Donny had the best of the opening exchanges with record signing James Hayter keen to impress against his former club. After 7 minutes, however, the prospect of scoring in front of the AFCB faithful was too much for Hayter to bear and his shot ballooned over the bar. Donny attacked again before Anderton went close with an inswinging corner that Sullivan did well to tip over. A couple of minutes later, Kuffour bore down on goal and forced Sullivan to save low to his left.
It was then AFCB's turn to defend as Donny pressed forward. Garry and Gowling looked solid in defence, which is more than can be said for Begovic at times. Bournemouth had a narrow escape after 21 minutes when a Doncaster shot-cum-cross eluded Begovic and went agonisingly wide. Chants of 'Neil Moss, Moss, Moss' became even louder 3 minutes later when Donny went ahead courtesy of Greer heading in at the near post from a Donny corner. Begovic flapped as Greer nipped in front of the Bosnian to score from close range. A minute later, Kuffour almost equalised with a speculative lob over Sullivan.
Not to be outdone by Begovic at the other end, Sullivan handed AFCB an equaliser within 4 minutes of the opening goal. Gradel sent a teasing cross in from the right. The ball eluded everyone as Sullivan failed to collect under pressure from Kuffour and the ball found its way into an empty net. Disbelief among the away fans and embarrassment for Scotland's former No 1. AFCB finished the half with more confidence and pressed forward with more regularity. Kuffour and O'Connor shot wide from good positions and AFCB forced a number of corners but failed to trouble the home defence. In added time, Martin Woods did his best to make sure Donny ended the half on a high but could not get the better of Gradel and fell to the ground with half-hearted claims for a penalty waved away.
The start of the second half took everybody by surprise, not least those fans who were busy stuffing themselves instead of watching the match. Within 16 seconds of the restart, Bradbury laid the ball onto Kuffour who danced around 3 defenders before unleashing a low shot past Sullivan into the bottom corner. A minute later, Anderton shot at Sullivan.
Donny started to fight their way back into the game. After 55 minutes, Begovic made amends for earlier by rushing out of goal to block Heffernan's shot. Donny continued to press forward but lacked a cutting edge whilst Bournemouth relied on the counter attack. McCammon was brought on to stir things up and Donny lumped the ball forward with little effect. After 82 minutes, Hayter found himself clean through but blasted wide. The Cherries faithful showed little sympathy towards their former hero as they chanted 'Hayter, Hayter, what's the score?' and 'Who the *#£! is James Hayter when the Reds go marching on'. Sean O'Driscoll and James O'Connor received similar taunts to ensure they didn't feel left out.
With 4 minutes of added time to go, the less vociferous among the Cherries support hoped these taunts were not going to leap up and punch us in the face. Donny bombarded the AFCB penalty area with high balls and Sullivan raced up for a Donny corner in a last-ditch attempt to atone for his sins but all to no avail as the Cherries defence held firm. Having given Donny plenty of time to score, the referee eventually realised it wasn't going to be the home side's day and blew the final whistle. Much jubilation among the Cherries fans ensued. The bog-standard range of post-match real ales seemed to taste much nicer after our first victory of the season.
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As for the new ground, the Keepmoat Stadium, despite its bland uniformity and uninspiring location, is a considerable improvement in terms of spectator comfort (decent views and shelter from the elements) but lacks the grittiness associated with Belle Vue. The home fans were unusually subdued in their new surrounds. Not that Sean O'Driscoll's Brave New Donny gave them much to sing about after an impressive AFCB performance.
AFCB: Begovic, Cummings, Garry, Gowling, Pearce, O'Connor, Anderton, Christophe, Gradel, Kuffour, Bradbury
Subs: Moss, Vokes, Cooper (for O'Connor, 72 mins), Pitman (for Gradel, 77 mins), Young (for Kuffour, 90 mins)
Jon Blake, South Shields