Nov 6 AFC Bournemouth 1-3 Leeds United Att: 9632

The opening stages of the game belonged to Leeds United as they dominated and pushed forward. A defensive lapse from Gowling allowed Kandol to steal in and slot the ball past Neil Moss after just 4 minutes! The early signs were not good as the Cherries were pegged back in to their own half.

Okay Leeds dominated the first 15 minutes or so ...... but they didn't really force Moss in to making any key saves. Any shots towards goal were off target or easy for the defense to handle.

As the game progressed, the Cherries came more in to the match and certainly didn't look like a side struggling at the wrong end of the table. They hassled and battled back and tried to give as good as they got. Where they lost out was in pace and physical presence, which is nothing new!

After the middle stage of the half, the Cherries were clearly gaining in confidence against their more illustrious opponents and were beginning to create a few chances of themselves. Kuffour was very lively going down the left and was causing problems with his pace and jinking runs as was Henry going down the right. AT LAST WING PLAY AS WE KNOW IT!

Kuffour was desperately unlucky not to equalise when he cut in from the left and found himself in enough space to try and chip the keeper, seeing the ball just go wide of the far post.

Kuffour found himself in space as Leeds desperately tried to get back, sadly the ball was saw Kuffour pushed wider than he wanted to go and the chance was lost due to the angle.

The best was to come in the 37th minute when Karacan unleashed a rocket of a shot from about 25 yards out which flew past Ankergren in the Leeds goal! It was simply a stunning equaliser by any standards.

By this stage there was only one side more likely to score, and that was the side in red and black. It was a shame that half time whistle came when it did.

HT: 1-1

The second half saw Leeds come back at Bournemouth again as a further defensive lapse allowed Carole curl the ball past Neil Moss in the 54th minute. Such a shame to see the Cherries go behind again after coming back in to the game after battling back so well in the first half.

The liklihood of a second equaliser diminished when Lee Bradbury saw red in the 62nd minute. Steve Bennett had already awarded a free kick to the Cherries at the top of the penalty area, so why an elbow had to be used is beyond me .... straight red card was issued and a 3-match ban as well!

But still the Cherries battled manfully away.

It was disappointing that the only clear cut chance Leeds created on their own came in the 86th minute when a Richardson cross was met by Kandol, who headed home at Moss's near post.

A slightly flattering 1-3 scoreline to our visitors, but if we can put in more performances like this over the course of the season, then surely a home win will come ...... eventually?

After much hype surrounding the game and the history of past encounters, the match passed off quietly ..... inside the ground anyway this evening, much to the relief to all concerned I suspect.

My man of the match goes to Jem Karacan for his simply stunning goal. But mention must also go to James Henry who was superb with his wing play.

AFCB: Moss, Telfer, Gowling, A Pearce, Golbourne, Anderton, Hollands, Karacan, Kuffour, Bradbury, Henry
Subs: Stewart, Vokes (on for Anderton, 68), Pearce, J Pearce, Pitman, Lallana

Andy Burton, Portsmouth