Bromley's first huge test in League One ended in a difficult 7:2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, the promotion favourites dominating the London side thanks to goals from Callum Slattery, Mason Burstow, Jamal Lowe, Louie Barry and Gabriel Otegbayo in a tough reality check for the Ravens.
This was the first time in history that these clubs were meeting each other, a sign not only of how far Bromley have come in recent years, but also of how much Sheffield Wednesday's financial situation in recent seasons has hurt them.
Bromley had started life in League One as good as they could have hoped, a win and a draw in their opening two games, and started a similar side to the one that began their first two fixtures. The only changes being JJ McKiernan and Chanse Headman coming into the side for Jacob Mendy and Ben Thompson. New signings Tobias Brenan and goalkeeper Owen Mason made it onto the bench.
The away side knew they had a tough ask to get anything at one of the sides expected to end the season in the play-off positions, but Wednesday's Callum Slattery putting the home side 1:0 up in the first ten minutes wasn't the ideal start for Bromley. A tap in thanks to an assist from Louie Barry would be a disappointment to the 800 fans who made the journey from South East London.
The first half proceeded as expected, with Bromley forced to defend wave after wave of Sheffield Wednesday attacks, complete dominance in both the possession statistics and chance creation. An unfortunate consequence of the step up in quality Bromley were going to face after promotion to League One, and maybe they might have had the advantage at Hayes Lane, but going away to stadiums such as Hillsborough was always going to pose a challenge and it showed.
Goal number two would arrive by the half an hour mark, Sheffield Wednesday's pressure paying off with a wonderful strike from Mason Burstow. The winger, on loan from Hull City, was given the space to let a shot fly from just outside the box and left goalkeeper Shamal George with nothing he could do to stop it.
Right before half time, with the next goal key to deciding the result, two goals became three for Sheffield Wednesday. All too easy for the home side as Jamal Lowe finally got his goal, Slattery going from goalscorer to provider and putting the result almost certainly out of reach before the first half was over.
Almost as soon as the second half began things continued to go from bad to worse for Bromley, as Louie Barry made it four and then five goals for the home side in the opening five minutes. Barry's first coming just eleven seconds into the second half whilst his second wasn't helped by a Bromley defensive mix up, the away side doing themselves no favours by failing to get rid of the ball.
The constant pressure from the home side continued, not unlike a usual Bromley fixture but there wasn't an answer this time around. Bromley had managed three shots by the 70th minute and not one of them had ended up on target. The situation wasn't helped by Wednesday going 6:0 up through Jamal Lowe and Gabriel Otegbayo making it seven goals to the good.
Bromley would get two goals back in quick succession, Victor Adeboyejo winning a penalty before converting it himself for his third of the season and Otegbayo putting the ball into his own net to give the travelling fans something to remember, but it was certainly too little too late. A difficult defeat for Bromley in a game expected to not go their way, a defensive disaster but a first lesson learned at this level for Andy Woodman's side.
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