from Josh Rees and Michael Cheek to seal a dominant second half performance.

Both teams had named unchanged sides from their respective wins on Saturday but it was the visitors who started the better and they should have been in front inside the opening 12 minutes.

Dover top scorer Inih Effiong collected a long ball in the penalty area and with only Ryan Huddart to beat inexplicably shot wide. It was in truth a bread and butter opportunity for the front man and Dover were to rue that miss.

Effiong could have made amends on the 20 minute mark, but he failed to turn in Ricky Modeste’s pass although Effiong would be right to say the cutback was slightly behind him.

With Dover making all the running in the game the lively Nassim L’Ghoul was next to go close, heading the ball onto the crossbar from Jack Munns’ free kick.

Bromley were second best for the majority of the first half and to make matters worse their injury curse was to strike once more when Dave Winfield was forced off the field after a collision with Effiong. The big defender appearing to signal a knee injury which meant he could take no further part in the game.

Yet despite the incessant Dover pressure it was the home side who took the lead against the run of play on the stroke of half time.

Luke Coulson’s deep corner appeared to be sailing over the heads of all the players in the penalty area but Effiong was adjudged to be impeding Joe Kizzi and referee Carl Brook had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Raymond made no mistake from 12 yards to hand Bromley an undeserved lead at the interval.

If Dover could count themselves unlucky to be behind at half time they could have no complaints about the second half as Bromley bossed the second 45 minutes and in the end proved to be good value for their win.

The Ravens stretched their lead four minutes after the restart, a quick counter attack from a Dover corner saw Raymond free Josh Rees who advanced into the penalty area before passing a great effort into the net past Yusuf Mersin.

Rees nearly got his second of the game minutes later when he forced Mersin into a fantastic save with a stinging effort from 25 yards.

With Dover unable to find any way back into the game, Rees scuffed a golden opportunity over the crossbar when a clearance fell to him.

Dover’s best opportunity of the half came 15 minutes from time when the enterprising Bobby-Joe Taylor delivered an excellent left wing cross that Modeste reacted to at the last minute but his thighed effort was saved by Ryan Huddart.

Bromley ultimately made the game safe in the final five minutes, moments after Rees had sidefooted over from substitute Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s cross, Sam Wood played a long ball that saw Cheek outpace Kevin Lokko and sidefoot past Mersin for his 14th goal of the season.

Substitute Andre Coker nearly added further gloss to the scoreline in injury time when his jinking run saw him unleash a dipping, swerving strike that forced Mersin into a brilliant fingertip save. 

As it was that was to be the last of the action as the referee’s whistle confirmed Bromley’s victory as well as them hitting the magic safety mark of 50 points on the first day of the new year.

That safety has been confirmed so early now gives Bromley what manager Neil Smith described as a ‘free hit’ to go and make the season special.

For Dover it was a disappointing end to a game that had started so promisingly and a rare blot on their outstanding away record. They will get the chance to recitfy things at home to Hartlepool United in 10 days time.

Bromley: Huddart, Kizzi, Winfield (Higgs 37mins), Bush, Wood, Raymond, Bingham, Rees, Williamson, Coulson (Hackett-Fairchild 71mins), Cheek (Coker 89mins).

Subs not used: Najia, Klass.

Dover: Mersin, Passley, Lokko, De Haviland, Taylor, Woods, Reason (Gobern 82mins), Munns (Yusuff 61mins), L’Ghoul (Jeffrey 61mins), Modeste, Effiong.

Subs not used: Simpson, Rigg.

Referee: Carl Brook

Attendance: 2,011 (196 away)