#dcfc 1 v 0 #afcb

The day started with mixed emotions. It was an AFCB away day which was excellent, but it was my turn to drive AND we were playing the best side I'd seen at Dean Court - an in form Derby County

@marksinkinson had tried to make it even worse by declaring that he thought there was a beer festival in Derby - that really would have been rubbing salt into the wounds....

So the usual awayday crew of myself, @eloiseee_gullis , @mattmorris1987 and @marashino68 set off at 8:00 with a first destination of Cherwell Services

After a typically fattening snack for 3 of us and an even more typically posh brunch for Matt we briefly met @craig687729 and his DVD machine destroying friend (a long story) - Craig also writes match day reports and if you haven't tried them you should - always an excellent review

Traffic was kind to us and we managed to park up at Derby well before we'd managed to eat all of Eloise's sweet supply

The plan was to go to The Merry Widows but we stumbled across The Crown and Cushion and we weren't about to look a gift horse in the mouth and went in there first

There we bumped into @korsikoff and his lad for the first time - reinforcing the good vibe of the day

We then went on to The Brunswick as we'd heard that was a popular meet up place but news must have spread that we were coming as we only recognised a couple of people before we headed off to the very impressive Ipro Stadium. I was going to continue to call it Pride Park but the hurt is still too fresh to be charitable........

Refreshments at the ground were an absolute disgrace costing loads and delivering very little - a real shame as it was one of the very few flies in the day's ointment.

The ground itself was amazing and I was really happy with the view and even happier that the main home support noise was just by our right - so often I've been to big grounds this season but heard nothing from the home support - hopefully today was to be different

Howe sprung the first surprise of the day by selecting a 4-4-2 formation with Rantie and Grabban up front. I would like to see Kermorgant given the nod but I'm happy to play the waiting game - at least we had the formation that I enjoy watching

Moments before the game started the PA system boomed with the voice of Beelzebub urging the home fans to sing the Derby song. Frightened the f**k out of me but after buying the pastie on the concourse I knew that my ticker was in fine shape - nothing could be scarier than that

The song itself was good and I like the idea of getting the crowd going, however, the video that went with it showing the successes going back as far as the 70's reminded me of the Forest video which smacked of a big club living in the past.

Derby are a good side NOW - there really is no need to look that needy

Derby's pocket rocket Russell impressed in the opening 15 minutes with electric pace but Francis isn't the push over he was at the beginning of the season. He's learned that Ritchie won't be back there helping him out so his positioning and decision making has improved with the responsibility of the role

Derby had the first real chance on 14 minutes as a cleared corner was hopelessly shot back but was going so wide it actually found a Derby player on his own in the box but he just wasn't able to deflect it on target

A minute later Francis timed a challenge on Russell to perfection and AFCB went on a swift counter attack with the ball quickly finding Rantie on the right

Ritchie ran to support him and as he was found by Rantie he cut inside the defender and smashed the ball against the base of the near post with the keeper beaten all ends up. On a luckier day it either rebounds off the keeper into the goal or falls to the on-rushing Grabban, but not today

The Derby Tourettes Team then remembered that Camp used to play for Forest and they "reminded" him of their dislike of his previous employer - they showed good imagination but even with his agility I'm really not sure he could achieve the position they suggested......

On 19 minutes Grabban played a good 1-2 on the edge of the box and fired his left foot shot just wide of the post. This was good, we'd settled well and were starting to get on top - but the keeper's gloves were still in pristine condition

Just 3 minutes late it was Rantie's turn to shine as a long ball had him in a foot race with the Derby defence. Just as we thought he was about to pull the trigger one of Derby's giant centre backs stretched out a telescopic leg and lifted the ball over the sliding keeper

The whole ground held its breath as the ball bounced goalwards but to Bournemouth's disappointment it went agonisingly closely wide

I mentioned that the keeper's kit was clean - the same could not be said of the Derby number 9 (Martin) - I'm not saying he was a blatant cheat but I don't think I have ever seen a player on his arse so often. In fact it might have been better for him to have had studs in his shorts - for someone as "rotund" as he, he was surprising easy to knock down

Even Rantie had him on the floor - I was just glad Fletcher had retired else he might have been the first ever PLAYER to be knocked into row Z .....

On 26 minutes Grabban showed a piece of real magic as the ball found him against the line on the left. In one movement he flicked it up and round his marker and he was away, bearing down straight at goal

Rantie had found a good position on the right but Grabban was due a goal and he fired it across the keeper to the far corner and Grant did brilliantly to save it

All over the pitch Bournemouth were more than matching Derby and even the highly rated Hughes found it tough with Arter continually snapping at his heels

We defended as a unit and attacked with pace and having Harte on the pitch meant that we were actually a threat at corners and that was proven with just a minute to go as one such corner had Elphick heading just wide

One thing I did notice, though, was that for Bournemouth corners Derby kept 2 men up front - a real show of confidence and intent

The half finished 0-0 with Bournemouth definitely having the better of things but as usual, failing to trouble the scoreboard

At half time we were attacked by a huge swarm of seagulls, in Derby. No, I didn't get it either - unless they were chasing the local speedboat winners from Bullseye.......

