Dec 29 AFC Bournemouth 2-2 Swindon Town Att: 6540

The less said about the first half the better ......... it was simply dire with few chances to speak of for either side. The first 45 minutes dragged and seemed much longer even though no added time was required - I think the referree was bored at this stage as well.

There were a few chances which went close, but nothing that tested either keeper.

Also worth noting that everything good in the Cherries back 4 stemmed from Alex Pearce, who was simply everywhere and outstanding in everything he did.

HT: 0-0

The second period looked as it starting the same way as the first has finished until Christophe, who was pretty useless, cheaply gave up possession to Swindon. The result of which was a coolly taken shot from Corr, which neatly curled around Gareth Stewart to find the top right hand corner of the net in the 49th minute. Swindon thought that they'd scored a second, only to see it ruled out for a foul.

Rightly, this prompted a long overdue substitution which saw Christophe depart from the game for Henry to come on in his place. At the same time Kuffour was introduced, replacing Pitman. The changes coming in the 56th minute.

The changes (for a change) spurred the Cherries in to action with the impact being noticed almost immediately. At last there was a sense of urgency in our play.

The Cherries now laid seige to the Swindon goal ........ our visitors didn't have a clue what had just hit them. A Cummings cross found Henry, who headed back across goal for Kuffour to fire home the equaliser with his first touch of the game in the 63rd minute.

Henry could have given the Cherries the lead a few moments later, but his effort just cleared the right hand up right.

A quickly taken free kick almost caught Swindon out as Kuffour almost netted for a second time.

With the change, Bournemouth were dominant, confident and full of attacking ideas! A sentence that has not been required just recently!

Henry had another chance following another good move. His shot unfortunately went straight at the keeper. Vokes spooned a golden chance over the cross bar when it might have been easier to place it in the back of the net (73 mins).

Danny Hollands produced a great shot, which generated a great save from the Swindon keeper (at full stretch), pushing the ball behind for a corner. From that corner Vokes gave the Cherries a more than deserved lead.

Swindon Town were still very much on the back foot until Corr got the end of a cross, which saw Stewart flapping at the far post for an equaliser in the 83rd minute. This gave Swindon some belief that they could nick a winner from the game.

The last chance of the match fell to Vokes in the 4th minute of added time when a shot went wide of the left hand upright.

Overall, a 2-2 draw was a fair result after a dire first 45 minutes. I just hope that we can play like this for the remainder of the season, once the Reading loanees have returned to the MadStad.

For me, the man of the match was Alex Pearce, who was masterful in defence.

AFCB: Stewart, Young, A Pearce, J Pearce, Cummings, Hollands, Karacan, Christophe, Gradel, Vokes, Pitman
Subs: Perrett, Kuffour (for Pitman, 56), Bartley, Bradbury, Henry (for Christophe, 56)

Andy Burton, Portsmouth