Bromley 0 Bristol Rovers 1: Ravens edged out of FA Cup by League One side – after controversially disallowed goal
BY LOUIS MENDEZ AT HAYES LANE
Bromley were knocked out of the FA Cup tonight – but not before giving League One Bristol Rovers a real scare during the first round replay at Hayes Lane.
The Ravens earned a rematch under the lights after the 1-1 draw in Bristol the weekend before last – with a television audience watching on as the South Londoners looked to reach the second round for the first time since 1949.
Rovers scored what turned out to be the winning goal through Jonson Clarke-Harris in the opening exchanges, but Bromley will feel hard done by to have lost an evenly-matched affair, in which they had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside.
Bristol Rovers will face Plymouth Argyle in the second round as the Lilywhites get back to concentrating on trying to secure promotion to the Football League.
An expectant, sell-out crowd of 4,558 packed into Hayes Lane, but they were silenced inside the opening three minutes.
Rovers’ Ollie Clarke pounced upon a loose ball out from Chris Bush, before squaring for Clarke-Harris to bundle over the line – leaving the National League joint-leaders the task of coming from behind as they did in the original tie at The Memorial Ground nine days ago.
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The Gas’ marksman Clarke-Harris came close to adding a second as he fizzed a shot across the face of goal soon after, but Neil Smith’s non-leaguers soon started to grow into the cup tie.
Bromley’s top-scorer Michael Cheek, who has already bagged 10 goals in all competitions this season, saw a speculative overhead effort drift narrowly over the bar before the hosts were a whisker away from drawing level.
Former Charlton youngster Reeco Hackett-Fairchild had the beating of the Rovers right-back before cutting in and drilling a dangerous ball in towards the near-post. Ex-Millwall stalwart Tony Craig was a lucky man as his intervention diverted the ball inches over the crossbar.
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Bromley should have been level on the stroke of half-time. Luke Coulson’s through ball was pounced on by Cheek. The flag had already been raised by the time the 28-year-old forward rounded the keeper and finished into the empty net – but replays showed he had timed his run perfectly and the goal should have stood.
The hosts refused to be blunted by that setback and continued to press for a leveller after the restart.
Billy Bingham and Hackett-Fairchild were both off target from range for the Lilywhites – before they were once again denied an equaliser by the officials.
A trademark long-throw from Bush somehow ended up in the net, with the referee saying nobody was able to get a telling touch on the ball and awarding a goal-kick.
Bromley continued to apply the pressure but couldn’t find the breakthrough – their FA Cup dreams are over for another season.
PHOTOS: KEITH GILLARD