Derby made a double substitution at half time and that seemed to energise the team as they came catapulting out of the traps like they'd been Brollied by the manager

The pressure was now on Bournemouth and even the crowd seemed to be responding. To be fair, the fans to our right were singing for a lot of the game but to have only a few hundred singing out of a crowd of 27,000 you do have to wonder just how successful the team would have to be to get the backing I would have expected

For all the pressure though Camp was untroubled and the first real chance fell to Rantie. He ran on to the ball on the right and charged at the goal until he had a decision to make - either shoot, or pass to the open Ritchie on the left

He decided on the surprising plan C of passing it to no-one and the ball went out for a throw in

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a player that worries an opposition more than Rantie, without actually carrying any threat

Howe was obviously on the same page as me as 4 minutes later Rantie was off and Kermorgant was on

I just want to mention that substitution again for one important point - it was made BEFORE we were losing and it was a positive move - BRAVO

With 23 minutes to go Francis made his one and only mistake. A long ball was hoofed towards him but instead of meeting it on the full he let it bounce and the speedster Russell nipped in and rounded him before charging at goal

He crossed it from just left of the goal and it took 2 heroic blocks by Cook and Elphick to stop Derby from going ahead. This is what you want to see from your defenders - a real will to win and a belief that nothing is lost

Either side of a Kermorgant header just going wide Fraser came on for Ritchie and MacDonald came on for Pugh and I for one applauded both moves

Don't get me wrong, both were having good games (especially Pugh) but to make those changes to try to win at such a strong side as Derby takes balls and we are going to need plenty of that kind of thinking to progress - it won't always work but I'd rather we were looking forward like that than just replying to things going wrong and playing catch up

In the last 13 minutes Bournemouth's efforts were starting to catch up on them as a series of poor clearances kept Derby on the front foot until 6 minutes from time when the whole game was ruined for Bournemouth by 2 mistakes

The first was by the ref as he adjudged Elphick to have brought his man down on the edge of the box. Countless replays have shown that it was a clean tackle and the usually calm Elphick was incandescent with rage

I honestly thought that the vein in his forehead was going to burst and he was going to turn green and throw the short sighted weasel out of the stadium

The second mistake, was unfortunately that of Camp.

Martin took the free kick ( the run up of 3 paces being the longest he'd run all day without falling over) and he smashed a fantastic shot into the top corner. A truly great shot I can't deny and he was due the applause he received.

Obviously he never made it to the crowd to fully celebrate as they were 30 yards away and he fell over in the first 5, but it was a strike to be proud of

Where's the mistake I hear you ask?

Had that great strike gone over the wall, there simply wouldn't have been one - but it didn't

Had it gone over the wall I might have been tempted to clap myself, but as it went into the other corner, had Camp trusted the wall, in my opinion , he would have just caught the ball and we might be sitting here one point better off

He didn't and rather like being beaten at the near post, I think you have to say it was a goal that shouldn't have happened

This isn't me saying he's rubbish - I think he's possibly been our best buy and has already saved us lots of points but today, I have to say that it was an error and it cost us the draw we so richly deserved

The final few minutes were greeted with some of the crowd noise that I'd been expecting but even that was short lived

Pride Park (OK I'm a gown up - no grudges:-) ) could be a really intimidating place to come to if the fans ever decide they are a part of the set up and realise just how important they can be but hey I've sat through some quiet home games so who am I to preach

Final Score : 1-0

Summary : The reason I am so gutted is that for me, this was the best that Bournemouth have played all season and I think if we'd even come away with a win, let alone a draw, there would even be some Derby fans that would begrudgingly agree that that was fair enough

We have come so far this season and to think how we are mixing it now with the big boys and are feeling genuinely disappointed that we are not getting anything from games like this proves this point - and let's be honest Derby ARE a very good side

I know I'm saying it was a defensive mistake and for me it was, but for the other 89+ minutes they were superb and I appreciate that we have a poor clean sheet record but the rest of the team need to do their bit

We have an attack with goal stats of a midfield and a midfield with the goal stats of a defence

Scoring goals would take so much pressure off the defence and the wins would come. Despite all our opportunities today, the keeper wasn't worked enough and you can't win if you can't score

Star Man: Cook - A colossus at the back - power and pace and like all of the Bournemouth players today, didn't deserve to be on the losing side

Least worthy Pastie

 

#afcb 1 v 1 #twitterclarets

Sitting in the Fitness First bar I had to remind myself that it was Bournemouth I was coming to see as I was surrounded by football hungry Poole Town supporters

Fed up, and rightly so, by yet another bad weather postponement they came in numbers and the South Stand were going to get the vocal benefit of the Red and White Army

While sitting in the North Stand getting peppered by quite frankly the worst training shots I've ever seen anywhere I was shown a tweeted picture of the queue to get into the one remaining stadium bar - who would have thought we were now so rich we could turn away such income .....

