A dry afternoon, with the main (west) stand of this renamed iPro stadium to our right with a roof higher than the rest of the ground thus angled down partly over the 2 ends. That allowed 4 shallow tiers rather than 2 deeper ones on each of the other 3 sides. A good crowd. Boscombe wore the all black strip, and good to see Coulibaly back on the bench. Intriguing to see Surman as the sitter in midfield, Howe persevering with 2 up top.
Boscombe k.o. to the north end and both sides looked to play a constructive passing style. Hughes dummied nicely – best bit of skill in the early stages. Rantie showed trickery, back for Ritchie to thump a left-footer goal-ward. It might’ve hit the inside of the near post, but finger-tips did just enough and the ball rebounded away off the foot of the post. The “Red Flag” came over good & strong, as did “Seasiders”. Ritchie, Rantie & Grabban combined to allow the latter to put it just wide. Then Rantie was so near to outpacing Keogh who, in panic, kicked it just wide of his far post. Arter over-hit the corner. Both sides mis-hit too many passes, but also anticipated well. Grabban skipped past 2 defenders on our left, made for the goal, but his angled attempt was covered and smothered by the keeper.
Francis made a good break and Rantie won a corner – Boscombe seemed the more incisive side. From the next away corner, Grabban could only hit it softly to the keeper. Then Rams went free, needing good covering. The home right full-back was excellent against Rantie, tracking him across to the opposite corner and winning out. But home fans were already showing their frustration from the lack of shots. A good away defensive tackle – no pen – was followed by Grabban coming in from wide left but hitting it high & wide. Then Rams did similar from the home right. A Boscombe corner led eventually to a header just wide, then the away defence had to cover well at the cost of 2 successive corners, involving great defence and blockings. More than one home fan said to me that the away side had been the better in this half. HT: 0-0.
Rams made 2 changes but still no shots. Camp, now at the home end, had to endure much booing this half – perhaps something he said on his move south. However, he caught well from a corner. Arter went down in the home area after winning the ball; Camp was yellowed, perhaps for telling off the ref. for not stopping play. Arter was soon back on. Boscombe went under the cosh, with the right-winger Russell putting on a display all half that saw him made home MoM. Great away defence was leavened by Rantie doing well on the right – but putting in a poor cross. One Camp clearance went over the roof, to great sarcastic cheers.
Kermorgant replaced Rantie on 58, and increasingly Boscombe adopted the 2 banks of 4 close together – learning from previous opponents. Cook was headed by a striker, but soon recovered. Then in close order first Camp then Cook had to make instinctive clearances, the latter virtually off the line. To freshen it up, Fraser came on for Ritchie on 70. Pugh, relatively quiet this game, put in a good run but Rams soon won a corner. Looking to hold what we had, MacDonald replaced Pugh on 75 with Grabban going left – 4-3-3. Surman had been neat & tidy all game, but then the defence seemed to be too cool, and the side was playing just a little too deep. Fraser scurried away, was caught, earning a home yellow; Harte hit the free too far & wide. Arter’s tackle earned him – at last – a similar award.
Hughes came in from the left; Elphick tackled him superbly but for some reason not only did the ref. blow for a foul, but also yellowed the skipper for his protestations. From my perspective, a clean tackle, with Hughes merely falling over the tackler. The free was just outside the “D” at narrow inside-left; Martin put it superbly in Camp’s top left corner. 1-0, 85. Now the home crowd came to life. Francis was yellowed for back-chat after a tackle – some frustration in that. Boscombe did attempt some attacks; a good cross saw the keeper do well at the near post. Then Boscombe won a free in the mirror-image position to that from which the lead was taken. Harte put it up & over – the bar. That was it. F-T: 1-0.
Against a side now 3rd in the division, this was a decent performance; I’d feared a bigger defeat. However, Eddie hinted at both frustration and, possibly, nerves, when (unusually) offering mild criticism of the ref. when calling him “undecisive” (sic) – mainly over the late free and yellow that preceded the only goal. Sometimes one feels that one needs a knockout just to obtain a draw.
So the last of the new grounds has been visited, with 3 draws & 2 losses by just the one goal – a decent return. We went into the game at Leicester needing 33 points from 34 games for the magic 50 survival mark. We still need 14 from 15, so have held up pretty well. A result profile of 3-5-7 would do this, & 2 early wins next month would help settle any incipient nerves while we look over our shoulder with at least half an eye. (Remember when Nick Faldo parred every hole in the final round to win a golfing major?)
Coda: nice to see Thomas & Tubbs scoring for their new teams in Div.3 – they’ve found their level.
MoM: All did pretty well, and as usual Cook did shine at the back. But for his work-rate (especially now in a 2 not 3) and probing, I’ll nominate Arter.
AFCB: Camp, Francis, Elphick, Cook, Harte, Ritchie, Surman, Arter, Pugh, Grabban, Rantie
Subs: Allsop, Smith, Pitman, Coulibaly, Kermorgant (for Rantie, 58 mins), Fraser (for Ritchie, 70 mins), MacDonald (for Pugh, 75 mins)
Peter Wicks, Bulford