The less said about the opening 45 minutes the better in my opinion as the weather played a part in hindering both sides from playing their normal passing game of football.
That said though, the Cherries did start the brighter of the two as they did on Saturday, when the Town keeper was called upon to make a great double save from Ward and then Arter on the 5 minute mark, and then pulled off another remarkable full stretch save to deny a certain goal for Ritchie who produced a rocket of a shot which was goal bound. Other than that the pitch conditions helped to cancel both sides out as poor passing/poor finishing meant that the opening 45-minutes ended 0-0.
The match did resume after half time, but not before a half time pitch inspection - not that forking the pitch made much difference as mud was being displaced by mud as the grounds staff tried to fork the pitch to little affect, but thankfully the rain eased to all but a few spits and spots as the Cherries kicked towards the North Stand in the second period.
Again starting the brighter, the Cherries got their reward 10 minutes in to the second period when Pugh was adjudged to have been brought down in the slippery conditions (harsh perhaps?), allowing Grabban to step up to convert the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way as the ball was fired in to the back of the net.
Sadly the lead only lasted a few minutes as the Terriers went down the other end to equalise as a rasping shot from Woods was too much for Camp to handle in the conditions, despite getting a hand to the ball.
As the pitch cut up more and more, the chances of a passing game evaporated as both sides saw passes either skip away on a slippery surface, or get held up in boggy conditions, but a lovely pass from O'Kane found substitute Rantie who slid the ball past Smithies in the Town goal for his first goal in front of the home support since joining back in the Summer.
A third beckoned when a Town defender misjudged the bounce of the ball in the mud, allowing Rantie a clear run on goal. Having done the hard work of rounding keeper and defender, Rantie somehow managed to get the ball stuck between his feet allowing the keeper to get back to prevent a 3-1 scoreline with just seconds left on the watch.
Thankfully the Cherries managed to hold on to their lead, and 3-points, leaving them 10-points away from the play-off places and 10-points above the drop zone in 14th.
Not a night for pretty football, but a win is a win - end of this evening!!
My man of the match ......... tough one in difficult conditions, but I'll give it to O'Kane who continues to impress.
Shame to loose Daniels after just 13 minutes this evening with a possible reoccurence of his injury which saw hime head off to Italy last time round - fingers crossed it's not too serious.
AFCB: Camp, Francis, Elphick, Ward, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter, O'Kane, Surman, Pugh, Grabban
Subs: Allsop, Cook, Pitman, McQuoid, Harte (for Daniels, 13 mins), Rantie (for Surman, 69 mins), MacDonald (for Ritchie, 88 mins)
Andy Burton, Portsmouth