Bristol Rovers 1-2 Bromley
Pre-season fixture, Estádio Municipal Bela Vista, Tuesday 23 July 2024
Bristol Rovers fell to a first defeat of the 2024/25 pre-season schedule, losing 2-1 to Bromley in Portugal.
The first match of Rovers’ week-long training trip in the Algarve saw Bromley take a two goal advantage before halftime. Sam Woods and Levi Amantchi got the goals from set pieces in a 45-minute period that the Gas otherwise dominated, with new signing Promise Omochere hitting the woodwork.
The heat played its role in the second half as tiring legs saw the game draw to a conclusion without significant incident, although Jerry Lawrence’s well-taken header on 85 minutes gave Matt Taylor’s team hopes of a late resurgence.
Played in beautiful sunny conditions in south Portugal, the Sky Bet League Two side took the early lead from a set-play on the right side. Goalkeeper Josh Griffiths came for the ball but was left in no man’s land as Bromley grabbed an opener through Sam Woods after just three minutes.
A frantic start to the action saw Taylor Moore head over from a corner - an effort the centre-back will feel he should have done better from - before Jevani Brown’s one-on-one attempt was blocked away.
Griffiths denied Bromley their second inside the opening ten minutes with a superb stop and another Rovers corner almost led to a leveller. James Wilson forced a great save and Dan Ellison could not keep his follow-up under the woodwork.
New signing Omochere worked hard up front for the Gas and almost got his just rewards on 22 minutes, only for his well-taken header to bounce back off the crossbar.
For all of Rovers’ chances, it was Bromley who got the second goal of the game and doubled their lead after half-an-hour. It came from another set-piece, which evaded the Rovers defence, before being poked in at the back post by Levi Amantchi.
Scott Sinclair and Grant Ward entered the fray at half-time, as did Jed Ward, while further substitutions followed in Isaac Hutchinson, Luke Thomas and Clinton Mola.
Brown went close to reducing the deficit five minutes into the second half only for his free-kick to hit the wall, while McCormick fizzed a low volley wide from just inside the penalty area.
The Gas would get a deserved finish with five minutes to play in the Algarve, as a short-corner routine saw Thomas pick up the ball and dink into Lawrence, who found the goal with a fantastic header.
Ultimately, it was not enough late on in the fixture as Rovers suffered a first defeat of the pre-season schedule.
