Bournemouth End 2012 In Style

Bournemouth 3-0 Crawley

Following a comprehensive 3-0 Boxing Day victory over Yeovil Town, Eddie Howe's team headed into the match as the most in-form team in League One, having gone undefeated in their past 14 matches. Their opponents were Crawley Town, who after two promotions sat one point behind Bournemouth in their first season in League One. In the return fixture in October Crawley won 3-1 in what turned out to be Paul Groves' last match in charge of Bournemouth, leaving many Bournemouth fans hungry for revenge. Returning to Dean Court for the first time since he left in the summer was Shaun Cooper, a Bournemouth regular from 2006-2012. Despite a congested fixture list, Eddie Howe only made one change to the side that won on Boxing Day, with Josh McQuoid replacing Wes Fogden on the right wing.

It's fair to say that Bournemouth don't always start matches at their best, as evident in the home matches against Oldham and Yeovil. However The Cherries came flying out of the gates today, putting the Crawley players under lots of pressure and Marc Pugh enjoying notable success down the left wing against David Hunt. For all the possession, Bournemouth could not muster a clear chance, and the first real opportunity fell to Shaun Cooper who almost scored on his return with a half-volley from outside the penalty area that just went past David James' left hand post. Crawley began to come more into the match, looking towards the in-form Nicky Adams for inspiration, but fine Bournemouth defending halted any Crawley attack before they had the chance to develop. The opener came after 16 minutes, when centre back Steve Cook whipped in an inswinging cross from the left side and Crawley captain Gary Alexander headed a finely place header into the top corner of his own goal. The weather once again proved an obstacle for both teams as heavy rain poured down for a good twenty minutes, but Bournemouth managed to maintain control of the game, with a few brief Crawley purple patches in between. Slick passing left The Cherries' leading scorer Lewis Grabban through on goal from a tight angle, but he could only drag his shot wide of the goal. Thankfully, the second goal came when innovative thinking from Brett Pitman resulted in him shooting in a free kick in off the post before Crawley were ready. Crawley manager Richie Barker and his players were clearly far from impressed, venting their frustrations to the officials, ultimately to no vaial. Half-time came at the perfect moment for Barker's men as Bournemouth were in full attack mode and it seemed that they would grab the killer goal at any moment.

Gary Alexander scored an own goal

Barker clearly gave his players strong words at half-time as Crawley began to work much harder, making it increasingly difficult for Bournemouth to regain their first half momentum. Both sides worked and fought for little reward, with Crawley substitute Billy Clarke in the thick of any attack for the Red Devils. Bournemouth almost killed the game off when Steve Cook was left unmarked from a corner, but he could only head the ball straight at the Crawley goalkeeper. With time ticking down, it seemed like Bournemouth were going to grab yet another win, but their opposition were not going to let the game go without putting up a fight. With around 15 minutes left the dangerous Clarke found himself one on one with David James, but the veteran goalkeeper made a fantastic save to maintain the clean sheet, and probably ensure the 3 points went to the Dorset outfit. With the game in its final ten minutes, and the Cherries making a few changes it seemed that Howe's men were happy enough to let the game slowly filter away. Then Lewis Grabban, who had shifted out to the right wing, hit a stunning diagonal pass over Claude Davis to Eunan O'Kane, whose first touch was weighted to perfection and he placed the ball under Jones and into the net. At 3-0 any chance of a Crawley revival was gone, and Bournemouth secured their twelfth win in fifteen games.

Eunan O'Kane grabbed the final goal

My Thoughts

Today we faced a strong team that were notably better than our opponents on Boxing Day, but yet again we managed to defeat them without ever leaving first-gear. Admittedly at times there were worries in my mind, but it must be said that for all its attacking prowess this team also has an incredibly strong backbone. When Crawley pushed forward we could rely on our defenders to make crucial tackles, or as mentioned, David James consistently makes good saves. There is an abundance of confidence in this team, and the spirit is there once more that links the player together, thus making them want to work hard for each other. Our central midfielders today worked unbelievably hard, no matter where the ball was Harry Arter or Eunan O'Kane would be somewhere near it, and the whole team fed off of their energetic style. Even Brett Pitman was sprinting around the pitch and making tackles, if that doesn't show the commitment in the team then I don't know what does! It's noticeable how comfortable each player seems on the ball, from Elphick to Pugh, each of them is composed and aware of the options around them, resulting in an attractive but efficient style of play. Today we also threatened (and scored once) from set-pieces, I don't remember the last time we scored from a corner, but today we actually looked like we might do so. In conclusion, it was another great all-around team performance, and once we took the lead it never really seemed like victory was in doubt.

On Tuesday we face arguably our toughest challenge since we played Doncaster away in Brentford. They are on an eleven match unbeaten run and currently reside in fourth place, one above us. With the way this team is playing we should head to Griffin Park with the intention of taking all three points, but Brentford are obviously going to provide an extremely tough test for us, so I would be very happy if we came away with a point. Anyway, when we last played Crawley we were 21st in the league, and now we're fifth, these are very promising times for AFC Bournemouth. Here's to a great 2013.

Next Up: Brentford FC

Bournemouth 3-0 Yeovil Town

Belated Christmas Present For The Cherries

For the first time since 2007, Bournemouth had a Boxing Day match at home to look forward to with Yeovil Town making the short journey to the Goldsands Stadium. Since Eddie Howe's return Bournemouth were unbeaten for 13 games, but Yeovil headed into the match only 2 points behind the Cherries, having beaten Oldham 4-1 on Saturday. Highlighting the importance of the match, it was announced before the game that all home seats had been sold.

