The Bees will be hoping to return to winning ways on Monday as they welcome Bromley to The Hive London in their final home game of the season.
Darren Currie’s side face the Ravens off the back of a 1-0 defeat away at promotion chasers Fylde on Friday with Danny Rowe bagging the only goal of the game on 21 minutes.
Last Meeting:
Barnet came out on top in their last meeting with Bromley back in September. Despite a late David Tutonda red card, Dan Sweeney bagged the only goal of the game as the Bees won 1-0 at Hayes Lane.
Manager: Neil Smith
Neil Smith has occupied the Bromley hot seat for just over three years now but he was no stranger to the club before he was named manager in 2016.
The former midfielder had a brief spell with The Ravens as a player back in 2008 before hanging up his boots for the first time.
Smith then returned to Bromley in 2011 where he became assistant manager before taking up the role as interim boss in February 2016 after Mark Goldberg’s departure. After winning six times and drawing three of his 13 matches in charge, the 46-year-old was given the job on a permanent basis.
After seeing out the remainder of the 2015-16 National League season as boss, Bromley finished in 14th before securing 10th place the following campaign. Last term saw them continue to rise up the standings again, this time clinching ninth, three points adrift of the final play-off spot.
Smith began his playing career at Tottenham as an apprentice but having failed to break into the first team, he made the move to Gillingham. The Lambeth-born manager featured over 200 times in six years for the Gills before going on to play for Reading, Stevenage, Woking and Welling. Despite retiring at the end of his Bromley spell, Smith returned to the field for Maidstone in the same year.
The current Ravens manager embarked on his first stab at management when he became joint caretaker boss at Woking in 2007 alongside Graham Baker in a spell that lasted only two months. Smith was then named manager at former club Welling United shortly after but faced the sack mid-way through the 2007-08 season. He then went on to become part of the coaching staff at Grays Athletic and Croydon Athletic before becoming assistant manager at Lewes, his most recent side before his switch to Bromley.
One to Watch: JJ Hooper
Forward JJ Hooper tops Bromley’s highest scorer standings this season having bagged 13 goals in 19 games for the Ravens.
The 25-year-old is on top form at the moment after netting six goals in his last six games but he sat out Friday’s 2-0 loss to Solihull Moors.
It’s proving to be a very good debut season for Hooper who joined on loan from Grimsby Town in December and he’ll be eager to prolong his scoring habit tomorrow.
Recent League Form:
Bromley, who are level on points with the Bees in 13th, go into tomorrow’s game having won once in their last five league games.
They fell to a 2-1 defeat away at Salford City but began April in better spirits, beating Leyton Orient by the same score-line. However, they had to settle for two consecutive 2-2 draws when coming up against Aldershot Town and Halifax Town before losing 2-0 at home to Solihull in their most recent fixture on Friday.
Bromley have also bagged 62 goals, conceding 67 and have won five of their 22 games on the road this season.
Connections:
Bromley’s Kyle De Silva spent a short spell on loan at Barnet from Crystal Palace during the back end of the 2012-13 season. The 24-year-old only made three appearances for the Bees before returning to his parent club at the end of the campaign.
Midfielder Adam Mekki, who joined Barnet in August 2014, featured 11 times for the club but failed to find the net before he was released later that year. The 26-year-old then went on to play for Dover and Tranmere before signing for Bromley ahead of last season.
Full-back Richard Brindley spent last season with Barnet, scoring his first and only goal in our last game of the season against Chesterfield. He then joined the Ravens at the start of this campaign after leaving The Hive.
Off the field, Bromley fitness coach Ben May bagged four goals in 11 appearances for Barnet after joining on loan for the remainder of the 2011-12 season in March 2012 from Stevenage.
