Bognor fell to their first defeat of their pre season friendly campaign against Conference South outfit Bromley in a mediocre performance from both sides.
Rocks welcomed back Billy Franks into the squad and Charlie Marshall started up front alongside Jason Prior. James Fraser also returned in a green and white shirt going straight into the starting 11.
Luke Nightingale was watching from the sidelines, still nurturing a knee injury from last season.
It wasn't until after 3 minutes when Marshall won a freekick for the hosts on the right. The kick eventually led to Fraser whipping in a cross that unfortunately didn't find another Bognor player.
Moments later Clive Snell was brought down in the centre of the field by Joe Vines, after sliding in late from behind. The referee gave the freekick but no cards were issued.
Then Richard Hudson curled in a searching cross towards Prior but John Scarborough in the visiting defence got there first to clear his lines.
Some more good defending from the other end was evident when Steve Ferguson side-footed a cross in from the right towards Nic Mcdonell but Tim Bond was there instantly to deal with the danger.
Bognor's first attempt on goal came on 11 minutes when the impressive Fraser blasted a shot from well outside the area only to see it blaze just over the bar.
Three minutes later Fraser tried his luck again when he smashed a diagonal shot from the corner of the area, which beat goalkeeper Jamie Butler but bounced agonisingly wide of the left post.
Wes Daly tried to reply when he latched onto the ball outside the box to chip towards goal. Though his effort of a through ball was too much for his teammates as he saw it bounce off for a goal kick.
Marshall then linked up well with Matthew Whitehead before swirling a cross in with his left foot. A defender was equal to it however as he powered the ball away with a header.
More drama occurred on 21 minutes when Daly drove the ball towards goal from just inside the area. The ball was rebounded out by Bond, but it was then fired back in to McDonell whose shot into the bottom left corner was disallowed. He didn't realise the linesman had already put his flag up for offside.
Rocks were passing the ball and defending well but on 25 minutes James Crane aided Hudson in an attack down the right. However the attack came to nothing as the wingers cross was denied by Aaron Fray.
Then perhaps the hosts could have taken the lead when after hard retrieving work by Fraser. He set up Snell who could only smash his low effort wide.
The goal that would eventually be enough to seal the game, happened on 28 minutes. The hard working Tony Finn ran onto a destined goal kick to cut the ball back inside the box. McDonell was there to fire the ball low beyond Craig Stoner in the Rocks goal.
Four minutes later and the visitors could have added to their lead. Daly hit a volley after receiving the ball from the left outside the area which committed Stoner into a dive across his goal. The ball swirled wide of the right post.
In a good move for the Rocks, Whitehead teed up Marshall on the edge of the area, who turned and beat Scarborough in the process to set himself up on goal. Unfortunately the striker's left footed shot was driven wide.
It wasn't until 36 minutes that the first corner was taken for either team. Bognor won it and Hudson whipped in the cross from the right but Reis Boyle headed clear. The tall defender required treatment from the physio shortly after for a clash in the area.
With 6 minutes left of the first half, Vines lofted a ball for Ferguson. The forward's shot was instantly blocked off by the ever-present Stuart Axten in the Rocks defence.
HT 0-1
There were shouts for a penalty 6 minutes into the restart. Substitute Leon McKenzie deemed he was brought down before Stoner gathered the ball though the referee ignored the claims.
Then McDonell blasted well over after a rash clearance by the home defence.
Bromley continued to pressurise Bognor and on 59 minutes McKenzie latched onto a neat pass by Finn, but he could only power his shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
On 63 minutes, after Phil Turner had won a corner, Fraser followed up with a low shot which missed all those crowded in the area before somehow Butler palmed the ball round his right post.
Substitute Toby Pointing was destined to score 2 minutes later when he pounced on a bouncing long ball. He composed himself to fire over Butler, but he would have been disappointed to see his effort go the wrong side of the right post.
Forward Sam Butler ran in on goal when he was set up with a through ball but he scuffed his low shot and Stoner easily gathered.
With 15 minutes remaining Axten got on the end of a corner from the left by Fraser. He nodded the ball low from the back post that fell straight into the arms of the goalkeeper.
Perhaps the best chance of the game went begging on 78 minutes when Turner drove in a decent cross from the right. Mickey Demetriou was on the end of it to perform a dramatic diving header that was powered goalwards. Again Butler was equal to the effort, palming the ball over the bar.
With seconds left, Frank Cachia neatly threaded the ball into the path of Phil Turner, who after getting into a good position could only fire the ball over the bar. This put an end to a frustrating day for the team – though not it was not a game without its positives.
Full Time Rocks 0 Bromley 1
Teams:
Bognor – Stoner (Corbin 71), Crane © (Franks 56), Whitehead (Turner 56), Snell (Wood HT), Bond, Axten, Hudson (Snell 67), Birmingham (Cachia 67), Prior (Pointing HT), Marshall (Demetriou 62), Fraser
Bromley – J Butler, Graves (Greene 56), Fray (S Butler HT), Daly (Jordan 71), Scarborough (Sobers HT), Boyle (Henriques HT), Finn, Vines (Ibrahima HT), Ferguson (McKenzie HT), McDonell (Jones 81), Dunk
Reproduced with thanks to the Sports Mail and the Observer.
www.thenews.co.uk and www.bognor.co.uk
