|
The match started with Bournemouth in confident mood, especially as Forest were pegged back in their own half. No more so when Gowling should probably have done better with a shot, which was cleared off the line by the Forest keeper.
Forest tried their best to peg Bournemouth back in their own half, but found a resolute midfield and defence in front of them - their efforts in the first half were restricted to long range efforts which didn't really trouble anyone - except the ball boys.
An Anderton free kick looked promising, but the wall did it's job as the Cherries once again kept our more illustrious hosts scratching their heads as to why this Cherries outfit was doing much better than the last visit to the City Ground.
Cummings and O'Connor were lively down the left hand side, Gradel and Pearce were lively down the right, with Telfer and Anderton more or less bossing things in midfield. Gowling and Garry looked comfortable in the centre of defence - nice to see some combative challenges going in for a change!
Forest saw their best chance of the first half come back off the foot of the post on the 20 minute mark - but that was their ONLY clear cut chance of the opening period.
Warren Cummings managed to get on to the end of another excellent Bournemouth move, only to scuff his shot wide of the left hand up right. Pity he went for the first time shot when he had a time to do better.
HT: 0-0
In the second period Forest had marginally more of the play it seemed, but once again they wasted what few chances they created for themselves, even though they did hit the cross bar in a period of sustained pressure (and a rare moment of poor defending) on 53 minutes. Jeered up by the missed chance, Forest tried to look for the opening goal, but their shooting boots were elsewhere this afternoon - certainly not at the City Ground.
For Bournemouth, chances were few, but when they were presented, they were not taken. Kuffour wasted a good opportunity to score in the 62nd minute when he shot wide of the post.
Bournemouth should have taken the lead in the 77th minute when Anderton finally shot wide, but Forest were camped in their area not knowing what to do inside their own area. The shot from Anderton did produce a fine save from the Forest keeper though.
With the final score ending 0-0, then at the final analysis, I am sure that we will look at this as a valuable point. Where as for Forest, if they harbour promotion ambitions, they have to be beating the likes of us, and they failed to do that.
If we can play like this during the rest of the season, there is every reason for cautious optimism.
As for individual performances:
Begovic: didn't have much to do. Flapped a bit at times and questionable distribution. Is the ghost of Jimmy Glass back?
Pearce: Confident and assured
Gowling: Masterful at the back
Cummings: Assured
Garry: Superb at the back
O'Connor: Didn't do too badly, showed some nice touches.
Telfer: His experience showed through
Anderton: Masterful in the centre of midfield along side Telfer
Gradel: Full of running and promise. A few loose end need to be tidied up in his play
Pitman: Missing something up front
Kuffour: Full of running and will cause problems
Vokes: Full of running. Needs to show what he can do this season
Christophe: 'Entertaining' in his play
Cooper: Looked comfortable
|
AFCB: Begovic, Pearce, Gowling, Cummings, Garry, O'Connor, Telfer, Anderton, Gradel, Pitman, Kuffour.
Subs: Moss, McQuoid, Vokes (for Pitman, 55), Christophe (for O'Connor, 72), Cooper (for Gradel, 81)
Andy Burton, Portsmouth