Browning must have approached the game with some trepidation given the ref was Keith Hill who has sent Marcus off twice in recent encounters.
Darren Anderton made a return to the central midfield position and made a few passes early on that looked promising but after only eight minutes the Irons went ahead.
A short corner on the left was crossed deep to the far post where the wardrobe totally failed to pick up his man Crosby, who accepted the chance gratefully. 1-0
Cherries had a chance to equalise a few minutes later when James Hayter cleverly made space for himself, only to shoot closer to the corner flag than the goal.
Things got worse on the half hour when, following some good inter passing from the home side, the ball fell rather luckily to the impressive Keogh just inside the box. The striker finished well, slotting the ball just inside Mossy's left hand post. 2-0
Hayter and Anderton (twice) had half-chances for Bournemouth but it was Scunthorpe who grabbed the third goal just before the interval. Taylor accepted the ball from a throw near the corner flag and beat 2 defenders before firing a weak shot across the goal. Sharp, as befits his name, reacted sharply to intercept and beat Moss from close range. HT 3-0
Bond decided to go for broke and used all three substitutes at the break with Vokes, Pitman and Howe replacing the Fletch, Hollands and Gowling (who seems to have upset the manager in some way as he always seems to be the scapegoat when things aren't going well).
Within seconds of the resumption Vokes made his mark when Pitman chased what looked like a lost cause down the right, only for the home ‘keeper to make a complete horlicks of a back pass. Pitman gathered the ball and put Vokes in to walk the ball over the line for the easiest goal he's ever likely to score. 3-1
Moss kept the game alive a few minutes later with a good save following a surging run from Taylor. The lively Vokes twice came closed with headers just the wrong side of the post and with 15 minutes to go the super-sub teenagers combined again to set up an exciting finish. A speculative cross from Anderton on the right saw Pitman rise superbly to win a great header and Vokes side foot the ball home with his left foot. 3-2
The chances of completing a dream comeback were hampered when an injury to Callum Hart caused him to be a passenger (even more than usual!) for the remaining few minutes.
The small home crowd started to turn against their team and this seemed to cause them to get into gear again with chances for Sharp and Keogh going begging in a frantic finale.
We came away to face the long journey home with thoughts of what could have been if we'd started with the two youngsters up front - but we'll never know.
Highlight of the day was the pub near the station, the Honest Lawyer, with excellent beer and food which almost made the long trip worthwhile – almost!
|
AFCB: Moss, Purches, Young, Gowling, Hart, Cooper, Browning, Anderton, Hollands, Fletcher, Hayter.
Subs: Stewart, Cooke, Howe (for Hollands at HT), Vokes (for Fletcher at HT), Pitman (for Gowling at HT)
Clive Loader, Wimbledon