Substitute Myles Leaburn scored the only goal as Charlton Athletic defeated Bromley in the Bristol Street Motors Football League Trophy, Southern Group C. After the match, Bromley boss Andy Woodman spoke to Mark Doig.

EFL Division Two newcomers Bromley knew that only a victory would send them through to the last thirty-two so the loss ended their participation.

After the match, Bromley manager Andy Woodman gave his thoughts. “I thought we were excellent, to be honest.” he said.

“When you look at the team they (Charlton) put out, they took it really seriously. Without them having a game Saturday, they probably wanted to get some minutes in some players and we wanted to get minutes in some of our players that hadn’t had so much time.

“I didn’t want to be disrespectful to Charlton in any way with that. I thought those young boys in our team were excellent tonight against a very good Charlton team.”

Woodman would like to have played a stronger starting eleven but knows that he has to prioritise their league matches, saying “In a perfect world, I’d have liked to have been higher up in the table and giving this competition everything because I like this competition.

“I think that it’s good for both premiership clubs that are in it, and our clubs, but we’ve got some important games and we’ve got a few injuries at the moment and we have to protect what we’ve got a little bit at the moment.

“We haven’t got a massive squad of twenty-five/thirty players so we have to be sensible and not delusional of let’s try and win everything, try and win every game, and then hurt ourselves along the road.”

As a result, he fielded some young players alongside some established names. However, that wasn’t an issue for Woodman as he enjoys bringing through youthful talent.

“It’s something I really enjoy.” he said. “Maybe my time at Arsenal helped me appreciate the development of young players. I’ve got a really good record of producing young players, not only the ones we have on loan, but the ones that we’ve had in our own club. We’ve been really successful with that lot and I love seeing young players go on. If I’m not willing to play them, what’s the point of having them at the club.”

Bromley’s first season as a Football League club is a challenge that Woodman’s enjoying. He stated “I’d like a few more points on the board, but we’re not far away from putting a little run together. We haven’t been beaten in a few games. We’ve had a few too many draws.

“The margins just haven’t gone our way at the moment but I think that the football Gods will look down on us soon because we’re doing everything we can to get some wins on the board. We’re an honest, hard working side that gives everything, every game and that will take us a long way.”

When asked if he still believed in three up three down between the National League and Football League, Woodman joked “Never” before being more serious, remarking

“I said when we went up I’ll always bang the drum because it’s so hard to get out of the National League. When I look at the teams that are equipped in there, it probably should be right through the whole system.”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.