Bournemouth's fine form continued this afternoon in the first round of the FA Cup against League Two opposition Dagenham & Redbridge. With a special offer of 10 pounds for adults and 1 pound for kids, a good sized crowd of around 5,800 turned up to watch a fine display of football from The Cherries. Approximately 150-200 Daggers fans made the (relatively) short journey south, although it probably felt a lot longer on the way home.
On a cold but clear afternoon Bournemouth headed into this game full of confidence on the back of 3 wins and a draw in their past four games. Under new manager Eddie Howe the side has completely transformed, notably scoring 10 goals in his 3 games in charge. Howe made three changes to the team that lined up at Carlisle on Saturday, as Jalal, Cook and Tubbs replaced James, Addison and Barnard respectively. The game started out quite scrappy, with Dagenham gaining quite a firm foothold in the match and limiting the Cherries' chances to get the ball forward. When Bournemouth actually got the ball, the Dagenham players were keen to pressure them and limit their time to make a decision and create something. The first half wasn't a good advert for lower league football, with a lot of hoofing and hit and hope passes being played by both sides. Bournemouth had a couple of corners, but seemed determined to make a short corner routine work, but unfortunately each time it came to nothing. The first real chance fell to the in-form Josh McQuoid, who ran in from the right side of the box to meet a cross, only to tamely volley the ball wide of the posts. However, it was to be McQuoid who broke the deadlock after 30 minutes, good work from Lewis Grabban resulted in him passing it to the onrushing McQuoid, who hit the ball into the net with a left footed strike despite the desperate attempts of the Dagenham defenders. As the half progressed, Bournemouth started to dominate proceedings, with Dagenham seemingly happy to keep 10 men behind the ball and get to half-time. Despite all the possession, Bournemouth were struggling to undo a stout Daggers defence and the teams headed in at half-time with the score 1-0.
The second half saw the introduction of former Bournemouth goalkeeper Jordan Seabright, who made his Dagenham debut replacing the (possibly) injured Chris Lewington. As many expected, Bournemouth were started out the second half with an attacking edge to their game, and they tried to break down the hard working Daggers. Seabright was involved early and even made a couple of good saves to keep Dagenham in it. The second goal came following a fantastic through ball to Francis, whom was denied one on one by a great save from Seabright, but the ball unfortunately fell to Marc Pugh who sprinted to the thunder the ball into the back of the net. Around 3 Dagenham players flung their bodies at the ball but they could not stop Pugh's placed finish from close distance. Facing an exit from the FA Cup, John Still's men tried to push on forward but found it difficult to maintain possession against a confident Bournemouth side. Bournemouth were able to push the ball around of both sides of the pitch, stretching a tiring Dagenham side as the Cherries looked for a third goal to kill the game off. The third goal came twenty minutes after the second in the 79th minute, as that man Josh McQuoid struck once again. A cross from Simon Francis came to the waiting McQuoid, who hit a peach of a volley past the diving Seabright and into the left corner of the goal. By then the game was pretty much over barring an Arsenal-esque recovery from Dagenham. In fairness, Dagenham did have a 5 or ten minute period where they had Bournemouth defending, but it never felt like there was a real threat present. Substitute Wes Fogden finished off the scoring with a classy goal in the 90th minute; after receiving the ball and attacking down the right wing, he cut into the penalty box, took the ball onto his left foot and shot the ball right into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. 4-0, thank you and goodnight.
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| McQuoid grabbed a brace today |
Today I had the rare pleasure of sitting in the North Stand as the FA Cup ticket thing meant my Main Stand Season Ticket wasn't valid, and what a great game to be there. It's interesting having a different view because I can see what different players do, what they contribute and different elements of the tactics being employed. I was very impressed with the defence today, Cook is very composed on the ball yet also strong when attacked, and I think he deserves a chance over Addison. Once more Daniels and Francis were outstanding, their attacking threat is very important to our game and they impressed me today going forward. The midfield was efficient as it has been in the previous games, although I felt the centre of midfield was missing in the first half. MacDonald had a great second half though, Pugh set up numerous chances and McQuoid of course delivered a brace. Some may disagree with me but I was disappointed with Tubbs' performance today, he seemed to go missing in the first half and the defenders seemed to have the better of him throughout. In contrast, Lewis Grabban had his best performance of the season; he turned defenders inside out, constantly won headers and held up the ball whenever he got it, more of the same please Lewis!
With all due respect to Dagenham- who are a club I have the utmost respect for- today was a game we should have won, and the players duly delivered. Scoring 16 goals in the past 5 games is very encouraging, and it feels like Eddie has once again brought the attacking, fast paced style back that Bournemouth fans love. Yes, the team will face tougher challenges this season but they did well to break down an organized and strong opposition who had come with a very defensive mentality. Eddie Howe certainly faces a selection dilemma for Tuesday, when struggling Shrewsbury make the trip south to Dean Court. Lets hope we get a favourable draw tomorrow, remember we are number 11. Up The Cherries!
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| Shrewsbury await on Tuesday |
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