A brave decision to play one up front but heck - the current system has not been working in the past so maybe it was what was needed
I hoped that the crowd would give it a chance and they did not let me down
The game started with a roar of noise and Birmingham set into their formation of sitting back
Two minutes into the game and Cook had an hallucination.
For a split second, he wasn't at DC but at the Nou Camp and he was Messi - so off he set on a mazy run of dazzling footwork
No, I wasn't hallucinating too - what actually happened is he ran past one, got tackled by the second and Birmingham were on the attack with the AFCB defence hideously out of position
One pass through down the right had a man bearing down on goal
His low cross was met on the 6 yard box by Shinnie and he crashed it into the roof of the net
Camp had no chance - 2 minutes in and one nil down - brilliant
Although a little "surprised" by Cook's meandering and the resultant goal the crowd were excellent and the roar got louder
AFCB clearly thought the goal was just a blip and rose to the challenge
On six minutes Pugh's side footed shot was well saved and the pressure was really on Birmingham
Wave upon wave of attacks now crashed on their defence from both left an right and Grabban continued his excellent work up front from the Reading game
Arter and Surman then both had good shots blocked amongst many chances before Francis was lucky to get away with handling in the box on 24 minutes The penalty was clear but not given - maybe this was the break we'd been waiting for?
No
Despite more pressure, it was Birmingham who scored next, again
I'd like to say it was brilliant play and there was nothing we could do about it
But that wasn't the case
More of the f*****g arseing about at the back that has plagued us since the Groves era had us just surrendering the ball the ball at the back
A quick ball had Zigic through on goal and, with ease, he slipped the ball under Camp to make it 0-2
Two chances and two goals - Bournemouth had many more chances already and ZERO goals - this is the difference between us and seemingly the rest of the league
This was now a mountain to climb but grappling irons on, AFCB took to the challenge
The play was all in the Birmingham third and 1 minute from time the best chance of the half fell to Grabban
An inch perfect ball had him through one on one and with just the keeper to beat, he prodded the ball wide
It wasn't a save, it went wide........
There was still time for Pugh to force a smart near post save but for all the pressure, Bournemouth went in 2 down
My daughter's Swindon supporting boyfriend was with us at the game and there was no gloating - I was going to regret that, I just knew ...
The second half was in the same vein as the first with ALL the attacking play coming from Bournemouth
Fraser had come on for Surman and so that had given us even more impetus
If either O'Kane or Arter had the nads to shoot after long long runs rather than passing in the first 10 minutes then who knows what might have happened
On 58 minutes another Ritchie free kick had the keeper make a sprawling save and the ball was parried into the middle of the goal
As usual in our run of luck in front of goal, there was no-one there just for the easy knock in
The pressure on Birmingham was relentless with Fraser, Cook and Grabban, amongst other chances, all going close with shots and headers but the keeper just wasn't going to be beaten
The best chance came in the 90th minute when a Pitman back heel put Fraser through, only for the keeper to make a brilliant point blank save
From that save, the ball spooned up and Rantie headed it goalwards, only for the keeper to somehow get up and tip the ball over
Unbelievable
Final score 0-2
Summary - Bournemouth won at Reading because Reading pressed forward to score and we hit them on the break - using the main asset we have - pace
ANY team that sits back and plays to hit US on the break cannot be beaten like that
For those teams, you need pace and guile on the wings, which we have and used brilliantly today
The second part of the puzzle, to compliment this wing play, is someone in the middle who has some aerial prowess - which we don't have
It seems so obvious. It's like building a car without any wheels
In our team we've built a goal creating machine - but forgot to get the scorer
Birmingham weren't "awful" as some subscribe - they merely came with a plan, stuck to it, defended well and left laughing their bloody heads off
Without this front man, the DC crowd should steel themselves to get used to that laughter
Were we the better side - yes. Did we play well - yes. Will that be a consolation in league 1 - no
I firmly believe that with a proper front man that can challenge for these million crosses per game AFCB would be challenging for play-offs rather than home defeat after defeat - such are the fine lines between success and failure
Star Man O'Kane - outstanding in the middle in both attack and defence
Away Fans
East Stand
South Stand
Main Stand
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