What a result for the Cherries as they see off play-off rivals Franchise FC on thier own patch!
Grabban fired the Cherries in to an early lead as he fired low in to the bottom left of the goal in the 9th minute. As the Cherries ran Franchise ragged all over the pitch, the frustration of the home side came to the surface when a running battle between Ryan Lowe and Tommy Elphick saw Lowe launch a vicious two-footed off-the-ground tackle which drew an instant red card from the ref in the 44th minute. Matt Ritchie came on at left back to replace Elphick.
To rub salt in Franchises' wounds a great through ball from Grabban found Pugh who neatly slotted the ball home for the second deep in first half stoppage time.
In the second period, Franchise tried to come back at the Cherries. The best they could achieve was to hit the wood work when hitting the target would have been easier. Even if had dropped in, McCleod was off side.
The win was secured when Pugh was fouled 30-yards out. Harry Arter fired in a belter of a free kick to make it 3 against out play-off rivals. Brett Pitman still had time to hit the woodwork in the final few minutes.
The result lists the Cherries up to 3rd in the table with results as they were in the 3pm kick-offs. Next up is a small matter of a home match against Portsmouth next weekend.
Full match report to follow ............
AFCB: Jalal, Francis, Elphick, Cook, Seabourne, McQuoid, Arter, O'Kane, Pugh, Pitman, Grabban
Subs: Allsopp, Partington, Fogden, Fletcher, Ritchie (for Elphick, 45 mins), Hughes (for McQuoid, 79 mins), Tubbs (for Grabban, 86 mins)