Burnley started with a high pressing game which at the beginning of the season would have really put the wind up Bournemouth but now they have much calmer heads on more experienced shoulders and didn't allow themselves to be rushed into errors

I thought Vokes was carrying a little more timber than before but he used it well by being dominant in the air until he challenged Tommy to a game of head conkers and came second on 12 minutes

When I heard we were playing 4-4-2 I was thrilled although that was tempered when I found out it wasn't Yann the man partnering Grabban up front

Clearly the plan was to play our 2 speedsters in behind the frankly massive Burnley defence but with really heavy "touches" and being so easily knocked off the ball Rantie especially couldn't make the most of this attacking tactic

Got to admit, apart from speed I'm still not convinced that Rantie actually brings anything to the team - if it's just speed we want a quick trip to Poole Runners club would have saved 99.999% of the 2.5m we've gambled on him

This apart, we'd started the better - the formation was allowing us to move forward far more freely and the link up between the midfield and attack was far better than the usual gulf of space we'd got used to in previous weeks

It took 17 minutes for Burnley to register that they were here for anything other than a draw as a quick break away down their right had a long, low ball swinging in with Ings  galloping in to get on the end of it

We all held our breath hoping that Camp was ready to don his usual super hero cape when in slid Francis and he managed to intercept the ball

I'm sure its no coincidence that since we bought Adam Smith, Francis has upped his game by 50% and I thought that he was superb throughout

With him on the right and Pugh on the left Burnley were constantly stretched and the pressure was mounting on the travellers from the north

So it was really no surprise that after 10 minutes of chasing shadows they finally decided to just lump Rantie up in the air just outside the box

Cometh the hour, cometh the man and after 21 minutes of ferocious tackling and woeful passing up stepped Arter to make his mark

Unfortunately for him whilst distracted by a wall that simply wouldn't move back, Ings  sneaked in and swapped the match ball with a beach ball. This only became obvious as Arter thumped it and it ballooned out of the stadium.....

The rest of the half it was Bournemouth leading the way with the occasional dangerous quick break from Burnley to make sure the defence hadn't fallen asleep but while O'Kane was mopping everything up we were succeeding in making a highly rated team look very average

Saying that, very average would have been a compliment for the near lino as he seemed to make mistake after mistake but did at least have the good grace to chuckle at the ironic whooping when he finally called Inge offside (better late than never)

The other 2 things of note were Ritchie doing a passable impression of McEnroe by adopting a white bandage (headband) for a persistent head cut and O'Kane going off for a hopefully not too serious injury

MacDonald is ok, but he's no O'Kane and who were people going to vote for Man of the Match now .....

Half Time : 0-0

Clearly at half time Ritchie realised that the white bandage clashed with his dodgy barnet  as he'd changed it to black for the second half but it was Burnley that started the sharper doing the early pressing but both Cook and Elphick were majestic at the back

I've now spoken about 3 of the back 4 so to finish the review we come to Harte

Much maligned for not having Daniels' attacking flair he did everything that was asked in defence and brings something to the team I don't think anyone else does - high speed, high quality delivery

From free kicks, corners or free play his balls in are a joy to watch - if only we had a big man to capitalise ...... or so I thought

On 50 minute a typically venomous Harte corner was flicked on by the towering giant that is Rantie and the ball glanced into the far corner to put the hosts 1-0 up

It was Rantie that claimed the goal but it did leave us all thinking "really??" and to be honest I didn't care - WE WERE ACTUALLY WINNING!!!

Before the game we were all saying that the thing we lacked was getting that first goal - if we could get that we were sure we'd build from it and win comfortably

Well, we were wrong

That goal was the kick up the ar*e that Burnley obviously needed and they really came at Bournemouth

The game had changed to Bournemouth hitting on the break as Burnley pushed forward and they do say that if you're used to winning not only can you keep finding a way to win, but luck seems to follow you - that proved true on 66 minutes

Some good interplay on the right had the ball being crossed in but as the block for the cross came in, the ball looped up off the defender's leg and over the defence, straight onto the boot of the on-rushing Treacy who smashed the ball in from close range

Horlicks - the lead lasted just 16 minutes and we were all square again at 1-1

Kermorgant then came on for Rantie and his first touch was to win an important header and force a corner

Finally we had someone on the pitch that could head AND hold the ball up without being brushed off like an annoying fly

The last time Rantie had tried to shield the ball he went down like a sack of spuds prompting the North Stand wags to sing "he sleeps where he waaaaaants....." - a nice touch ;-)

The substitution had Bournemouth in the ascendancy again and it was a real treat to see so much action at the North Stand end

On 73 minutes Grabban burst through and from a tight angle forced a good near post save from the keeper. The resultant corner had Cook soaring the highest head the ball back for Elphick to crash the header at goal only for the keeper to brilliantly tip the ball over the bar

Two minutes later Kermorgant met a Cook long throw and his downward header just went agonisingly wide of the right post

On 78 minutes another Bournemouth attack from the right had Ritchie sprinting clear and whipping a low ball into the path of Grabban

As he ran at the ball the defender crashed into him knocking him clean off his feet. He fell in the box but only a free kick was given and no card despite him stopping the goal scoring opportunity as the last man, which surprised me

Perhaps the ref didn't consider Grabban being through one on one as a goal scoring opportunity......

