Bromley 1
(Dennis 73′)
United 0
United slipped to their first defeat of the season on Tuesday evening, as a late goal saw Bromley overcome ten-man Torquay.
Having given as good as they got for long periods, a red card for Ross Marshall saw The Gulls facing an uphill challenge, before Louis Dennis scored the solitary goal to leave United unrewarded for their efforts.
United manager Gary Johnson made two changes to the side that triumphed at Halifax at the weekend, with Shaun Donnellan and Asa Hall being replaced by Ali Omar and Thomas Hughes in the starting XI.
It was the home side who were quickest out of the traps, with Mark Halstead continuing where he left off on Saturday, making a number of saves in the early stages to prevent the home side gaining an advantage.
Billy Bingham was the first to be denied with a low shot, before his teammate Byron Webster felt similar frustration at the hands of The Gulls’ glovesman moments later.
Although the territorial advantage remained with The Ravens, Johnson’s men had moments of promise themselves, with a neat pass from Will Goodwin allowing Ryan Hanson the time and space to fire in an effort at goal, although Reice Charles-Cook in the home goal wasn’t unduly troubled.
Twice just prior to the 20-minute mark Bromley managed to evade the attentions of The Gulls’ in-form stopper, however on both occasions they failed to profit, as Chis Bush sent a header over the crossbar, before Cheek poked wide from Alexander’s left-wing cross.
As the half wore on though, Torquay began to impose themselves on the match.
A nice piece of interplay between Brett McGavin and Tom Lapslie in the 21st minute saw the latter player deliver the ball into the path of Goodwin, who sent a delightful finish into the back of the net… before the effort was ruled out for offside.
Undeterred, the men in yellow went close again eight minutes later, as McGavin’s set-piece delivery from deep expertly found the head of Marshall, who powered in a header, leaving Charles-Cook to act quickly to keep it out.
Andy Woodman’s side did respond in turn, and created two more chances of note towards the end of the first period, with George Alexander heading wide despite being well-placed from a corner, before Bush dragged a decent opportunity across the face of goal three minutes before the break.
The final opening of note fell the way of Johnson’s side though, with a cross from the right causing chaos inside the 18-yard box, with the combination of Goodwin and Hughes just failing to apply the finishing touch.
All square at the interval then.
Once things got back underway, it was end-to-end stuff.
In the 50th minute, the developing understanding between Goodwin and Hughes nearly paid off, as the former fed the latter, with a last-ditch challenge preventing the on-loan Ipswich man making the most of the opening.
Seizing on the loose ball, Alexander made swift progress by running at The Gulls’ backline, before calling Halstead into action once more. As ever though, Torquay’s Number 1 was equal to it.
Perhaps inspired by that, United went close to making the breakthrough, as McGavin’s defence-splitting pass saw Goodwin beat the offside trap before sending in a fierce effort that Charles-Cook tipped over.
On the hour mark, it was a Dean Moxey long throw that presented the Stoke City youngster with his next chance, as Goodwin kept a clear head amid the panic around him, before steering his effort onto the top of the crossbar.
Just when the men in yellow were threatening to take charge, the pattern of the match changed.
In the 63rd minute, Lapslie’s raid into enemy territory seemed to have the hosts on the back foot, however after winning the ball back, a swift counter left Marshall backtracking, and despite his best attempts to make his challenge a legal one, the officials saw otherwise, with a red card seeing United left to complete the game a man down.
The resultant free-kick just outside the box saw more heroics from Halstead, before the men in front of him cleared the danger.
Bromley eventually took advantage ten minutes later though.
Having seen his initial effort at goal blocked, the rebound fell kindly back to substitute Dennis, who confidently curled home from the edge of the box to make it 1-0.
For a period thereafter, United were pinned back against their own goal, however with the clock ticking down, Johnson’s men regrouped as they went in search of an equaliser.
Keiron Evans, off the bench, sent in a dangerous delivery towards a number of lurking United forwards, however Bush arrived in the nick of time to clear the ball away.
Alexander, for the home side, missed a good opportunity to seal the result minutes later, but just as Evans looked to send Goodwin away in pursuit of a late leveller, the ball delivered in his direction had a little too much on it, leaving Charles-Cook to gather the ball with glee.
United couldn’t quite force one of their customary ‘Gary Time’ goals on this occasion, with a first goal conceded signalling their first reverse of 2022/23.
Onto Boreham Wood at Plainmoor on Saturday.
Bromley: 13. Reice Charles-Cook, 3. Reece Hannam (11. Louis Dennis, 58′), 4. Billy Bingham (2. Callum Reynolds, 79′), 5. Chris Bush, 6. Omar Sowunmi, 9. Michael Cheek, 17. Byron Webster, 18. Corey Whitely, 19. Harry Forster, 21. James Vennings (8. Ethan Coleman, 58′), 22. George A/lexander.
SUBS NOT USED: 14. Mason Bloomfield, 35. Kellen Fisher.
Yellow Cards: Sowunmi 28′, Webster 34′,
United: 1. Mark Halstead, 2. Dylan Crowe, 4. Tom Lapslie (8. Asa Hall, 67′), 5. Ali Omar, 6. Ross Marshall, 7. Ryan Hanson, 14. Brett McGavin, 15. Ben Wyatt (11. Kieron Evans, 80′), 19. Will Goodwin, 21. Dean Moxey (c), 28. Thomas Hughes (23. Ollie Tomlinson, 64′).
SUBS NOT USED: 22. Rhys Lovett, 26. Nelson Iseguan.
Yellow Cards: Marshall 6′, Goodwin 34′,
Red Card: Marshall 63′
Attendance: 2,026 (274 away)