AFC Bournemouth 2-2 Town Saturday, 22nd Nov 2014 17:20 Teddy Bishop and Daryl Murphy were on target as Town twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at AFC Bournemouth. Yann Kermorgant put the Cherries in front with a spectacular second-minute overhead kick, Bishop equalised with his first senior goal five minutes after the break, Matt Ritchie restored the home side’s lead four minutes later and Murphy levelled in the 76th minute. Bartosz Bialkowski kept his place in goal despite Dean Gerken’s return from injury, with Paul Anderson, Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam coming into the side for Jay Tabb, who dropped to the bench, and the injured Jonny Williams and Stephen Hunt. Anderson took up the front three role alongside David McGoldrick, a former Bournemouth loanee, and Daryl Murphy in place of Hunt, who remained behind in Suffolk due to a hamstring niggle but is expected to be OK for next week’s visit to Charlton. One-time Town trialist Harry Arter started for the home side. The home side started very brightly with the Blues immediately under pressure and they went close to going ahead in the second minute when Matt Ritchie slammed a powerful strike against Bialkowski’s crossbar from 20 yards with the keeper beaten. Town were unable to clear the danger and the ball eventually reached Simon Francis out on the right. The full-back whipped over a cross and Kermorgant spectacularly hooked a powerful overhead kick into the net from 12 yards leaving Bialkowski motionless. The Blues were struggling to make an impression on the game and in the ninth minute the Cherries were close to adding to their lead. Goalscorer Kermorgant was played in on goal by Marc Pugh and Bialkowski did superbly to get down and save low to his left. The loose ball ran to Ritchie on the right but the Polish keeper again did well to come off his line to block. Town were forced into an early change in the 17th minute when Kevin Bru turned his ankle as he challenged Pugh after a loose Luke Hyam pass. After briefly trying to carry on the Mauritius international was eventually replaced by Teddy Bishop. Skuse hit Town’s first shot of the afternoon in the 20th minute, a scuffed and deflected effort which failed to trouble Cherries’ keeper Artur Boruc. But from the corner Christophe Berra’s goal-bound header was diverted behind. And from Anderson’s subsequent flag-kick on the left Daryl Murphy went even closer, rising highest and flicking a near-post header on to the top of the bar. However, it was Bournemouth who were still seeing most of the ball and they continued to look dangerous, Smith blocking a Pugh shot from the left with his face. Town, who had switched to what was essentially a 4-5-1 system since the substitution with Murphy and Anderson on either flank, began to have more of the ball after the half hour mark, albeit without particularly threatening to get back on terms. On 37 Francis escaped from Mings and crossed from the right towards Andrew Surman headed straight at Bialkowski. Former Cherries loanee McGoldrick tried to make the most of left-back Steve Cook’s slip in the 42nd minute but Boruc blocked his shot from a tight angle at his near post. The Blues were looking most dangerous from set pieces and from the resultant corner Boruc did well to tip Berra’s header over the bar. As the half moved into its final moments, Bialkowski saved spectacularly from Pugh after the Bournemouth man had reached the keeper’s under-hit punch from Ritchie’s freekick on the right. The 1-0 half-time scoreline was a fair reflection of the first 45 minutes. The home side started like a house on fire and had gone close even via Ritchie even before Kermorgant’s excellent goal. Only a superb double save from Bialkowski stopped them increasing their lead. The Blues found it hard to make much impact in the opening 20 minutes or so with the Cherries closing them down quickly but came into the game more towards half-time. Town had threatened most from set pieces with Murphy and Berra both close to equalising with headers. Five minutes after the break, the Blues got back on terms with their most fluent move of the match. Mings played the ball into Murphy midway inside the Bournemouth half, the Irishman returning the ball to the left-back as he broke down the flank. Mings crossed low and sub Bishop deftly cut the ball across Boruc and into the net to score his first senior goal. But parity would last only four minutes. Bournemouth top scorer Callum Wilson battled his way through a number of Town challenges on the left of the area before cutting it across to an unmarked Ritchie, who gleefully slammed the ball into the net. Berra joined Ritchie - who had been yellow-carded for kicking the ball away shortly before his goal - in the referee’s book on 59 for blocking Wilson, who was replaced by South African international Tokelo Rantie three minutes later. Berra will miss next week’s game at Charlton as a result of reaching five bookings. Bournemouth sub Rantie was immediately in the thick of the action, receiving the ball having retreated from what looked to be an offside position and quickly taking it on into the area before going to ground under pressure from Smith and Chambers. The home crowd appealed for a penalty - and they may have had a case - but referee Michael Bull waved away their protests. The Cherries supporters were incensed by the referee’s failure to award a spotkick and - while Rantie received lengthy treatment in the aftermath of the incident - there was a brief exchange of views between a group of fans and Mings, who was on the touchline preparing to take a throw, much to the annoyance of the Town support further along the same stand. Rantie was eventually stretchered off and replaced by Brett Pitman, then soon after the restart Pugh hit a low shot from distance which Bialkowski blocked. On 73 Mings was booked for a clash with Ritchie. Two minutes later, the former Chippenham man was hauled over by Francis on the Blues left and from the freekick Town again got back on terms. Anderson delivered a fantastic ball into the area and Murphy once again rose highest to nod home his 11th goal of the season. The Cherries quickly looked to get back ahead, Kermorgant looping a shot wide from distance, before Mings required treatment at the other end after a challenge with Francis. The left-back seemed OK but on 83 was replaced by Jonny Parr. Three minutes later, Hyam was booked for kicking the ball away. As the game entered 12 minutes of injury time - largely as a result of Rantie’s treatment - Smith blocked from Pitman. It was the home side who were having most of the ball with the Blues defending in numbers. Sub Bishop was replaced by Conor Sammon for the for the final minutes. Midway through injury time the Cherries carved out a good opening for Arter but the midfielder scuffed his shot at Bialkowski, a ball striking Skuse's arm led to more home penalty appeals. At the other end, McGoldrick shot well over on a rare Town foray forward. Deep, deep in added time Ritchie got around the outside of Parr on the right and found Pitman with a low cross but the former Bristol City man sent the ball well over. But the Blues were not to be denied another hard-fought away point against an impressive Cherries side who on this evidence will certainly be amongst the automatic promotion contenders come May. Having been behind twice Town showed typical spirit to drag themselves back into the match. While Bournemouth’s first goal was a superb strike, their second was a poor one from Town’s perspective. Bishop’s goal was Town’s best move of the match and the second was another well executed set piece. The draw sees the Blues - who have now lost only once in 14 games - move back to fourth in the table - having briefly slipped to fifth yesterday - four points behind leaders Derby. AFC Bournemouth: Boruc, Daniels, Cook, Elphick (c), Francis, Pugh, Surman, Arter, Ritchie, Kermorgant, Wilson (Rantie 62 (Pitman 71). Unused: Camp, Smith, Stanislas, Gosling, Fraser. Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Mings (Parr 83), Berra, Smith, Skuse, Hyam, Bru (Bishop 17 (Sammon 90)), Anderson, McGoldrick, Murphy. Unused: Gerken, Parr, Tabb, Henshall, Bajner, Sammon. Referee Michael Bull (Essex). Att: 11,115 (1424).
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