Burton fans must love coming down to Bournemouth- 2 trips and both times it's bloody poured down. Still at least this trip was free .....
I was nervous for this game - to use the old cliché it had banana skin written all over it - a lower league team, a windy, rainy night and the pot of gold that is Liverpool so agonisingly close
My nervousness wasn't helped by the quantity of "strange faces" (as my mum would say) which inevitably led to a distinct lack of atmosphere as newbies struggled with the lyrical complexities of the vast array of Bournemouth chants
This quietness was in stark contrast to the way AFCB started where they quickly imposed their pace and tenacity on the game which created chances for Arter and Pugh in the first minute but the first was blocked while the second dribbled wide
Then on 4 minutes the thing we all wanted actually happened - we got an early goal!!!
Ritchie on the left hand side floated a lovely ball with the out step of his boot to the far post and in slid Pitman to slam it into the unguarded net : 1-0
Burton were shell shocked as AFCB were quicker to every ball and it looked like this could have been an Australian (not English) cricket score
Even Pitman was running around and after his sliding tackle in the middle of the park you could clearly see that as well as realising that he'd had to pull his finger out of his ar$e he also needed to retrieve most of his shorts (ooo cheeky)
As an aside, while we talk of shorts, I would like to officially dispel the rumours that their number 4 was the fattest player seen at DC since the good ship Addison sailed into dock. In fact his HUGE shorts were housing several Bulgarians who, for a price, will be fixing the plumbing problems of the Boscombe area for the foreseeable future
But, as chances fell for Daniels and Ritchie, the Burton boys shook the fog from their frazzled minds and got themselves organised into 2 banks of 4 - something that AFCB have struggled in the past to break down
They even had a couple of chances - with Rocky having to make a fine 1 on 1 save after 10 minutes being the best of these opportunities
Still we poured forward though with huge success down both left and right
Rantie was still getting poor service though with lots of aimless high balls but when Pitman back heeled the ball to Daniels on 17 minutes he looked up to see Rantie on his own and so played him in perfectly, only for the shot to be scuffed wide
Rantie tried to make amends 10 minutes later by cutting in from the left and belting the ball to the right of the goal only for the keeper to push wide - just part of a string of fine saves this young keeper made
On 32 minutes Ritchie proved the ground was harder than it looked despite the rain by cannoning a 10 yard shot onto the ground from the middle of the box and saw the shot bounce hopelessly over the bar
All this pressure, no, I'll amend that to possession as play had slowed considerably in an ode to Groves, but still no 2nd goal - what could possibly happen next I wonder....?
That's right, a long, aimless shot from Phillips from a rare Burton attack was wickedly deflected, sending Rocky the wrong way and giving Burton a lifeline: 1-1
This gave Burton some hope and some dreadful Allsop indecision when coming out for the ball almost gifted them the second but this time the young keeper got away with it - that's the difference between the Championship and League 2
Despite being unbelievably ponderous and constantly losing the ball through lack of forward movement and trying to thread the ball through the eye of a needle, because of the pace of the team the ball was always quickly retrieved and chances were still being created
Just before half time Daniels jumped onto his white steed and charged through the whole team before thumping a shot to the keeper's near post which he did well to save
From that resulting corner the ball was eventually crossed low just 2 feet from the goal line and Elphick got the slightest of touches at the near post to send the ball in at the far post : 2-1 and thank God for that
At half time I overheard an expert pundit say that we never do well when we score early and that we do much better when we score before half time - I didn't have the heart to say that we' d done both...
The second half was only 5 minutes old when the impressive (today) Francis ran past the left back as if he wasn't there and his low cross was perfectly met by Pugh, who was so unlucky to see his clean strike come off the post
Fraser came on for Ritchie after just 55 minutes and we all prayed that this was a tactical decision rather than any injury problem
This substitution almost had an immediate effect as it was his run that drew 2 defenders away to allow Rantie to pass to the unmarked Pitman 20 yards out. For once, a Bournemouth player took a shot first time (smelling salts please) and again the keeper was just too good, diving to his left
Pitman then missed a sitter in the middle of the box as he completely air shot and Pugh had another fierce shot well saved before AFCB had a narrow escape as the ball was crossed right across the goal line and nobody reacted
Thank goodness Burton didn't have a natural goal poacher like Wes Thomas......
On 74 minutes Surman came on for Pugh, effectively ending our play down the left as neither Surman nor Pitman fancied the idea of being shouted out by the spirited Burton fans
With 9 minutes to go Rocky dropped a corner on his own goal line but managed to retrieve the situation - Camp must be quaking in his boots
Then the master stroke - Grabban came on for Rantie and within seconds he proved that he is head, shoulders (and possibly knees and toes) our best striker
His anticipation, his runs into space ( not where someone has just run) and his ability to hold the ball up before bringing others into the game must have made both Rantie and Pitman weep into their hot milk tonight
This got even better just 2 minutes later as the ball was cleared and between 2 defenders he collected the ball and ran into space
Seeing Pitman free he played the simple ball to him and Pitman threaded the ball to the on rushing Fraser
No defender was going to catch him and as the keeper came out he coolly dinked the ball over him to make it a crowd relieving 3-1
It got better / more flattering still with 3 minutes left as an unstoppable Grabban was scythed down in the area for a penalty
As Pitman had insisted on taking everything from goal kicks to the toss of the coin it was no surprise that he demanded and was given the ball
Unlike the numerous free kicks that went woefully wide or into the wall, from 12 yards he was irresistible and he planted the ball into the bottom right corner for 4-1
Grabban almost capped off his cameo performance with a shot that struck the post after a mazy run but in the end Bournemouth had to "settle" for 4 (haha)
Summary: Good energy to retrieve the ball but way way too slow going forward. Every game we have had at home where teams have sat back we have struggled to break them down and it comes as no surprise that the last two late goals came as a result of Burton pushing forward to get an equaliser
There were also too many passes that Ronaldo could not have made and against better sides (ie for the rest of the season / cup run) this will not be good enough
That said, I thought O'Kane was again imperious in the middle and Grabban showed why other teams at taking note. Yes we did create a lot of chances and in fairness never looked like losing but until we figure out how to use the pace we have in the team to unlock these well drilled defences I feel we are still a couple of players short, if we are to show real ambition
Star Man : Francis - he needed this game to regain some of his confidence and showed what a threat he can provide when he is on his game
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