Marcus Dinanga netted four goals as Bromley began their 2025-26 pre-season with a 5-2 comeback against Tottenham Hotspur’s Under-21s.
Dinanga nodded in a 52nd-minute equaliser before he proceeded to produce three strikes to complete an eventually dominant comeback for Andy Woodman’s Ravens.
Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny’s 14th-minute penalty – after a foul on Ellis Lehane – and Tyrese Hall’s 16th-minute strike fired Tottenham into an early lead, before Soul Kader pulled a goal back for Bromley with a 39th-minute strike from Nathan Paul-Lavaly.
Having gone for a strong line-up which included new signing – Will Hondermarck, Bromley initially struggled to establish an early foothold against Spurs’ youngsters which resulted in a foul on Ellis Lehane.
Russell-Denny dispatched the consequential spot-kick to put Tottenham into a 14th-minute lead, which was doubled two minutes later as Hall latched onto Luca Gunter’s long ball to and smashed in their second goal.
Hall’s goal sparked Bromley into life after a lacklustre opening quarter and the Ravens pulled a goal back in the 39th minute, as Paul-Lavaly whipped in a cross for Kader to smash in from close range to half their deficit at half-time.
Woodman however opted for wholesale changes for the second half with the whole starting eleven replaced, with Mitch Pinnock making his first appearance following his return to the club after a decade away, whilst Kyle Cameron made his club debut.
Bromley didn’t look back early in the second half amidst changes as Dinanga nodded in an equaliser from a 52nd-minute cross from summer signing, Pinnock.
Dinanga then poked in his second goal from a scruffy 57th-minute ping-pong mess inside the box to complete Bromley’s comeback on his return from a serious Achilles injury after nearly 10 months out.
The 27-year-old crowned his return to action with a 64th-minute hat-trick as he tucked away a pass from Marcus Ifill.
Ifill attempted to add his name to the scoresheet as Bromley looked to finish on a high but his 80th-minute shot was blocked by Carey Bloedorn, only for Dinanga to follow up on the rebound with his fourth goal on a successful return to action for the forward as Bromley began pre-season in style.
Woodman’s Ravens now will head to Albufeira, Portugal, for a warm-weather training camp – during which they will meet Rotherham then Lincoln City on 11 and 16 July respectively.
They will then return to the Copperjax Stadium for a pre-season friendly against a Chelsea XI on 19 July (3pm BST), followed by a clash against FA Cup holders, Crystal Palace on Tuesday 22 July (7:45pm), before their pre-season concludes at home to Millwall on Saturday 26 July at 3pm.
Bromley’s season will commence on Saturday 2 August away at newly-relegated Shrewsbury Town, before their first home game of the campaign sees them host newly-promoted Barnet on 9 August.
Teams
Bromley: Grant Smith (Long 45′), Nathan Paul-Lavaly (Jenkinson 45′), Josh Tobin (German 45′), Omar Sowunmi (Cameron 45′), Deji Elerewe (Charles 45′), Idris Odutayo (Trialist A 45′), Will Hondermarck (Ben Thompson 45′), Jude Arthurs (Whitely 45′), Brooklyn Ilunga (Pinnock 45′), Michael Cheek (Dinanga 45′), Soul Kader (Kabamba 45′)
Substitutes: Sam Long, Carl Jenkinson, Kyle Cameron, Ben Thompson, Marcus Dinanga, Mitchell Pinnock, Nicke Kabamba, Corey Whitely, Marcus Ifill, Sam German, Trialist A
Tottenham: Luca Gunter (Bloedorn 74′), Tyrell Ashcroft (Batty 74′), Alfie Dorrington (Rowswell 45′), Malachi Hardy (Arganese-McDermott 61′), Calum Logan (Byrne 45′), Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny (Cassanova 45′), Callum Olusesi (McFadden 61′), Yusuf Akhamrich, Tyrese Hall (Kyerematen 61′), Tynan Thompson (Irow 61′), Ellis Lehane (Feeney 61′)
Substitutes: Carey Bloedorn, Dante Cassanova, Pele Arganese-McDermott, James Rowswell, Harry Byrne, Rio Kyerematen, Max McFadden, Oliver Irow, George Feeney, Dan Batty
Leave a Reply