After the hype and eventual disappointment of Tuesday’s FA Cup defeat at home to Bristol Rovers, Bromley are back in National League action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Sutton United for a local derby.
The Ravens lost 1-0 to their League One opponents in midweek, despite dominating for long spells of the game and had two goals disallowed, but they now have to re-focus on the league campaign having not won in their last five matches and lost top spot to Barrow on goal difference.
Bromley have picked up 37points from 21 games so far this season, while Sutton, in their first season under manager Matt Gray, have had a tough start to the campaign sitting in 21st place on 19 points from 20 matches played, although they did win their first game since early October last weekend, 2-1 away at Torquay Utd thanks to goals from David Ajieboye & Harry Beautyman.
When the sides met at Gander Green Lane on Boxing Day last season the home side won 1-0, while in the reverse fixture on New Year’s Evening Bromley snatched a late 2-1 victory with a striker from JJ Hooper and a last minute Jake Goodman header.
The Ravens also beat Sutton in the FA Trophy last season before being thrown out of the competition for an admin error spotted by their opponents, which is sure to add even more spice to the old rivalry.
Bromley manager Neil Smith was full of praise for his side after the Bristol Rovers game and emphasised the importance of now getting the focus back to the league campaign. The Gaffer is still without the services of six first team players and has hinted he may be looking at bringing another forward player in.
This looks set to be another hard fought derby match with Bromley looking to maintain their challenge at the top of the National League and Sutton trying to edge away from the bottom four.