Bromley FC kept their play-off chances alive with a hard fought and exciting 3-2 victory at the Gallagher Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Kent local derby had a raucous and edgy feel with both sets of supporters roaring on their teams only separated by a narrow strip of no-man’s-land on the North Terrace. 

Bottom of the table Maidstone were quick out of the blocks and played with a high intensity throughout that made for an uncomfortable evening for their visitors.

In the first notable action of the half, the 421 visiting supporters held their breath in the 5^th minute as Sowunmi appeared to clip Wanjou-Smith in the penalty area, but the referee ruled that no contact had been made.  

The ball did find the net five minutes later though after a slide rule pass by Booty split open Bromley’s static defence for the impressive Shonibare to calmly stroke the ball past a despairing Charles-Cook.

A stunned Bromley found it difficult to get a foothold in the match as Maidstone pressed and play was interrupted by a succession of fouls.  

Bromley started to gain the upper hand though as Maidstone tired towards the end of the half. Dennis came close in the 35^th minute as he saw his tap in at the far post superbly blocked by a last-ditch lunge by Fowler.

Some nice link up play between the silky Fisher and the lively Cheek and dangerous probing drives by Charlton-loanee Elerewe were starting to stretch the Maidstone defence and Vennings headed over in the 38^th minute from a Bingham cross.  

Bromley finally broke through in the 42^nd minute as Cheek screwed a low pass across the box and this time Dennis made no mistake at the far post to level the game.

The Ravens continued to press and went on to take the lead in injury time as central defender Elerewe somehow found himself free in the box to collect a Cheek knockdown to calmly side foot the ball into the corner of the net.  

After the break, Bromley continued to press and in the 48^th minute, Vennings broke down the left and hugged the goal line to slip the ball back to Dennis who blazed his shot wildly over.

Bromley struggled to keep possession and both Bingham (for a foul) and Whitely (kicking the ball away) picked up cheap bookings. The resultant free kick was headed away by Bingham and then again cleared for a corner by the same player.

Bingham, however, was unable to do anything about the resultant corner which led to a Maidstone’s equaliser.  

As the corner floated in, Bromley keeper, Charles-Cook flapped at the cross with the ball falling kindly to the feet of Bone who lanced his shot through a crowded penalty area into the net to the glee of the Stones supporters behind the goal.

It looked like Maidstone had taken the lead in the 60^th minute as Berkoe disposed Fisher then raced away down the left and squared the ball for Shonibare to prod the ball home. The goal was ruled out though and Fisher, who appeared to have sustained a facial injury in the process, was replaced by Forster. Bingham was also replaced by Kendall. 

Forster made an immediate impact as he seized the ball on the right and raced determinedly into the penalty area cutting back for Dennis whose lunging prod struck Cheek as it deflected wide.

Dennis was starting to enjoy more space and made several probing passes to test the Maidstone defence. The Stones with nothing to lose also went on the attack and Charles-Cook produced two heart-stopping moments as he calmly shimmied his way past two attackers. 

Bromley continued to live dangerously, and forward Kendall got his marching orders in the 79^th minute with a reckless high tackle. The dismissal did not seem to affect the game or the desire to take the three points and Bromley finished strongly and with 8 minutes of injury time sensed that the opportunity to take the spoils remained alive.  

Manager Woodman often talks of Bromley’s never say die attitude and as the final whistle approached his words proved prophetic. Whitely skipped in from the left and fired a stinging low drive from the edge of the box which Hadley fumbled into the path of the oncoming Dennis who stroked the ball home much to the delight of the large visiting support.

A final sting in the tail was to await the Stones as Brown received his marching orders for scything down Stirk in a dangerous counter attack as Bromley held on for the 3 points.  

MAIDSTONE UNITED: Hadler, Fowler (C), Brown, Wanjau-Smith (Viggars 90+2), Odusanya, Booty (Alabi 90+2), Berkoe, Bone, Jobe, Shonibare, Guring (Deacon 78). 

Unused subs: Touray, and Binnom-Williams. 

BROMLEY: Charles-Cook, Reynolds, Bingham (Kendall 61), Sowunmi, Cheek, Dennis (Arthurs 90+3), Stirk, Whitely, Vennings, Elerewe, Fisher (Forster 64). 

Unused subs: Webster, and Topalloj. 

Attendance: 1890 (away 421)