Goals Galore As Bournemouth Renew A Rivalry

The Match

On Tuesday Bournemouth headed to Nottingham on the back of two comfortable wins, though Notts County presented a difficult challenge for the Cherries. After going two nil down, it seemed bleak for Bournemouth, but a great comeback to make it 2-2, and then once more coming from behind after Notts County scored a penalty capped off a good performance from Eddie Howe's men. Unfortunately I couldn't make this match, having sixth form the next day, but a respectable following of 208 Cherries made the long trip north to watch a fantastic game of football. It also brought back memories of the 2009/10 and 2010/11 season when Eddie Howe's old Bournemouth team built up quite the rivalry with Notts County, not forgetting when Bournemouth lost 3-0 at Meadow Lane and Eddie Mitchell went into the changing room...

Bournemouth celebrate a goal on Tuesday

My Thoughts

After such a disappointing run of away games, it is nice to get a solid point at a promotion contender and feel deserving of it. Encouragingly, all three goals came from defensive mistakes, whether that be a backpass or a foul. Unlike if teams were simply cutting us apart and scoring from open play, silly mistakes can be easily corrected from training together and putting in the work to improve the defence's cooperation. With Eddie in charge, the whole team seems to me completely revitalized, but it will take time to completely transform the team into playing "Eddie's Way". As Howe said "we have a bad habit of passing the ball backwards" something leftover from the Groves' regime, if we can play with a faster tempo the team will become much more effective in their possession of the ball. Similar to when he was last in charge, Howe clearly wants to utilize the width of the pitch and get an abundance of crosses into the box. The game on Tuesday saw the return of Donal McDermott, and his extraordinary back-heel pass to set up a goal exemplified the enormous potential that he has. With Pugh and McDermott attacking down the wing, whoever is starting up front should have numerous chances every game to put the ball into the back of the net.

There are still a lot of things to be improved, and it will take a while before this team can reach it's potential, but Eddie and Jason having changed the teams attitude for the better. Hopefully, as proven against Notts County, the players can build a team spirit and determination like the team of 2010-11.

The Future

A tough, long trip all the way up to Carlisle awaits on Saturday, presenting Bournemouth with another difficult match. However, Howe's men have every reason to go into this game full of confidence, as Carlisle only sit 4 points above them in the League Table. Although Carlisle grabbed a win on Tuesday, they have been on a bad run of form recently, where as Bournemouth have finally started playing well. With danger man Lee Miller out, the Cherries defence can turn its attention to Joe Garner and Matty Robson, whom both have 4 goals each so far. Realistically, a point would be another good return from this match, but a win is still a possibility.

Forward Joe Garner is one to watch for The Cumbrians