Kermorgant managed to chip the ball over the wall that was only about 3 feet away from the ball but the
keeper managed to get over to save comfortably

It was all Bournemouth now but there was a marked difference in attitude between Kermorgant and Grabban when the ball was crossed in the air. Kermorgant saw it as a challenge and went up for even the lost causes, Grabban just looked slack-jawed at the ball like it was alien to him

I think he's after emulating Lineker's record of never being booked - my throat is still sore from shouting "for God's sake make a challenge!!!"

Francis had the game's last chance on 85 minutes as good work from Pugh on the left had his low cross make it all the way to him at the far post but he just couldn't keep his shot down as it clipped the bar on the way to the North Stand

Final Score : 1-1

Summary - I really enjoyed this game. Yes I wish we had more chances on goal and yes I wish Kermorgant had started but for 80 of the 90 minutes we, little Bournemouth, were the better side

It's this "little" tag that maybe were are starting to shake off in the players' heads

We are not being dominated by anyone yet we are still giving teams way too much respect - they should be fearing us at Dean Court and we should be playing like that we KNOW that

This game, with an attacking 4-4-2 formation gave a glimpse of what we are capable of and I hope we build on this as the season continues

For once in our history injuries aren't severely weakening us and every team we put out can compete with the big boys - we just need to learn how to turn close defeats info draws and draws like today into wins

Star Man - Harte - every time he stood over the ball the Burnley defenders' knees knocked louder than a group of Spanish castanet clackers on speed and was solid as a rock in defence

East Stand

South Stand

Main Stand

Very full, very quiet away support

North Stand

#afcb 0 v 1 #lcfc

After the best transfer window in living history I was really looking forward to us welcoming the league leaders

I was in favour of a 4-4-2 with the newbie Kermorgant partnering Grabban despite Rantie scoring mid-week but I figured Howe would not be as brave

To my surprise, despite not playing them both, he did opt for Grabban and Rantie playing which to me was positive although I was disappointed that all wingers bar Fraser were on the bench or just rested  completely because it seemed to narrow the attacking options as Grabban is no winger

Why would you put our top goalscorer out of position? Made no sense to me - time would tell

Bournemouth actually started the brighter but all we had to show for a very promising opening 15 minutes was a Surman long range shot that just managed to stay in the stadium

It was the same old story - plenty of pretty play but a horrible first touch when it mattered and poor final passes - Arter was particularly guilty of the latter although his work rate was top notch

Leicester were strong, physical and skilful and the one thing that stood out head and shoulders above Bournemouth was the amount of second balls they got. It was almost as if they were all capable of performing Dynamo like tricks of getting every ricochet to fall their way - I guess that you call that positioning and experience

They put this increasing dominance in the middle to good effect on 17 minutes as Vardy was slipped though and only a combination Ward slide and Camp dive prevented him scoring

Just 2 minutes later Bournemouth were again sliced open through the middle and Vardy was one on one

Hitting the ball early and low Camp dived to his left and the ball struck him a glancing blow on the chest and the ball bounced down and back over the bar - a real let off

The pattern of play was set for the rest of the first half as Bournemouth undoubtedly had the majority of possession but just never looked like scoring whereas Leicester had less of the ball, but did more with it

We seem to have decided that the way to incorporate Rantie into the side is to thump balls into the corner and let him run after it. This very untypical Bournemouth tactic was further exacerbated by no-one supporting him

This, however, could have been because 99% of the time he was either subtly nudged off the ball or he shinned the ball clumsily away. I guess if you don't think he can hold it up, the keenness to chase must be lessened

Vardy has his 3rd and Leicester's best chance of the half as the defence was again breached

As Camp dived at his feet Vardy dinked the ball over him and the slightest touch that Camp managed to get on it slowed it down enough for a defender to run round and clear it away

Half time : 0-0

Second half started and Kermorgant and Ritchie was on for Fraser and ball-repeller Rantie

Who are you and what have you done to Eddie Howe? We weren't even losing yet ? :-)

For me the change in fortunes was immediate. Not only does Yann win the ball in the air but balls played up to him were actually held up, then, wait for it, passed to a Bournemouth player - who'd have thought that could work?

