To say that this one won’t live long in the memory wouldn’t be an understatement, in fact it’s a minor miracle that I’ve not forgotten it already. Bournemouth lined up with four changes from the side that limped to an uninspiring draw at the weekend, most notable were the inclusions of Phil Bill and the much requested Surridge. The two had linked up well in the cup at Burnley so you could clearly see the logic in Woodgate’s thinking.
As has become the norm, the game started off in a scrappy manner. Both sides spent the opening exchanges taking it in turns to hopefully punt the ball up the field to very little effect. When we did try to play out from the back we were once again unable to break the intense opposition high press. The only out ball was often the two full backs who subsequently had no where to go other than backwards to find a team mate, this led to many hopeful balls knocked down the channels which were continuously gobbled up by Rotherham’s dominant back three. It was obvious that we weren’t going to play through them so if we were to score it was going to be on the counter, and sure enough that’s exactly what happened! Yet another hopeful long ball forward was headed clear by Smith and out to Surridge who had dropped deep into the wide right channel, he drove into space and released the ball to Smith who had bust a hit to arrive on the over lap. Smith took one look up and played a very intelligent cut back which arrived at Billing in the centre of the penalty area, Billing controlled the ball expertly and smashed home an emphatic finish to finally bring life to a drab encounter. It was the one piece of real quality we produced all game and credit must go to Smith who was instrumental in making it happen.
The game then quickly reverted back to type, both sides struggling badly to retain possession and get any kind of foothold in the game. The half finished with Bournemouth incredibly lucky not to concede. A clipped a free kick to the back post inexplicably found four (yes four) Rotherham players totally unmarked around six yards out, the ball was helped almost apologetically across the face of goal and onto an on rushing attacker a couple of yards out with an empty net at his mercy. Just as those watching stared on in an incredulous state of disbelief, our defensive generosity was repaid by attacking impotency that would have made even a man without a single testicle look incredibly fertile, as the Rotherham forward somehow managed to balloon the ball into the north stand from what felt like directly under the cross bar. A massive let off which saw us into the break narrowly ahead. In fairness replays did show that the ball arrived slightly behind the on rushing attacker and at an awkward angle.
Bournemouth came out in the second half a reinvigorated side, zipping the ball around crisply and carving out a number of early openings with forward thinking and incisive football. That was a joke. The second half quickly settled into a familiar pattern with the ball spending the majority of time in the air. In truth the best moments of the half belonged to Rotherham. Firstly a spectacular volley from the edge of the box which looked destined to see the net ripple bought about an even more spectacular save from a fully stretched Begovic, a truly brilliant save that we’ve become accustomed to this season. Then the Rotherham substitute Onyadima was played in on goal on the angle of the penalty area, just as you thought the net was about to bulge the outstretched leg of Kelly arrived to provide enough of a distraction to once again see the ball end up in the stand behind the goal. Another let off. Bournemouth’s only moment of note came when Stanislas drew a smart save at the near post from a well struck twenty yard strike in the dying embers. Our brave warriors managed to see out the game by theatrically throwing themselves to the ground at every opportunity in what was quite frankly the most entertaining period of the game for me (in all the wrong reasons.) And so it was, another scrappy and somewhat fortunate three points on the board to cement claim to that holy grail that is sixth position, with attentions now firmly turned to off the pitch matters and in particular a French man who’s name escapes me...
Player ratings to follow!
As has become the norm, the game started off in a scrappy manner. Both sides spent the opening exchanges taking it in turns to hopefully punt the ball up the field to very little effect. When we did try to play out from the back we were once again unable to break the intense opposition high press. The only out ball was often the two full backs who subsequently had no where to go other than backwards to find a team mate, this led to many hopeful balls knocked down the channels which were continuously gobbled up by Rotherham’s dominant back three. It was obvious that we weren’t going to play through them so if we were to score it was going to be on the counter, and sure enough that’s exactly what happened! Yet another hopeful long ball forward was headed clear by Smith and out to Surridge who had dropped deep into the wide right channel, he drove into space and released the ball to Smith who had bust a hit to arrive on the over lap. Smith took one look up and played a very intelligent cut back which arrived at Billing in the centre of the penalty area, Billing controlled the ball expertly and smashed home an emphatic finish to finally bring life to a drab encounter. It was the one piece of real quality we produced all game and credit must go to Smith who was instrumental in making it happen.
The game then quickly reverted back to type, both sides struggling badly to retain possession and get any kind of foothold in the game. The half finished with Bournemouth incredibly lucky not to concede. A clipped a free kick to the back post inexplicably found four (yes four) Rotherham players totally unmarked around six yards out, the ball was helped almost apologetically across the face of goal and onto an on rushing attacker a couple of yards out with an empty net at his mercy. Just as those watching stared on in an incredulous state of disbelief, our defensive generosity was repaid by attacking impotency that would have made even a man without a single testicle look incredibly fertile, as the Rotherham forward somehow managed to balloon the ball into the north stand from what felt like directly under the cross bar. A massive let off which saw us into the break narrowly ahead. In fairness replays did show that the ball arrived slightly behind the on rushing attacker and at an awkward angle.
Bournemouth came out in the second half a reinvigorated side, zipping the ball around crisply and carving out a number of early openings with forward thinking and incisive football. That was a joke. The second half quickly settled into a familiar pattern with the ball spending the majority of time in the air. In truth the best moments of the half belonged to Rotherham. Firstly a spectacular volley from the edge of the box which looked destined to see the net ripple bought about an even more spectacular save from a fully stretched Begovic, a truly brilliant save that we’ve become accustomed to this season. Then the Rotherham substitute Onyadima was played in on goal on the angle of the penalty area, just as you thought the net was about to bulge the outstretched leg of Kelly arrived to provide enough of a distraction to once again see the ball end up in the stand behind the goal. Another let off. Bournemouth’s only moment of note came when Stanislas drew a smart save at the near post from a well struck twenty yard strike in the dying embers. Our brave warriors managed to see out the game by theatrically throwing themselves to the ground at every opportunity in what was quite frankly the most entertaining period of the game for me (in all the wrong reasons.) And so it was, another scrappy and somewhat fortunate three points on the board to cement claim to that holy grail that is sixth position, with attentions now firmly turned to off the pitch matters and in particular a French man who’s name escapes me...
Player ratings to follow!
