A scintillating second half performance by Bromley combined with their best overall performance of the season saw the Kent side return from Sussex with three welcome points that moved the ravens up to third in the conference south table.

Although Bromley made an exceptionally bright start to the game, it was actually Eastbourne who created the first chance of the game when Gavin McCallum fired wide on the half-volley from 20 yards out. However following that opportunity it was Bromley who then proceeded to dominate the game over the next twenty minutes.

First Pierre Joseph-Dubois profited from a Jordan Robertson through ball only for Lewis Carey in the Eastbourne goal to react quickly and block Joseph-Dubois’ shot. Two minutes later, Bromley were to take the lead, Moses Ademola showed good body strength to shrug off Adam Watts before rounding Carey and calmly slotting home.

Buoyed by the goal Ademola was to be at the heart of all the best forward play by Bromley. On 20 minutes good interplay between Ademola and Robertson led to the former crossing for Joseph-Dubois only for a last ditch challenge to prevent him stretching the Bromley lead.

Minutes later, a fantastic counter attack involving one touch passing between Reece Prestedge, Ali Fuseini and Ademola led to the former crossing for Robertson to sidefoot narrowly wide past the despairing dive of Carey.

Eastbourne’s best spell of the game came in the last ten minutes of the half as they forced a series of corners which needed to be well defended by the Bromley rearguard, however the Bromley defence could do nothing to stop a sublime free kick by Sam Beale that levelled the scores two minutes before half time.

Things were to get worse for Bromley in first half injury time, poor play by Paul Rodgers allowed James Walker to break free only to be brought down by a clumsy Rodgers challenge in the penalty area.

Despite the setback, Seb Brown came to Bromley’s rescue when he guessed right to save Gavin McCallum’s low spot kick.

The saved penalty was to prove the turning point of the game as Bromley came out of the blocks firing in the second half. Within a minute of the second half, Ademola capitalised on a Rodgers clearance only for his lob to beat Carey but fall the wrong side of the crossbar.

One minute later, Louis Dennis’ cross presented Joseph-Dubois with an excellent opportunity to give Bromley the lead but Dubois missed the ball altogether when it seemed easier to score. In the 53^rd minute Ademola was to make no such mistake when he seized on a Prestedge through ball to beat Carey as Bromley retook the lead.

Firmly in the ascendancy and with Eastbourne looking increasingly suspect in defence, Pierre Joseph-Dubois further stretched the Bromley lead when he capitalized on another Eastbourne defensive blunder to smash the ball home into the top corner from 18 yards.

Jordan Robertson nearly made it four when he took advantage of more shambolic defending only to be denied by Carey. Eastbourne briefly threatened to rally when Dean Sinclair flashed a drive inches wide. However that was to be as good as it got for Eastbourne.

As the game wound down, Rob Swaine came close to a fourth when he headed narrowly over from a Joe Anderson free kick before substitute Jack Holland sealed the win with the goal of the game. Receiving the ball on the halfway line from Adam Birchall, Holland proceeded to rampage through the Eastbourne defence, nutmegging one defender before calmly slotting the ball past Carey to send the away fans into rapture.

Deep into injury time Mitchell Pinnock hit the crossbar with a freekick to nearly add extra gloss to a dazzling Bromley performance.

As the final whistle blew, Bromley manager Mark Goldberg will no doubt see this performance as a huge moral boost for his Bromley side ahead of the big all-Kent FA Cup 1^st round showdown with Dartford next Saturday.

 

Eastbourne: Lewis Carey, Marvin Hamilton, Sam Beale, Matt Aldred, Kiran Khinda-John (Matt Parsons), Adam Watts (Jay Lovett), Gavin McCallum, Dean Sinclair, Elliot Charles (Darren Lok), Ryan Worrall, James Walker.

Subs (not used): Simon Johnson, Richard Pacquette.

Bromley: Seb Brown, Paul Rodgers (Jack Holland), Joe Anderson, Ali Fuseini, Rob Swaine, Callum McNaughton, Pierre Joseph-Dubois, Reece Prestedge, Jordan Robertson, Moses Ademola (Adam Birchall), Louis Dennis (Mitchell Pinnock).

Subs (not used): Damian Scannell, Duncan Culley.