The game was now much more even and so the ref stepped in to try to influence matters.

First step was to book Ward for a shoulder to shoulder challenge, just outside our box. Thank God the shot went over

This encouraged Leicester and for 5 minutes pounded the Bournemouth defence with quick attacks but the back 4 held resolute

On 58 a minutes a Bournemouth attack had Kermorgant holding the ball up (I really will never get fed up of saying that) and laying it off to Grabban

His shot had Schmeichel  beaten all ends up but clipped the post as it went just wide

Two minutes later a Ritchie low swinging cross had Grabban galloping on to it but from only 6 yards out a last ditch challenge stopped him from putting it away

From here though, Leicester broke quickly down the left and a cross was met, point blank, by a thunderous Leicester header.

With the reactions of an electrified cat somehow Camp dived up and left and punched the ball out. How the bloody hell did he do that - quite simply the best save I have ever seen at DC

On 62 minutes it was stage 2 of the ref's master plan - kill Arter.

This was a 2 stage plan. First was to hurt him, so he gave the signal (scratched his arse with his whistle) and Knockaert, woken from his hypnotic slumber by this, scythed Arter down with an over the ball challenge. His punishment, a throw in to Leicester

Arter is made of sterner stuff though and managed to get the magic sponge treatment and come back on, so it was on to part 2 of the master plan - send Arter off

Arter's next challenge won the ball and the ref went for his card but not even he thought he could get away with a red, so just issued a yellow. To be fair the only thing that should have been red was the ref's face - it was an embarrassingly biased second half

As the clock ran down Leicester grew in strength and the pressure became more and more obvious as Leicester sought their 9th straight win

In the 80th minute the deadlock was finally broken. A quick break down the right had the ball chipped to the far post. Sat there waiting in his wheelchair was 107 year old Phillips who struggled up and headed the ball back across the goal

Camp got his hand to it (of course he did) but it still rolled over the line despite Ward clearing it away, well,at least that's what the linesman said and quite frankly I was in no position to argue

I've never seen a goal celebration that needed a defibrillator so that was new......

Camp deserved a clean sheet, but it wasn't to be

The final 10 minutes had Pitman on for Surman and Ward up front to try to connect with as many long hail marys up field than I have seen at DC for the past 3 seasons

While I've wanted a big man up front for a while to meet our million crosses per game I hope that this isn't going to be the plan b

It was 10 minutes plus 5 minutes of extra time - no need to panic although if Leicester had made more of their swift counter attacks the score could have been very flattering indeed

Final Score 0-1

Summary - On the whole a good performance by Bournemouth but although not helped by the ref, they were beaten by the better side

One shot on target tells the tale in a nutshell

I do, however, have 2 training tips for the coming week

1 Get O'Kane to give passing lessons as far too many of our balls especially in the final third were just rubbish
2 Get Kermorgant to give trapping lessons as too many first touches were heavy and gave the opposition too easy a chance to clear the ball

Remember though, this was just 0-1 against the best team in the league, with players missing and a newbie signed just yesterday. The fact we are disappointed shows how far we have come and what potential we have for the rest of the season

Star Man : Camp - A string of outstanding saves and a dominant performance all round

Main Stand

South Stand

Away Support

East Stand

North Stand

#afcb 2 v 1 #htfc

There's a phrase that goes along the lines of "after the Lord Mayor's show" which means after such splendour, you have people following behind cleaning up the horseshit

As such, after the Liverpool game, if I'd had a shovel watching tonight, my roses would be blossoming beautifully

Howe had decided to give Huddersfield the perfect spying DVD by naming the same team / formation as played in front of the nation on Saturday

The worse news though was that the heavens had started to open and the pitch, especially by the dugouts, looked like Tom Daley would have felt more at home than a 'baller

The game started and Grabban quickly showed how important he was going to be to the team by chasing down lost causes and harrying their defence

In the first 5 minutes he caused enough panic to gain Bournemouth 2 corners and a throw in and it was the second corner that gave the home side their first sniff of goal

An excellent delivery from Ritchie caused mayhem in the middle of the box and Smithles was forced into a brilliant point blank save from close in and as the ball ricocheted out to Arter he crashed the ball at goal only for the keeper to pull off an even better save

Already more shots on goal than we had on Saturday ....:-)

Huddersfield were not here just to make up the numbers though and as early as the 7th minute they showed how dangerous they were by swiftly breaking down the right and as Ward met the cross with a glancing header we were all expecting the net to billow, only to see the ball just go wide

Phew

On 13 minutes Daniels was forced off with injury, replaced by Harte which was bad news for Pugh - he was really going to have to step up without his pacey partner

Bournemouth were still on the front foot and on 18 minutes they almost put converted that pressure into a goal

Another Grabban earned corner was well punched out high into the air. As the ball dropped, Ritchie ran in, controlled and moved the ball to the left in one move then absolutely smashed the ball into the right corner and somehow the keeper tipped it round the post. Bravo I say, through gritted teeth

In the past I have criticised the fitness trainer, but today I feel I should mention the nutritionist

The guy is just not doing his job. How could he send the team out so dehydrated? Surely that is the only reason why the whole team was seemingly mesmerised by the swimming pool "oasis" by the dugouts?

