#afcb 0 v 1 #dcfc

My pre-match ritual was boosted today by meeting Blandford Phil and Posh Amy, one telling of their being violently ill and hung over and the other their sporting prowess – not the way round I was expecting…..

Wrapped in 12 thermal layers the game started with O’Kane rushing at the Derby defence.

As the back four opened, he tore through and as he reached the penalty he ~~unleashed the expected shot~~ passed it wide and lost the ball

I would say that this was to become a theme – getting a chance and not shooting. But I’d be lying. The theme was actually established last game, or was the game before, or the one….

Those first few minutes were very much the exception for the first half as we were transported 200 miles or so away to play at Pride Park and Derby assumed their position of the home team, with AFCB playing very much on the break

Derby had read the “Beat Bournemouth” manual and pressed all over the pitch which we coped with poorly.

Lots of hurried passes at the back resulted in lost ball in dangerous areas, constantly putting us under pressure.

In Ward, Derby possessed their equivalent of Fraser, as he was BEFORE his injury, and his speed and trickery caused no end of problems.

Their midfield, led by the young Scandinavian looking Hughes were quicker, cleverer and most importantly stronger than our pairing of MacDonald and O’Kane which meant that the ball was often quickly robbed by Derby and then moved so quickly there was a lot of shadow chasing

Both Martin and Ward had chances having been put through the slow-turning defence before Rantie had Bournemouth’s best chance on 18 minutes.

A long clearance from the Ward chance had Rantie sprinting past their defence and hammering a low shot at the near post, which their keeper did well to parry.

Hitting on the break as we were, when we weren’t getting bumped off the ball, we did get the ball wide and put in some great crosses – but we just never seemed to have anyone in the box to put the final touch to it

I would say that this was to become a theme …. Oh well, you get the point

I don’t normally give ANY praise to opposition teams but I have to today. For me, this was the best team I’ve seen at Dean Court. Tireless with and without the ball, clever passing and full of attacking options – it would be a team I’d happily pay to watch

With Bournemouth under a lot of pressure, mostly brought on themselves by being so well pressed while sitting back and not pressing AT ALL, it was Bournemouth that could have gone in 1 up

In the 45^th minute a long Cook throw in caused panic and as the ball fell to MacDonald, he crashed the ball at goal and while I was about to cheer the net billowing, a last ditch defensive block set the ball wide

Half Time 0-0

At the beginning of the second half, Camp showed the benefit of his Jalal like (haha) good distribution as his throw out (NOT the blinking awful tactic of whacking it wide for a flick on to no-one) had Grabban scampering down the right and his cross was met by Pitman on the half volley but he blazed over

On the hour mark, though, Derby showed how good play SHOULD be finished off

Impressive one touch football down the left had the ball fired in across the 6 yard box and the very impressive Ward was there to shoot in off the post

Derby were 0-1 up and thoroughly deserved it

A few minutes later Pugh and Rantie were off and Fraser and the Scarlet Pimpernel, Ritchie, came on

How can one player, sidelined for the whole season through injury, come on to the pitch of players who’ve had 15 games on the “learning curve”, and be the best player we’ve got?

The crowd sensed it immediately and upped their game, to be rewarded by him (and Fraser, truth be told) actually making runs up front and being able to keep the ball.

All, I repeat All other clubs have players that when the ball is cleared, will get to the ball first AND KEEP IT but in Ritchie, maybe we can start to compete

His footwork and work rate were exemplary and had he been passed in on 77 minutes, which was the obvious ball completely missed by O’Kane I am convinced that we would have actually worked the keeper

This was shown just 2 minutes later as he took things into his own hands, cut in from the right and instantly smashed the ball at goal.

Yes, it did get deflected wide, but he took the responsibility of having a go – something that a few of our other players need to look inside themselves and ask – am I stepping up to the plate?

Derby then professionally saw the game out and it went from bad to much, much worse for Bournemouth as Cook was badly injured in a “kitchen sink” moment as he span and clashed totally accidentally with a defender

It was his leg and it looked bad

Next week the CB partnership could be Elphick and Addison – I’ve got my tin hat on order already…

Final Score 0 - 1

Summary – Derby were just better than us – simple as that. Better pressing, passing and ideas. We weren’t awful – just not good enough on the day.

The huge positive that is having Ritchie back (and it is huge) for me has been more than wiped away with the injury to Cook.

We all knew it was going to be a long, hard winter and right now I’d still settle for survival in this league.

Derby are one of the teams that will be right up there at the end and there’s no disgrace in this loss – but 0 goals in the last 2 home games and very few shots on target tell its own story – all need to be improved – and quickly

Star Man – Ritchie – showed more intent, skill and passion in those 20 minutes or so than we showed in the previous 70