In a Valentines Day clash where first faced third in League Two, there was no love lost in a physical contest between two sides eyeing up automatic promotion. Bromley would take the lead from a favoured set piece where Notts County’s top scorer this season Matthew Dennis would impressively head home into his own net.
Yet Notts County equalised from the spot in the second half through Jodi Jones, who also won the penalty after being fouled by Marcus Ifill– more on that incident later.
In the closing stages, Notts County midfielder Scott Robertson received a second yellow card, and a subsequent early shower, but the Magpies managed to hold on in an eventual 1-1 draw.
Join me as I reflect on three key talking points from Saturday’s game at the Copperjax Community Stadium:
In front of a crowd of over 5000, the League Two leaders disappointingly struggled to create many convincing attacking opportunities and instead had to rely on their opponents’ striker Matthew Dennis to put the Ravens in front just before the half hour mark.
The hosts managed to tally just 0.23 XG from open play and one shot on target during the game which consisted of Corey Whitely’s header falling comfortably into James Belshaw’s gloves.
Despite manager Andy Woodman bringing on another striker in Nicke Kabamba in the 67th minute, Bromley’s lack of attacking action remained up until the final whistle.
Additionally, this was the first time since April 18th where Bromley failed to score two or more goals in a home league fixture.
Meanwhile for Notts County, the away side also weren’t particularly brilliant going forward either with a heavy reliance on the spark of winger Jodi Jones.
The Malta international created the most chances (three), completed the most dribbles (four) and won and dispatched the levelling penalty in a man-of-the-match performance.
A competitively gruelling encounter was largely overshadowed however by referee Darren Drysdale who angered both sets of fans and managers following a flurry of controversial decisions.
Most notably, Marcus Ifill’s foul on Jodi Jones, that resulted in a converted spot-kick, looked to have been made outside of the 18-yard box even though Jones hit the deck a few yards inside the penalty area.
Bromley boss Andy Woodman was evidently furious after Drysdale’s decision and told Bromley’s media after the game:
“We’ve lost the points to a refereeing decision that he’ll look back at and realise he’s got wrong.”
Woodman also issued his anger towards the referee refusing to give his side a “stonewall penalty” after Kabamba was brought down in the box within second half additional time.
Likewise, Notts County manager Martin Paterson also told the media his frustrations about the officials. Speaking to BBC Nottingham Sport he fumed:
“They scored a set play that never should’ve been, because there were two clear fouls in the process to us… but we didn’t get them. That carried on throughout the whole game by the way.”
With both teams evidently annoyed over Darren Drysdale’s refereeing performance, which was epitomised through boos from the home end after the final whistle, this fixture yet again raises concerns over the standard of officiating in League Two and across the EFL.
Despite the spoils being shared, both teams have extended their current unbeaten runs.
Notts County are invincible in their last seven, whilst Bromley have avoided defeat in their previous 13.
Moreover, after Sunderland’s defeat to Liverpool last Wednesday, the Ravens are now the only team in the 92 to not lose at home in the league this season.
With impressive records like this continuing, and some favourable fixtures coming up, neither side look like stopping as they aim to tighten their grip on automatic promotion.