After all, if we want to play the ball on the ground the last thing you would head towards is quicksand so apart from being thirsty, why the bloody hell did we keep going over there?

For me it was just a real headloss moment and it affected their whole game for rest of the half.

If they weren't trying to run through the quagmire they were trying to thread passes through the eye of a needle

We are guilty of this when conditions are good so to do it when conditions are appalling just boggles the mind

Poor choices made / passing even had the team fighting amongst themselves as Ritchie gave Elphick a rocket for giving him a hospital pass right at the back - this didn't bode well and despite a low Francis shot towards the end of the half it was yet another tale of final third worries

Half Time 0-0

The first minute of the second half saw Grabban's excellent run finally matched with a decent ball and he was through on the right. Cutting back he crossed the ball to the far post and Pugh chested it down and volleyed the ball.......just wide of the right post - bugger

Unbelievably after spending all their time in the first half on the right, they spent the second on the left to obviously work on their backstrokes

On 53 minutes, though, they finally broke free of the swamp and Pugh was put through on the left. As he ran into the box Smith put his arm round him and down he went

It wasn't the biggest of contacts and if it had happened walking down the road you'd be disappointed if it caused you to fall over - but rules are rules - penalty

Howe and Tindall again sat on Pitman which have Grabban the time to coolly slot the ball to the left as the keeper dived right 1-0

Five minutes later and euphoria turned to despair

Francis, more and more isolated on the right as Ritchie kept coming infield and not covering back found himself with 2 attackers bearing down on him

Try as he might a swift 1-2 had Woods fly past him and smash the ball past Camp. One sight at goal, one shot, one goal 1-1

The game should then have come to life but instead went into its shell. More tippy tappy play from Bournemouth before the inevitable missed pass was frustrating both players and fans alike

Rantie came on for Surman with 22 minutes left on the clock and no-one could have expected him to make the impact he did

Just 3 minutes after he came on O'Kane picked up the ball and ran at the defence. As the defenders backed away 7500 fans shouted "Shoot for fu@#s sake" as he passed the ball

Just as I thought the vein in my forehead was going to burst I realised that the ball had actually gone to a Bournemouth player, and that player was Rantie

On he ran and scuffed the ball to the keeper's right. We all watched in disbelief as the ball slowly rolled in slow motion towards the post.

As the post was struck and the ball rebounded into the goal the shriek of relief Rantie gave could only be heard by wolves, but the noise the crowd made had the whole of Poole looking up startled

He'd finally scored 2-1

The remaining 19 minutes were a dull affair of not much happening (apart from some very dubious Francis decision making ) which was turned on its head in the inexplicably long 5 minutes of injury time

First of all a long ball from the right saw Ward on the 6 yard box only to put the bouncing ball wide.

Then in the last minute Rantie rushed through one on one and having beaten the keeper he just needed to roll it in. Unfortunately he'd been rooming with Pugh so in fact he doubled back, beat him again, beat a defender, beat the keeper again then air shot as the goal gaped

I hope that didn't undo the good work of the goal beforehand.....

Final Score : 2-1

Summary : We have played much better than this and got nothing - so on the whole the feeling I have is that of gratitude

Still way too many poor final balls or passes in general but conditions did very much play a part in that

It was  game where I really couldn't see where a goal was coming from as Grabban was isolated far too often and it was only when the formation was changed and he had support up front that we finally scored at home from open play

Star Man - A panel decision (thanks Steve) - the groundsmen - gave a 110℅ and never let conditions get the better of them

East Stand

HuHuddersfield Away Support

Main Stand

South Stand

#afcb 0 v 2 #lfc

These  are days to cherish

Yes I get that it isn't as important as when we stayed in the league or got promoted but those on twitter this week scoffing at this being a big game can shove it where the sun doesn't shine

No-one has the right to make anyone feel bad about looking forward to playing Liverpool and I for one was very much looking forward to the Premiership circus coming to town

It is, after all, a distraction from the real deal of the league - but what a distraction

Then came the team news. I went through it thinking who they've rested for the game and came up with...no-one. This was a full strength team from those available and with Suarez and Sturridge up front - GULP !!!

