Michael Cheek scored the only goal as Bromley beat Dagenham and Redbridge at Hayes Lane on Saturday leaving new boss Andy Woodman pleased with his first win as manager.

However, the bedrock of the victory was a superb defensive performance with Chris Bush outstanding. 

It was a first victory for new manager Andy Woodman but he was in no mind to take all the plaudits. “I’ve inherited a team that’s got a bit of steel about it.” He explained. “Am I going to take the credit for that? No, not at all.

“We’ve got a team that’s got a bit of fire in its belly. If we can organise them to do certain things, we’ll be alright.

However, Woodman has his got his own ideas, and he was delighted with his team for that. “They set out to do what we asked them to do, a clean sheet, so that was good for us.” he said “That’s what successful teams are built on, Not conceding. I think we’re always going to create chances. We’re lucky to have one of the best strikers in the league so if we keep it tight at the back, we’ll do alright.

“There was a little bit of pressure at the end but you’re not going to have no pressure (to defend) against a team like that.” he continued. “They’ve pumped it the box. They’ve got big players but we’ve weathered the storm and we’ve done what we’ve done.”

One disappointment was the late dismissal of Luke Coulson. Woodman said “I can’t criticise the ref for not giving the foul. He might not have seen it but he’s (Coulson) a professional footballer and he’s got to realise that him in the dressing room is no good to us and I’ve just said that to him. He knows, he’s disappointed, but what I would say is that his team-mates have dug him out of a hole and we’ve got he result. He’d have been feeling a lot worse if we’d drawn or lost.”

Jack Holland returned to the team to replace the injured Byron Webster but was unable to complete the ninety minutes. Woodman confirmed that he was not rushed back despite the mounting injury list and said “He was fine. He has trained and declared himself absolutely fine. I think it’s more of a case of a centre half thinking he can be Beckenbauer and run up the pitch. If I’d rested him we might have lost this game. He said that he was fine to play so I have to take his word for it.”

It does leave Bromley short of players for Tuesday’s game at Woking and Woodman joked “I think I might speak to Mark Hammond of the academy. He might have some players in the under 14s or 13s who can play. 

“We haven’t got a big squad but I’m not going to moan about it, It’s good for all the players. The ones that are knocking on my door asking why I’m not playing, well go on then, go and play. Let’s see what you’ve got in your locker. I think James (Alabi) was a good example of that. He came on. He tried. He should have had a goal. He hustled and bustled up there so it’s good competition for places and the younger members have got a chance to go out and play. Charles Fox can play centre half so if he has to slip him in and put someone else at full back, we’ll do that.”

There is little resting time with two games a week, virtually until the end of the season. Woodman feels that this is not an issue for Bromley alone and said “I think that’s a problem for everyone really. We could moan about it but it’s the same for every team. We’ve got to try and just get through the games and hopefully patch them up and keep churning the boys out. It’s the same for all the teams from top to bottom. We know these games have been squeezed in due to the Covid problems. The option is to have no games at all and I don’t think that anyone wants that.”

With Webster out injured, Woodman chose to give the captain’s armband to Chris Bush, and he felt that his choice was vindicated by his outstanding display against Dagenham and Redbridge. “He has been absolutely brilliant since I’ve been here and I have to say he had an early booking today and it was a good test for him as he was on a tightrope but after that but he was immense. He was diligent. He made good decisions. He wasn’t rash so fair play to Chris Bush. He was excellent.”

Picture supplied by Keith Gillard.