In front of an unusually packed Dean Court it was Yeovil who actually started the brighter team with their midfield winning the battle against the Cherries midfield which seemed to be missing the injured Shaun MacDonald. Bournemouth seemed to be struggling to get into a groove, as the hard working nature of the Glovers stopped the Cherries passing the ball around. Adding to this was the adverse weather conditions arguably working in Yeovil's favour, as a strong wind swept towards David James' goal, James also let the ball slip out of his hands twice, but Bournemouth's defence cleared before Yeovil's forwards had the chance to put the ball in the net. Yeovil's only real chance of the first half fell to the in form Paddy Madden who was let through after the ball went straight over the Bournemouth backline, but Madden mishit the ball and it rolled far and wide of the goal. Bournemouth tried to exploit the wings, particularly with Marc Pugh down the left, but Eddie Howe's men only looked dangerous when they whipped in crosses; Grabban and Pitman worked hard but couldn't manage to get on the end of any. Pitman did almost break the deadlock, but despite being merely yards out from the goal he could only hit a tame left footed shot right at Marek Stech. Bournemouth also had a major penalty claim turned down when Steve Cook was blatantly pushed by a Yeovil player in the penalty area as he tried to attack a free-kick, the referee did not agree and ordered play to continue. However the breakthrough came after half an hour, Grabban's pace got the better of the Yeovil defence as he released Pugh down the left, and he in turn crossed the ball across the face of goal for the onrushing Grabban to blast the ball home. The lead did not bring Bournemouth much joy and Yeovil probably felt slightly aggrieved to head into half time facing a 1-0 deficit.

Lewis Grabban grabbed the opener

Eddie Howe's men usually seem to transform in the second half, likely due to attacking the noisy home fans in the north stand. Bournemouth did manage to gain control of the match but still found it difficult to breakdown the Yeovil team, and they did not create any clear cut chances. Yeovil then had a brief purple patch, when it began to seem as if Bournemouth would struggle to hold on to the lead for the rest of the half. Dominic Blizzard found space on the edge of the area to fire at shot but David James made a good save to preserve the Cherries' lead. Following this, the visitors should have been killed off when a suicidal backpass left Grabban one on one with the goalie, but instead of passing to open team mates the increasingly confident Grabban took a shot, but it was saved by the very reliable Stech. Thankfully, the wasted chance would not come back to haunt Bournemouth as questionable Yeovil substitutions helped Bournemouth take complete control of the game. The second goal came when two Yeovil defenders let a Simon Francis cross go straight through them, leaving Harry Arter on the edge of the box to control and smash the ball home into the top corner. The second goal is always extremely important, and it seemingly killed off the hopes of the resilient visitors. More chances came Bournemouth's way, notably when at full stretch Pitman could only slide and just miss an open goal from substitute Josh McQuoid's cross. With ten minutes left Yeovil tried in vain to spark a revival when they had 3 corners in a row, but thanks to superb heading from Steve Cook and co. David James was not tested. Almost inevitably the third goal came when a penalty was awarded due to handball after the ball hit Luke Ayling's outstretched arm. Brett Pitman grabbed the ball and claimed the penalty as his despite the passive protests of designated penalty taker Charlie Daniels. Thankfully Pitman cooly slotted the ball home; 3-0, thank you and good night. Knowing the game was over almost half the visiting support left the stadium to gleeful chants of 'cheerio' from the home fans.

Brett Pitman got his first goal on home soil since his return

Thoughts

I was surprised by how well Yeovil played in the first half as they were terrible when we played them earlier in the season, but I thought they more than matched us for the opening 45 minutes. The first goal made a huge difference as it meant Yeovil had to push up, leaving their slow defenders exposed to the pace of the tireless Grabban. What worries me is that the loss of MacDonald leaves us very lightweight in the midfield, and if I was Eddie I'd be very tempted to drop either Fogden or O'Kane, as Yeovil's midfielders seemed to overpower them in terms of physicality. Against the top teams in this league sometimes it is necessary to have a ball-winner in the middle.

Enough with the negatives, in tough conditions we managed to resoundingly beat a good team, and if not for the fantastic efforts of Marek Stech it could have been 6 or 7-0. Though Addison was getting better, Steve Cook played fantastically and he seems to have built a very solid partnership with Tommy Elphick. When the pitch is in better condition, the technical ability of our players will become more prominent, as some of the balls being played are pure class. My man of the match today was Lewis Grabban, yes he did make some bad decisions but he ran his socks off for the team. His pace was a constant worry to the Yeovil defence and his confidence has skyrocketed since Eddie's return. If Brett rediscovers his old form then I think we could have one of the best forward lines in the league, especially with McQuoid and Tubbs coming off the bench. 14 games unbeaten is an amazing record, especially when we've won 11 of those and drawn only 3. We now are one point off the play-offs and 7 off the automatic places, so there is no reason why we can't push on even further. Yes, the run has to end at some point but there is no reason why that has to be in the near future.  Next up we face another tough outfit in Crawley, who beat Portsmouth yesterday after going through a barren spell of form.

Ex-Cherry Shaun Cooper and his Crawley side are next for Howe's team