The ground was a sell out, the noise was immense and the game kicked off with Bournemouth on the front foot

In the first minute Grabban was denied as he ran through and from the corner Surman just headed wide

The NS even had a few extra songs to sing and despite what they said, there's no way a dentist could earn more than a Premiership striker .... :-)

Across the pitch Bournemouth were matching Liverpool man for man with the noticeable exception of Moses who, rather like his namesake, seemed to be able to part the defence at will and gave Francis a torrid time

Bournemouth were having a lot of possession but like so many games this year at home the final ball was either poor or plain unnecessary as a shot would have been the better option

In this opening exchange the closest Bournemouth came to scoring was an over-hit free kick that Jones had to tip over but to show their dominance it took 25 minutes for Liverpool to mount their first real threat on goal

The difference was, though, that this one chance resulted in a goal

A Suarez break down the right had him crossing low to Moses on the left. He controlled the ball, cut inside and coolly rolled the ball into the near post, from just outside the box.

No smashing the ball, just a calm pass to the place in the goal Camp wasn't covering . A classy finish where an extra bloody pass didn't even cross his mind : 0-1

To my amazement both the team and the crowd then just carried on as if nothing had happened. The crowd were loud,the team pressed forward

Both Arter and Pugh went close before an overhead kick from Pugh sent Daniels scuttling forward and his low cross was hit by Surman and just as I thought the net might billow Skrtel slid in and blocked the shot

On 37 minutes Daniels almost gifted Liverpool a second as he inexplicably chested a high ball back into the Bournemouth box from a high ball but luckily for us Henderson's centre of gravity is in his forehead so as he leant back there was only one place the ball was going - and I hope it caught Andy Townsend square in the chops

The last 5 minutes it again was all Bournemouth but yet again we just refused to shoot or crossed the ball to an empty box.

The analogy I draw is that Liverpool attack like a rapier - quick and accurate, while we attack like a feather duster - pretty enough but no cutting edge whatsoever

Half Time 0-1

The second half started as the first ended with Bournemouth having all of the possession but when Liverpool got the ball, you just felt more would happen

On 55 minutes a clash of heads had Skrtel bandaged in black very much the photo negative of Paul Ince for England when Gazza described him as a pint of Guinness

If only Rooney had thought of that - he could have save himself a fortune in hair transplants.....

While he was off the pitch Bournemouth really tried to make their extra man count with Grabban bursting through and having his shot (yes I did say shot) blocked and Elphick's header from the corner just went wide

Gerrard tried to waste some time to allow him to get back and even a shrill "do you know who I am" didn't stop him being carded

On 59 minutes a dubious half way free kick "earned" by Suarez had Sturridge through one on one and unlike our goal shy attack, he coolly slotted it into the bottom left corner.

Two clear cut chances, two goals. No fuss, no indecision, no doubt where the ball was going: 0-2

At this point the Liverpool fans finally woke up but they were quickly drowned out by the quite frankly superb home support

Pitman, Fraser and Rantie were all then thrown on but to be quite honest it was all too late

Liverpool, for the last 15 minutes showed how a team should take the sting out of a game. Bournemouth were chasing shadows and when they did get the ball, all the fantastic build up play in the world could not make up for the lack of finishing prowess

Saying that, Grsbban did have a stinging out step shot brilliantly saved late on , so at least Jones got to dirty his gloves

Had Sturridge's lob, when put through, not landed on the bar and Suarez's lob, when put though, not hit the top of the stadium the score could have been so undeservedly flattering but still it finished 0-2

I say finished, but I'd be a fool not to mention Pitman's cameo in injury time.

Running on to the ball in the penalty box, he crashed to the floor, surely a penalty? Not given - was it because we always get shit refs,or was it because there was no-one within 5 yards of him and in fact he managed to trip over s divot in the pitch - I'll let you be the judge....

Summary - Although I have relatively few chances to mention, in just about every department Bournemouth matched a full strength Liverpool.

With the exception of Arter, who even now I'm not sure was actually on the pitch, every player played as well as they could.

We went with the usual lone front man and boy Grabban's breath must be bad because until the last 15 minutes, no-one from his own team went within 20 yards of him

Again it's not a criticism of the players (Arter excluded) but of the system. The fewer chances we create, the less players want to take the responsibility of shooting, and with fewer shots, fewer goals.

it's not rocket science and it needs sorting

No disgrace in losing today - we gave a very good account of ourselves but in fairness the cup upset never looked on the cards from the moment the first goal was scored

Star Man - O'Kane - Bloody hell Eunan - why did you have to play like that on the TV :-)

east Stand

Main Stand

South Stand

#afcb 1 v 1 #watfordfc

The day started, I'd like to say well, but I'm just not sure

The news was that after a roller coaster of a week, we find out that Grabban's agent has played an absolute blinder

He'd touted his boy all over the championship and earned a lovely commission by moving him absolutely bloody nowhere

You've got to say it's genius - I just hope the extra money and general shenanigans (thank you Mr O) wasn't going to be a dressing room disruption

Heaven knows the Liverpool game might be messing with their minds they really didn't need any more of a circus

With the coin tossing expertise of England cricket captain Cook, the boys were turned around to boos from all stands

The opening 10 minutes were an even affair as the slightly more "robust" Watford looked to nullify the AFCB passing game

