Bournemouth were pinned back almost immediately by a Stoke side keen to set out they’re attacking intentions. In the opening minutes Eddie Howe had to be at his most alert to block a fierce looking drive on the Bournemouth goal with Stewart struggling. However, on 6 minutes it was the Cherries who opened the scoring. Gareth O Connor put Feeney away on the right hand side of the park. He played in Derek Holmes with a defence splitting pass. Holmes in all honesty should have scored but the Stoke keeper made a fine parry. Almost in slow motion, the ball fell to Stephen Purches who buried the rebound from close range to score his first senior goal for the Cherries, with scenes of wild celebration from home fans and players! 1-0 to Bournemouth. The next 30 minutes or so saw the Cherries defence given a stern test by a very powerful Stoke side desperate to claw a toehold in the game. Stewart did marvellously to tip away a 25-yard drive by Gudjonsson who was causing the Bournemouth defence all sorts of problems. Light relief occurred with Jason Tindall and Richard Hughes having identical free kicks from the left edge of the penalty area within a minute and both efforts ending in the side netting. Maher went off with a head injury and the Stoke pressure mounted. Gareth did marvellously twice within a minute to keep out a cross shot from Gudjonsson and then a point blank header from the following corner by Neal. Then on the 43-minute mark Bournemouth hit Stoke with the classic break from defence. A great passing movement ended with Feeney opening the Stoke defence up and putting Richard Hughes in one on one with the Stoke keeper. He kept his nerve with a clinical finish to send the home crowd into raptures. Half time score 2-0 to Bournemouth.
The second half started with a lot of Stoke possession and signs that the visitors were losing their composure with a rash of fouls and bookings the referee being the busiest man on the field for a short spell. On the 56 minutes mark the game erupted into life again. Holmes with a great overhead ball put Feeney away. He totally outsprinted the Stoke defence and beat Neil Cutler from the edge of the penalty with a fierce low shot. Warren was delighted, the home crowd went mad and virtually the whole team joined in the celebrations with a sizeable crowd surge from the front few rows of the North Stand.3-0 to Bournemouth. The North Stand choirs were in fine voice with the large Stoke contingent scarcely being able to believe what was happening to their team! But on 63 minutes, it was 3-1.Stewart had no choice but to bring down Cooke in the area, which he got booked for and Dadason despatched the penalty.
The game was rapidly upping in tempo and feeling like a cup-tie in atmosphere. The pressure was all coming from Stoke with Bournemouth playing on the counter attack. Dadason missed a great chance for Stoke, Stewart saved brilliantly from Goodfellow whilst at the other end Warren could have easily had a second goal but for a good save. But as the minutes ticked away the most gratifying sight was that of vast numbers of Stoke fans streaming for the exits accepting that this was not going to be Stoke’s day. The final few minutes saw the game calm down as we regained midfield control and saw the welcome site of Amos come on for the first time since breaking his leg.
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Final Score: Bournemouth 3 Stoke 1
AFCB: Stewart, Tindall, Howe, Maher, Purches, C Fletcher, O'Connor, Hayter, Hughes, Feeney, Holmes
Subs: Elliott (for O'Connor on 80), Smith, Melligan, Stock (for Hayter on 90), Foyewa (for Holmes on 90)