Cherries Crush Crewe Challenge

The Bournemouth players obviously enjoy visiting the north west. With the exception of a blip at Morecambe they have a perfect record with wins at Bury, Accrington, Macclesfield and today, at Crewe.

The team buoyed by the addition of Rhoys Wiggins came out of the blocks very quickly and put Crewe under pressure. Right from the off balls were played up to the Big Man to lay off to his team mates. The Cherries players seemed to be quicker to the ball and tackles were crisply made. Very little was going through the midfield although Wiggins offered an out ball to the left and made some good attacking probes. On the other side Feeney, double marked again, was getting little from his efforts.

After 20 minutes Bournemouth were given a corner on the right hand side and Wiggins came across to take it. Then Pitman moved towards him for a short corner. Oh no I thought but how wrong can you be! Pitman swung the ball across and in the centre The Big Man stooped to bullet the ball into the back of the net! The away fans, by far the noisier band of followers, were exuberant.

To fair to the home team their game was disrupted somewhat by the loss of two players early on due to injury. They also seemed to want to play the ball with their hands a lot although the referee, who I thought had a good game on the whole, missed most of them.

As the half went on Crewe came more into the match although most of their efforts were from distance or were poor efforts, Zola being the worst offender. Then an opening appeared a shot from close range was spectacularly saved by the agile Jalal. More efforts came in from the Alex team and Pearce then Garry then Bradbury put their bodies on the line to keep the ball out. Pitman warmed the hands of the Crewe keeper near to half time with a thunderous shot.

As half time approached it was getting tenser by the minute but the battling Cherries boys held out as the whistle went for the break.

H/T Crewe 0 Bournemouth 1

The second half started with 15 minute 'Eddie Howe`s Barmy Army`. I had to ask myself who the home team was.

The half started in much the same vein as the first with Bournemouth the more adventurous team and the Crewe defence determined to gift us the ball back. I think O`Gradi might have to have his team`s eyes checked for colour blindness because their distribution was disastrous.

Again the Big Man was the main target and he was causing all sorts of problems for the Crewe defence all afternoon by winning most of the one to one aerial challenges. Unfortunately not many of the knock downs were finding his man.

Then, after almost exactly the same time as the first half, a cross came over which Supa knocked down to Pitman. The keeper could only parry his blistering shot and Robinson was on hand to score Bournemouth`s second.

Soon after Crewe put the pressure back on the Cherries by scoring a good goal. Murphy hit a left footed shot into the right hand corner giving Jalal no chance. The game was on!

Making their third substitution they threw everything at the away team but they were remarkably wasteful and the Bournemouth defence stopped everything. It was also good to see all the team closing down Crewe every time they got possession and this caused Alex to give the ball up on many occasions.

There were anxious moments for the away team when first Pearce went down injured, then Wiggins and finally Bartley. Although Pearce and Wiggins played on the former was clearly feeling a knock for the rest of the half. Bartley however went down after a heavy challenge and although he briefly returned to pitch he was soon replaced by McQuoid.

It wouldn`t be Bournemouth if there weren`t few scares along the way but the boys held out for the five extra minutes to secure a great away win.

F/T Crewe 1 Bournemouth 2

Jalal - 8 - Excellent keeping again. No chance with the Crewe goal. He is a treasure without doubt

Bradbury - 8 - Along with rest of defence he put his body on the line. A good defensive performance

Garry - 8 - Very strong. Closed everything down and linked well with Pearce.

Pearce - 8 - Captain courageous. Got head, foot and body in to stop Crewe`s progress. I hope the knock is not serious

Wiggins - 7 - Started a bit nervously, particularly in defence but gave a good attacking option on the left. Welcome back

Hollands - 7 - Although not particularly creative going forward he got his foot into everything and challenged fearlessly

Bartley - 7 - As with Hollands he was like a tiger in the tackle. He made one notable forward run which, had the ball to him been better could have led to a goal

Robinson - 7 - Same comment as the other two midfielders really although he popped up at the right time to seal the winner

Feeney - 7 - Didn`t get a lot of space although I thought he looked better when he linked with Wiggins late in the second half

Pitman - 8 - Made the two goals and on another day could have had three for himself but for the Crewe keeper and the width of a post

Fletcher - 9 - Won everything in the air, scored a great first goal and chased everything for the full 90 minutes

McQuoid - 7 - Wasn't on for long but still had time make a few timely interceptions and clearances

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