BROMLEY lost their undefeated home league record last night when they went down against Concord Rangers.
Rob Swaine’s header gave leaders Bromley a first half lead, but it was Concord who went home with all three points from their first ever visit to Hayes lane thanks to a Sam Higgins brace.
Despite opening the scoring, Bromley could not hold onto their lead and were for the most part second best all evening.
However, it might have been different if Swaine had scored in the second minute.
The central defender had two bites of the cherry, but was denied by two saves from former Bromley keeper Jamie Butler when he blocked thefirst attempt with his legs and then recovered brilliantly to tip Swaine’s volley over the bar.
Chances were few and far between and on 19 minutes Gary Ogilvie’s fierce shot was palmed away by Joe Welch.
Pierre Joseph-Dubois just failed to get on the end of a Swaine knockdown, following Brendan Kiernan’s cross.
Jake Reid’s header was deflected for a corner, which was put out for another flag kick.
This time Swaine rose highest and his downward header flew into the net on 38 minutes.
The lead was short lived, however, as Welch had a rush of blood to his head two minutes later, racing from his goal to bundle over Sam Collins on the byline.
Higgins stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick to level the scores.
Concord started the second half strongly and Welch denied Higgins with his legs before Steve King planted a header just wide of the upright from a long free-kick into the area.
The visitors deservedly took the lead on 56 minutes with what proved to be the winning goal.
Bromley’s defence failed to clear their lines properly and the ball was spread wide to Higgins, who promptly volleyed across Welch into the far corner of the net.
Two substitutions for Bromley made little difference, although Butler saved well from Swaine’s header on 64 minutes.
Higgins should have completed his hat-trick a few moments later when he headed over from a good position.
Bromley were unable to create any further chances during the remainder of the game, and Concord were quite happy to pack their defence to defend their lead, which lifted them to 10th position in the table.
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Bromley: Welch, Pooley, Anderson, Waldren, Swaine, Holland, Joseph-Dubois, Nicholls (Buchanan 59), Reid (May 59), Goldberg, Kiernan (Jarrett 73). Subs not used: Fuseini, McDonnell. Att: 305
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