Andy Woodman hails Bromley’s resilience after comeback win at Bristol Rovers

Andy Woodman put Bromley’s resilient 3-2 League Two comeback win over 10-man Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium down to “honest” words at half-time as his side made it four league wins in a row.

The Ravens, who move up to second in the table, were two goals down to Steve Evans’ side at half-time and playing poorly.

But two substitutions at the break and a red card after 53 minutes for Rovers’ Shaq Forde changed the momentum, as Bromley substitutes Nicke Kabamba and Ben Thompson, twice, found the net to hand the visitors maximum points.

“If we’d have come in at half-time five goals down, we wouldn’t have had any complaints because we were so bad,” said Woodman. “It was probably the worst 45 minutes I’ve had as a manager at this football club.

“Half-time couldn’t come quick enough and there were a few honest conversations said at half-time. The thing that annoyed me was that these boys put themselves in a situation that they don’t need to be.

“That frustrated me and I said whoever scored the next goal in the game would win it and thankfully we scored it and pushed and pushed, and we got across the line.”

Woodman believed that the red card provided a big lift to his side at the right time and, on his match-winning changes, he added: “I don’t like calling them subs because these guys have come on to finish the game and win us the game and give us everything – we’ve had that in abundance.

“The whole squad is chomping at the bit to get on the pitch and make a difference and every single one did.”

Rovers boss Evans also cited Forde’s dismissal as a key point in the match, saying everything changed after 53 minutes, with the 21-year-old receiving a second booking for lunging in on Ashley Charles.

The home side were good value for their first-half lead with Jack Sparkes and Fabrizio Cavegn on target for the Gas.

But Swiss striker Cavegn also missed two gilt-edged chances with just goalkeeper Grant Smith to beat, before the match unravelled.

“When Shaq goes in for a silly foul, that really changed the game. It changed the momentum, but even after that, we missed a one-on-one to go 3-0,” said Evans.

“And then you’re playing second in the table and you don’t need to give them an opportunity to bomb men forward and put long balls forward into the box.

“It’s how they play and they’re very effective at what they do.

“But there’s lots of positives here, although people won’t want to hear that.

“For 53 minutes everything was very good but you can’t play a team of Bromley’s quality and go down to 10 men so early in the game.”

Evans added that the sending off “was correct” from referee Jacob Miles, but that Forde must learn to not go to ground after being sent off “three times in the last 12 months, far too many for me”.