Opinion was widely divided in the bar between those expecting a good win and those fearing another game of multiple chances, no goals and a breakaway defeat
@paulww2302, the deluded chap, even thought that we'd win 4-1 - I soon put him right on that - I thought we would win, but not by that much - ridiculous suggestion.....
Pressure was on for me too - I'd wanted to see Grabban and Kermorgant up front as soon as we signed Yann and had been quite vocal on his inclusion instead of the badly misfiring Rantie so I was up for some major humble pie if it all went wrong
It didn't start well as in the first minute Kermit was flattened and had to be treated by the physio - please let him not be another Demouge I thought .....
Two minutes later and Yann showed what he can bring to the side after the rampant Fraser burst through on the left and he met his cross with a header just wide
The Fraser inclusion was yet another genius move by Howe (not said that very often this season) as his speed and directness scared the bajeebers out of the ponderous DRFC defence.
No disrespect to Pugh but he's not the same player without Daniels as his wing man and it's really noticeable how much quicker Fraser is and how much more often the cross comes in without the "cut back" delay
I expected Doncaster to be big and strong and be prepared to out muscle AFCB but instead they were meek and seemed to come hoping for a 0-0 - especially reinforced as each throw in took an eternity
We are in the first 5 minutes - surely no team can play for time with 85 to go ??
Maybe they should have tried a little harder with that ploy as they had no answer to Bournemouth's attacking play and Fraser might as well have donned a sombrero and poncho so that he could get the authentic feel of being the match piñata
Every time he got the ball he either beat his man or was scythed down - no middle ground - the wee man must be made of steel to take this kind of regular punishment
After 15 minutes of constant pounding from Fraser on the left and Ritchie on the right, Doncaster finally reminded Bournemouth that they were still here when a corner caused some confusion at the back and the ball had to be hurriedly cleared
I wasn't going to mention it, but then I looked at my notes and thought if I didn't include that then the only time I'd mention Doncaster in a good light today was to say how impressed I was that most of their fans stayed to the bitter, and it was bitter, end
On 19 minutes Fraser again had evaded the thigh high tackle to charge at goal and only a fantastic last ditch challenge stopped him from pulling the trigger
From the low, training pitch-rehearsed corner Surman hit the ball fist time and their giant keeper dived full stretch to stop it nestling into the top right corner
Howe, like a master puppeteer was now pulling all the strings and the coded flick of his ear followed by an ar#e scratch meant it was another low corner, an Arter step over and Kermorgant was there to just fire wide
He looked gutted that he'd not forced the keeper into action but he had to wait only 5 minutes more to make amends
Again Fraser was rampant on the left (their right-back's head must still be spinning) and his cross was flicked on in the middle and Kermorgant met the ball on the volley to punch the ball between the keeper's legs to make it 1-0
A minute later and this time the sublime Surman was bearing down on goal before he was completely up-ended in the box - but no penalty was given. He obviously didn't arch his back in the way that Martin did last week - no ref can resist a performance like that......
It was all Bournemouth now as Doncaster just imploded. Unable to get the ball they resorted to kicking out and Arter was next to be taken out. I might have imagined it but Fraser had a "thank God its someone else's turn" look about him ....
Even the keeper, who had already pulled off a string of saves before saving again at the feet of Fraser, fell apart. With the distribution of a poor man's Jalal he started peppering the stands with his clearances - unless of course he subliminally realised that that was the safest place for the ball....
On 39 minutes Doncaster did remind us that they were still here by quickly breaking on the right and crossing in for their 4 to head wide - the first trip into our half for some time but at least it gave their tiring defence a bit of respite
That "break" lasted fully 4 minutes as Ritchie tore down the right. His cross was blocked but Francis was there (as always) to deliver a perfect cross into the middle
For the whole of the season - that would have been the end of the attack as normally we'd have no-one in the middle - but not today
Today we had a man that not only wants to be in the box, but his head ISN'T shaped like a 50 pence piece so when he heads it it isn't a lottery as to whether the ball goes backwards or forwards
Up he leapt and crashed the ball past the keeper with a thunderous header even Supa would have been proud of
I had just witnessed AFCB dominating a half and taking advantage of that domination by going into half time 2-0 up - a rare and hopefully pivotal day
The second half started with the crowd in fine voice and almost immediately Kermorgant turned provider to slide an inch perfect pass through for Grabban and again the defence managed to scramble back to deny him a shot
Doncaster had changed into a 4-4-2 but it was too little too late as the game was over on 50 minutes
More good play down the right and the ball was whipped in, causing chaos in the Doncaster defence. The ball was half cleared to the edge of the box, bouncing up invitingly to Arter
As he wound up to shoot, the North Stand, half the East Stand and all adults in The Family Stand ducked for cover (we'd all watched the warm up) so most of us missed the crisp connection as he fired the ball into the bottom right corner - giving the keeper no chance 3-0
At this point Elphick decided that the AFCB defence weren't getting enough Solent air time so decided to perform his next 2 tackles, one immediately after the other, while he was lying on the floor
From the second the ball was pushed out and all of a sudden Grabban was through again 1 on 1
Now his record for this time of opportunity isn't "that great" so it was no surprise that his thumping shot was well saved. The shame was that had he not been so desperate to score he could have just rolled the ball over to the flying Frenchman who would have had an open goal to complete his hat-trick
Being a striker isn't just about scoring - it's about decision making and this was a poor one - but in a game where so much was good, I can't really blame him for having a go - after all how many times have I been shouting SHOOT FOR GOD'S SAKE this season...
On 73 minutes Kermorgant's inaugural hat-trick was complete
Francis provided yet another fantastic cross and this time, in the North Stand, we finally got to see what we were missing all season at close quarters
Between 2 defender he jumped early and hung in the air like a young Fletcher. As the defenders faltered he remained airborne and punched his header back across the keeper into the bottom right corner to make it 4-0
A magnificent goal - just think how we might have prospered if we'd had this option all season - he may not have wanted to come originally, but with service like this he won't ever want to leave
Pugh and Rantie then came on for Kermorgant and Fraser and unlike in the past where subs weakened the team, instead they just offered another headache for the already battle weary troops from the North
With 10 minutes to go, Arter provided the cherry on the icing on the cake by capitalising on a poor punch out from the keeper to cleverly steer the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal from the edge of the box as all on the line desperately dived to the right
He'd given them the eyes, and they'd all fallen for it 5-0
Even Coulibaly got a run out for the last 10 minutes and you couldn't fail to be impressed by the midfield work-rate
In the past I have bemoaned the fitness levels at AFCB but today they were hunting the ball in packs and never gave Doncaster any time on the ball
It was from one such hunt that Surman won the ball and passed it out wide to Francis
His low cross found Rantie unmarked 12 yards out and as he leant back to strike the ball we all thought he must have something up his miniature, speedy sleeve - but he hadn't and the ball sailed up into the stands
Hey it was already 5-0 - so I'd have been greedy for any more ......
Summary: This was a result that has been coming for weeks
Our performances have been much better than results have suggested and now we have someone up front who not only can head the ball but can hold the ball up and bring others into the game
I want also to mention Arter and Surman today - both were immense and they way they supported both defence and attack has posed the question I thought I'd never ask - how can we accommodate O'Kane into the side?
Both were faultless and dominated the middle of the park and with them winning the ball , supplying the wingers and supporting the front 2 ( who are no longer penalty box- phobic) we attacked and defended as a unit, and were able to break a team down for possibly the first time this season
Star Man : Kermorgant - goals, a physical presence and the ability to hold the ball and link up with runners - I couldn't ask for more
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