Andy Woodman hailed his Bromley players after their 2-1 win over Gillingham ensured their first home win in Sky Bet League Two since August.
A Jude Arthurs volley 20 minutes from time sealed the three points for the Ravens. Cameron Congreve had earlier given them the lead, only for Robbie McKenzie to level soon after for the Gills.
Woodman said afterwards: “I’m so delighted with the win, we haven’t always got our rewards in many games where we played better than tonight. But we were good for it.
“We didn’t have to hang on for the win and without being disrespectful to Gillingham I thought we limited them to very little.
“I said at half-time ‘be brave, don’t settle for the win, let’s go for it’ and they did that – and then some.
“I’m so happy for Jude Arthurs, he does the ugly side of the game and doesn’t always get the plaudits but I thought he was brilliant tonight.”
Bromley started with a great tempo and went close inside the opening 10 minutes when Michael Cheek brought a smart save from goalkeeper Jake Turner.
The Gills grew into the game as the half progressed and Elliott Nevitt looked set to give them the lead until Omar Sowunmi denied him with a last-ditch tackle.
However, the best chance of the half fell to Carl Jenkinson. The right-back’s close-range effort was stopped by Turner at point-blank range.
The second half saw the game spring to life with two goals in the space of 60 seconds.
Bromley netted first when Swansea loanee Congreve fired home a loose ball in the penalty area. However, that strike was cancelled out immediately when McKenzie drilled a low effort beyond Grant Smith after the hosts failed to clear their lines.
However, Bromley were not to be deterred and won the game when Arthurs’ brilliant half-volley dipped beyond substitute Glenn Morris.
Despite a late rally from the Gills they could find no way through and succumbed to a seventh defeat in their last nine league games.
Boss Mark Bonner said “I’m as angry as everyone else, that is not a team anyone wants to see. We are bang average at best.
“The run of the results and performances like these have been completely unacceptable. We’ve spent a fortune on this squad and we are miles away from what good looks like at the moment.
“There were moments where we had some good stuff, namely through Jack Nolan and Jayden Clarke, but we lacked quality throughout the game.
“Our midfield players had to play a lot of second-ball football but ultimately we lacked quality when it mattered most.
“Too many times we crossed it into Grant Smith’s hands or Omar Sowunmi’s head and we have to be so much better than that.”
