Cheltenham Town manager, Michael Flynn has stated that “it’s hard to play against 10 men” after his side’s 1-1 draw against newly-promoted Bromley.
The first-half at the EV Charger Points Stadium brought chaos as Bromley’s Carl Jenkinson received two yellows to get sent off and take the Ravens down to 10 men.
Shortly after the second-half got underway, Cheltenham opened the scoring through Ethon Archer’s low shot from the edge of the box. Manager Michael Flynn sung his praises: “He’s not surprised me the way he’s adapted to league football. What he’s surprised me in is how he’s turned into a talisman, one of the main men and how he’s dealing with that. He’s got a very, very bright future ahead of him.
“He’s taking on his shoulders, not going into a shell, he’s keeping grounded, working hard for the team, he’s a good team-mate to the rest of them, he gets on with them all.”
50' Town lead and it's Ethon Archer with the goal. He works it onto his right before firing low and past Smith into the bottom right corner!
— Cheltenham Town (@CTFCofficial) November 9, 2024
1-0 | #ctfc♦️ https://t.co/EnnyH8kgVV
However, the Robins couldn’t hold their own and conceded the equaliser in the 82nd as Omar Sowunmi scored the header, with Flynn expressing his frustrations: “It usually happens when you make a mistake. One leads to two, two leads to three and then there’s a goal. It’s in the back of your net. All we had to do was clear the ball.
“I said to them at half-time, don’t make any mistakes, don’t give them any free hits to throw the ball in the box because that’s what they’re good at. And I’m going to give Bromley credit, they didn’t stop. They made it very difficult in terms of the way they play.But that’s down to us to get past that. But saying that, we should score at the end.”
One of Bromley’s best attributes on the pitch is their height and ability in the air, Flynn said: “It’s just that we didn’t kill the game off. obviously, their goal. Like I said, they’re a very difficult team to play against. They’re the land of the giants.
A Kamarl Grant throw-in is nodded in by Omar Sowunmi!#WeAreBromley https://t.co/VcyX42sJoQ
— Bromley FC (@bromleyfc) November 9, 2024
“We should have cleared the ball before they had a chance for a long throw, but even then, the long throw, we weren’t organised and were screaming from the touchline. Obviously, if you leave someone who’s 6’6″ to have a free header, then you tend to get punished.”
Although, Flynn would have wanted Cheltenham to get the win after scoring the opening goal: “You like to think you’d go on and win but I didn’t think it was a foregone conclusion. I’ve said it many a time, it’s hard to play against 10 men and especially the way they play.
“Like I said, I’m going to give them credit, they stuck with the two up front. You know, they changed things until they made sure they stayed in the game, and they got an equaliser. I’m not going to say anything bad about it. I think Andy’s done a fantastic job and he’s got an honest group of players there who don’t know when they’re beaten.”
