Prior to the game starting, Bromley had never won a competitive game against Bristol Rovers with the two sides recently facing off in the Emirates FA Cup where the Gas prevailed 2-1.
However, Boxing Day was a good date to face Steve Evans’ relegation-threatened side as despite a potential new-manager bounce, Bristol Rovers had lost four of their last five matches on the date.
The hosts took no time in coming out of the blocks as a fast start from Bristol Rovers saw three great chances fall their way in the opening 20 minutes.
The first of these, just two minutes in, saw a disastrous Deji Elerewe mistake put Rovers striker Fabrizio Cavegn head through on goal. However, Cavegn’s strike was sliced wide of the mark.
In the 15th minute, Shaqai Forde was found with acres around him in the centre of the box and was picked out by Jack Sparkes but the winger’s effort would trickle past the wrong side of the left post.
Following this, in the 20th minute, Forde threatened again as his bouncing long range effort nearly caught out Bromley goalkeeper Grant Smith as he desperately scrambled away the strike for a corner.
Despite these several chances going to waste, Bristol Rovers wouldn’t take their foot of the gas and they deservedly took the lead through a moment of magic from Jack Sparkes that would embarrass Bromley’s right side.
Corey Whitely failed to clear the long ball that reached Sparkes whilst Marcus Ifill’s attempt to tackle the fullback instead sent him to the South of Wales.
Entering the Bromley box, Jack Sparkes would dispatch his first Rovers goal by rifling his strike into the top right corner making it 1-0 to the hosts.
Bristol Rovers’ advantage would double soon after as Cavegn made amends for his earlier miss inside the 40th minute with his near post effort sneaking past Smith.
In the second half, showing signs of festive fatigue, Bromley changes seemed inevitable with Nicke Kabamba and Jude Arthurs entering the field and subsequently changing the visitors’ set up to a 3-4-1-2.
But those changes wouldn’t shift the game until the hosts rather became the masters of their own downfall.
Shaqai Forde needlessly chopped down Ashley Charles causing the winger to face an early shower and more importantly give Bromley a glimmer of hope in turning the game around.
Fabrizio Cavegn had his third clear sighting at goal but again missed the target whilst at the other end, Nicke Kabamba halved Bromley’s deficit with a sublime half volley finish.
Having 10 men obviously comes with its costs and subsequently to their numerical disadvantage, Rovers had more holes in their defence than a golf course with gaps appearing aplenty.
The equalizer for Bromley came ten minutes from time as Idris Odutayo picked out another substitute in Ben Thompson who had acres of space in the Bristol box.
Calm and collected, the midfielder slotted home underneath Luke Southwood to return the tie to all square.
But the Ravens knew that they could come away with more.
As Bromley continued to put the pressure on a tiring Bristol Rovers, the sense of a winner became even more apparent in the nail-biting home crowd. And two minutes into stoppage time the comeback would be complete.
Ben Thompson bagged a brace after he deflected Mitchell Pinnock’s low drive past the Bristol keeper sending the traveling Ravens fans into raptures.
Final Score: Bristol Rovers 2-3 Bromley
Bristol Rovers – Luke Southwood (GK), Taylor Moore, Alfie Kilgour (Lockyer 75′), Clinton Mola, Jack Sparkes, Joshua McEachran, Kamil Conteh, Joel Cotterill (Bryant Bilongo 62′), Luke Thomas (Ollie Dewsbury 74′), Shaqai Forde, Fabrizio Cavegn.
Unused Substitutes – Brad Young, Alfie Chang, Stephan Negru, Ruel Sotiriou.
Goals – Jack Sparkes, Fabrizio Cavegn.
Bromley – Grant Smith (GK), Idris Odutayo, Omar Sowunmi, Deji Elerewe, Marcus Ifill (Ben Thompson 79′), Ashley Charles, Mitchell Pinnock, William Hondermack (Jude Arthurs 46′), Ben Krauhaus (Brooklyn Ilunga 79′), Corey Whitely (Nicke Kabamba 46′), Michael Cheek.
Unused Substitutes – Sam Long, Kyle Cameron, Lakyle Samuel.
Goals – Nicke Kabamba, Ben Thompson x2.
Yellow Cards – Four (Shaqai Forde, Joel Cotterill, Nicke Kabamba, Fabrizio Cavegn).
Red Cards – One (Shaqai Forde).
Attendance – 8,127.
