Bromley were knocked off the top of the Conference South table on Saturday when they were beaten at Farnborough.

It was a fourth straight league defeat for the Lillywhites and means they have surrendered the league leadership to Eastleigh.

There was no hint of what was to come in the first period, as the visitors dominated for virtually the entire opening 45 minutes.

They restricted the home side to just one attack, which did not come until the 42nd minute when Matt Ball’s free-kick from distance just evading the post.

Before that Albert Jarrett went close with a free-kick which had Farnborough keeper Kevin Scriven scrambling across his goal.

Jay May’s clever flick on put Bradley Goldberg in on goal, but he dallied too long and was robbed by Alfred Bosch inside the area.

The visitors were denied a blatant penalty on 20 minutes. May’s shot was parried by Scriven, the loose ball fell to Brendan Kiernan and as he was about to fire into an empty net, he had his legs whipped from underneath him by Bosch. The referee looked at his assistant, but the raised flag wasn’t forthcoming coming and play continued.

Jarrett’s cross was well shielded by May a few moments later before the striker laid a pass into the path of Kiernan, who should have done better with his effort tamely shooting wide.

Danny Waldren had the ball in the net on the half hour mark but the flag had already raised for offside.

Goldberg twice went clear on goal, although in both instances he took one touch too many and was dispossessed by defenders.

Bromley’s leading scorer was then denied on 38 minutes by Scriven, who smartly moved off his line to block at the striker’s feet after a clearance had ricocheted off of Joe Anderson into Goldberg’s path.

Whatever was said at half time by the management team had an adverse effect, as Bromley came out in a completely different mood. Their play was sloppy, they lacked interest and there was no enthusiasm or fight, especially after they fell behind on 52 minutes.

Matt Ball’s lofted free-kick from the halfway line bounced over everyone and into the roof of the net by the post, with Rob Swaine and Lillies keeper Joe Welch seemingly leaving the ball for each other.

Welch did well to keep out a wickedly swerving effort from Tyrone Berry but could do little about Farnborough’s second goal on 81 minutes.

Bromley were caught napping when a long clearance picked out Daniel Bennett, who squared across goal to substitute and debutant Jonathan J Hooper for a simple tap into an empty net.

The visitors reduced the arrears two minutes later when Elliott Buchanan’s cross was volleyed by May, only for Scriven to beat away ball into the path of Louis Dennis to convert from close range.

Bromley might have snatched a point in the last minute when Jarrett’s cross was missed by Goldberg to come at Dennis rather quickly, but the substitute was only able to fire over the bar.

With upcoming games against Eastbourne Borough, Eastleigh and Weston-super-Mare amongst their fixtures, Bromley will need to improve drastically if they are to get their title challenge back on track.

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Bromley: Welch, Pooley, Anderson, Waldren, Swaine, McKain, Kiernan (Dennis 72), Nicholls (Buchanan 72), May, Goldberg, Jarrett. Subs not used: Fitzgerald, Fuseini, McDonnell. Att: 309.