Bromley manager Mark Goldberg hopes his side will learn a few lessons from the pre-season defeat to Gillingham.

First half goals from Ben Williamson and Bradley Dack were enough to give the League One side victory, despite a slender lifeline offered by Bradley Goldberg’s late chip for the hosts.

Lilywhites chief Goldberg hopes that his National League new boys will gain experience from the test provided by their visitors.

“I think they (Gillingham) started stronger than we did,” he said.

“We played into the way that they controlled the game. They had four in the middle of the park, playing as a diamond and we kept trying to play the ball inside instead of stretching them.

“We’ve got to learn from it.

“They showed that they are a more high tempo, fitter team. We have to gauge ourselves and know what level we need to get to.”

There was a marked improvement from the 2014-15 Conference South champions in the second half, which gave the Bromley boss reason to be cheerful.

Goldberg explained, “What I was pleased about was that we talked about it at half time, we upped the tempo ourselves and we started playing the way that we can play. We didn’t play into trouble, we played into space.

“We played a lot quicker, we moved the ball a lot quicker. I know it’s the old cliché, but it was a game of two halves.

“In all fairness, if we had drawn the game I don’t think it would have been an unfair result.

“We had chances in the first half. One clear-cut one on one, which normally I would have expected Alex Wall to bury.

“We should a lot of character to come back and it was a good work out in the end.”

With just over two weeks until the league season starts with the visit of Wrexham to Hayes Lane, Goldberg is confident his side will be ready to face their first ever National League campaign.

“I’m glad we had the exercise we had tonight, because if we start the way we started tonight against Wrexham then we will get exactly the same – we will be controlled by the opposition,” he said.

“We played into their hands tonight in the first half. I’m glad that we did that tonight because we will learn from these games, and we are capable of doing a lot better. In the second half we showed that.

“We will be right (for the start of the season.) We have proved so far that we have got the ingredients to compete next year.”

Alex Wall, signed this summer from Luton Town, impressed throughout the game and Goldberg expects he will be able to match the form he showed previously on loan at Dartford. Wall scored six times in eleven National League appearances for the Darts.

Goldberg said of Wall, “Even in the second half, he showed the type of player that he is. He’s going to be a menace to defenders; he even ran the channels well.

“He was unselfish as well, he looked to play his team mates in. I think he’s going to be a great asset for our club.”

The Ravens manager’s son, Bradley Goldberg, cut the arrears with a delicate chip late on, and Goldberg senior thinks he is one of many players who will be out to prove themselves at National League level.

He said, “We believe that he is capable (at the higher level). He’s got to prove it. Tonight I think certain players stood out to be capable of playing against opposition like Gillingham and I think Brad was one of those that had a stand out performance.

“Its all about what they do week in week out in the National League. It’s encouraging; I think we’ve got the ingredients to perform at that level.

“We showed it in spells tonight, but we’ve got to make sure we play to a system that gives us continuity throughout the whole game rather than in fits and starts.”

Bromley return to pre-season action at Hayes Lane on Saturday, as a Cambridge United are the visitors.