Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth revealed his Bromley counterpart admitted the home side were denied a blatant penalty on Saturday.
Hopes of a Gills fightback in the second half turned in a 60-second spell immediately after the restart.
Gillingham striker Josh Andrews was clearly hauled to the ground by Bromley debutant Jesse Debrah, who wasn’t even looking as the ball was played into the penalty area for Andrews to convert.
Within a minute, Bromley had scored a terrific fourth goal when Ben Thompson completed his hat-trick.
Visiting boss Andy Woodman immediately went to Ainsworth and admitted the home side should have been awarded the penalty, which would have potentially made it 3-2.
“Andy said that could have gone either way, couldn’t it? He said, ‘I actually thought it was a penalty’,” revealed Ainsworth.
“It doesn’t help me. It’s easy to say when you’re 4-1 up, isn’t it?
“We’re good friends and he’s a good guy. I’m very respectful of what he’s done with Bromley.
“I’ve done this before with a team that everyone thought, how the hell are they doing that? Because they’ve got a great culture. They’ve got good players.
“They’ve got players that have been together for many years. They have a way of playing and fair play to them.
“He was very respectful and came over and said that could have gone either way.
“But when his team are scoring goals like they did today, they’re going to blow teams away – and they certainly blew us away.”
Bromley sit six points clear of Cambridge at the top of the table and are eight points above the team in fourth.
Ainsworth added: “For all the talk around Bromley, I don’t want to put any predictions on them, but I’d say they’re the real deal.
“They’re not this flash in the pan side and they’re difficult to stop at this level because they’re very strong at what they do.”
Ainsworth wouldn’t be drawn on his view on the potential penalty until he watches it again.
Gillingham’s players were adamant that it should have been a spot-kick.
“I believe if we get that penalty, we get something out of this game, I really do,” claimed Ainsworth.
“Kicking to The Rainham End, the way those fans are, I believe we’d have got something.
“As it happens, I think two minutes later, the ball was in the back of our net and those are the moments in football that you live and die by sometimes.
“The referee’s made the decision that it’s not a penalty. We have to accept that.
“I wouldn’t say whether it is or not before seeing it again, but the lads were adamant that Josh had been dragged down and unfortunately we didn’t get it.”