The first chances came in rapid succession just after the opening exchange when first Arter had a thunderous shot blocked but straight from the clearance Watford absolutely flew up the other end and despite Ritchie trying to bring the move to an *ahem abrupt end the ball still got to Deeney and a collective sigh of relief came as his shot went wide

Ritchie was booked for his efforts

I did however very much enjoy Ireney's throw the toys out of the pram, slam the floor, petulant tantrum as he believed himself to be fouled

Good to see the best of Italy come from the dressing room and on to pitch

We then had a 15 minute of stats-breaking passage of play, which to be fair was repeated through out the game

The records now show that in those 15 minutes, AFCB made 19,345 completed passes, moving the ball a mind boggling 3,759,276 yards, of which 4 yards were forward.

Not since a wet evening in Crawley under the master tactician Groves have we seen such a lack of penetration

Just like Bolton and Birmingham, one up front where the midfield don't support that lonely, sad striker against 2 banks of 4 just doesn't work

Hundreds of passes almost always ends in either an attempted ball through the eye of a needle that fails or, for that 1 in 10 that actually works, a shooting opportunity presents itself annnnd we pass it to someone else - usually the opposition

This isn't an indictment on the players. For me they are all (mostly) playing out of their skins and punching way above their weight. It's about the tactics. I think they are spot on for away games but at home we need to be the ones taking the initiative

We can't break down teams that sit back with 1 up front and for some reason we are scared witless to shoot from range

Maybe this fear was the reason that when Pugh was actually played through on 35 minutes, he blazed so badly over - there was, after all, no one to pass to, to take that responsibility

Then, as was written in the stars, a Watford free kick in first half injury time was met emphatically by  Angella and his towering header crashed into the top right of the goal, giving Camp no chance

Most of the possession, most of the "opportunities" yet half time came and Bournemouth were 0-1 down

The second half started with a Ritchie snap shot going just wide but Watford came right back into the game with a mixture of fast breaks when they had the ball and award winning falls and pretend injuries when they didn't have the ball

It was during Battocchio's Olivier Award winning performance (he must have been tweezing pubes to get those tears) that AFCB broke forward and Daniels had a pile driver of a shot blocked at the last second on 57 minutes

A minute later and it was all square

This time it was Grabban that burst through and under challenge, over he went.

The ref gave a goal kick but the lino was either having a fit or he'd seen something

Being behind the north stand goal I'll have to admit that his view was better than mine, but nevertheless I smiled when not only was a penalty given, but Angella was given a straight red

Without Pitman on the pitch to take EVERYTHING it was down to Grabban and as Almunia dived to the left, he coolly slotted the ball to the right, low and into the corner: 1-1

From then it was all Bournemouth, pinning Watford back and allowing them only the occasional, still very dangerous, counter attack

On 70 minutes all of that pressure seemed to bear fruit

A defence splitting pass sent Pugh through and instead of smashing the ball into the gaping net he decided to round the keeper

Again, I'm a long way away from the action, but , it looked like as Pugh went past, he left a trailing leg out and hit the deck like the yellow smoke bomb, that was to follow, had struck him on the back of the head like it had been fired from a cannon

The ref had a decision to make - book Pugh for diving or send Almunia off for a last man foul tackle

He came up with a compromise of still giving a penalty, but just giving the keeper a yellow

This was to prove key as Almunia stepped up to not only save Grabban's weedy keeper height friendly shot but then miraculously save two further follow up shots that left the away fans exultant and the home fans holding their heads in disbelief

It didn't end there though as Watford just couldn't get out of their own half. Rantie and Pitman had come on for Surman and Pugh and this had greatly improved our mobility (through Rantie) and greed (through Pitman)

With just a minute of normal time left Grabban sprinted through on the left and cut the ball back

In rushed Ritchie and absolutely smashed the ball at the goal and hit the only man on the line squad in the face. Anywhere else and it was a goal - so unlucky

In injury time both Elphick and Camp almost f###ed it all up with 2 of the most hideous arrogant passes you will ever see but as Watford were sat so far back, the rest of the defence was able to cover up

Final Score 1-1

Summary : Every player is trying his absolute best. Fact . But another fact is that we failed to win, at home, against a 10 man team having been given 2 penalties

We lack a cutting edge, we have always lacked a cutting edge and at home against 2 banks of 4, we are playing the wrong formation - or possibly the right formation, but with the wrong players

Midfield need to be up with the striker in attack, and helping the defenders when under pressure. We are doing the latter, but are not doing the former anywhere near often enough

This is especially evident when Grabban collects the ball wide and looks to crops the ball to...to...to...bugger, an empty box

Star Man - O'Kane again is running the show. Arter must be wondering what this guy has for breakfast

North Stand

Main Stand

East Stand

Away Fans

South Stand

#afcb 4 v 1 #bafc

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

Away Fans

North Stand

South Stand

Main Stand

East Stand