Newcastle United ended Bromley’s historic FA Cup run with a 3-1 third-round victory at St James’ Park.
William Osula netted the decisive goal to settle an entertaining tie with a brilliant strike from Bruno Guimaraes’ pass on a 61st-minute counter-attack.
Cameron Congreve initially fired Bromley into a surprising eighth minute lead from a scrappy pass by Corey Whitely, only for Lewis Miley to equalise for Newcastle with a stunning curled shot in the 16th minute.
Substitute, Anthony Gordon turned the tie around for Newcastle with a 49th minute penalty after Matt Targett had been brought down by Ben Thompson, which extended the Magpies’ winning run to eight matches in all competitions.
Unbeaten in seven matches and the best in-form top-flight team coming into this weekend, Newcastle began this exciting tie as the hot favourites against Bromley, as Andy Woodman’s Ravens made their first-ever appearance at this stage of the FA Cup in front of a 3,000+ strong crowd.
The away supporters however enjoyed the first laugh as an eighth minute counter-attack found Corey Whitely, who was fouled by Kieran Trippier, but the 33 year-old was able to feed the ball forward for Congreve to rifle into the left corner to put the Ravens into a shock lead.
Bromley’s dreams of extending their fairytale FA Cup run almost hit new heights in the 13th minute as on-loan right-back, Danny Imray broke forward, but the Crystal Palace loanee rifled his shot marginally wide of the far-bottom left corner.
Newcastle soon made Imray pay for his wasted chance just three minutes later as William Osula pounced upon a forward pass, only for two Bromley defenders to squeeze him with the ball deflected out to Harvey Barnes, who pulled back for Miley to curl into the far-right corner to restore parity.
That goal sparked Newcastle into life but Barnes curled over the bar in the 19th minute, before his low cross in the 38th minute evaded Osula inside the box as the latter instead slid into the right post.
Bromley remained defensively resilient throughout the remainder of the first half although Deji Elerewe was lucky that referee – Will Finnie didn’t award Newcastle a 44th minute penalty, following his trip-up on Sean Longstaff inside the box.
Eddie Howe consequently was left unhappy at how his Magpies handled the first half and opted to substitute Joelinton and Barnes for Bruno Guimaraes and Gordon at half-time.
That gamble paid off just over three minutes into the second half as Targett was brought down by Thompson – who had made his loan from Stevenage permanent just days earlier. after he intercepted a headed clearance from a corner kick.
Gordon duly stepped up and continued his bright start to 2025 with three goals in three matches as he smashed the penalty into the bottom-left corner to put the Magpies ahead.
Bromley in response tried to stay in the game until Guimaraes unleashed Osula up the right flank on a 61st-minute counter-attack with the 21 year-old Danish forward free to cut in, before he calmly curled into the far-left corner to send Newcastle on course for the fourth round for a second consecutive season.
Newcastle eventually controlled the game to the final whistle but Bromley bowed out with renewed confidence, despite having suffered consecutive defeats in all competitions for the first time since late September 2024.
What’s Next?
Newcastle must quickly return their focus to Premier League action as they host Wolves at St James’ Park on Wednesday 15 January at 7:30pm GMT.
Bromley meanwhile have three further days to prepare for their return to a competitive League Two play-off race, with Woodman’s Ravens entertaining Colchester at Hayes Lane on Saturday 18 January at 3pm.
Teams
Newcastle: Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Lloyd Kelly, Matt Targett (Hall 69′), Lewis Miley, Sean Longstaff, Joelinton (Guimaraes 46′), Miguel Almiron (Tonali 84′), William Osula (Sanusi 69′), Harvey Barnes (Gordon 46′)
Substitutes: Odysseas Vlachodimos, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Dan Burn, Alex Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes, Trevan Sanusi
Bromley: Grant Smith, Deji Elerewe, Omar Sowunmi, Callum Reynolds (Webster 82′), Danny Imray, Jude Arthurs (Leigh 83′), Ben Thompson (Charles 65′), Idris Odutayo, Cameron Congreve (Passley 77′), Corey Whitely, Michael Cheek (Amantchi 78′)
Substitutes: Sam Long, Ashley Charles, Carl Jenkinson, Josh Passley, Lewis Leigh, Louis Dennis, Byron Webster, Levi Amantchi, Olufela Olomola
Referee – Will Finnie
Leave a Reply