Bright sunshine gave viewing problems to our East Stand, relived occasionally by patchy cloud. This could be a break from disappointing results, if not performances.
KO was preceded by a minute’s applause for the recently-deceased John Benson, Boscombe player & manager and a football man through & through, even if I did criticise his (lack of) attacking policy at the original fans’ forum.
Rovers KO to the North stand with an orange ball (some strange FA Cup ruling?); immediately Feeney was in at inside right attempting a shot or pass and McQuoid tapped it in at the far post. 1-0, 1 minute! Pause for breath, then Cummings passed it in to McQuoid in the area at inside left. He controlled it with his left, going left to give him space, & leathered it across the keeper with the same foot. 2-0, 4!! Good grief. Cheers had barely died down when Fletcher headed down to Pugh on the edge of the area at inside left; he thumped it right-footed across the keeper. 3-0, 7!!! Too many of us thought, OK, game over, let’s relax. Your correspondent looked forward to a brief report. Regrettably, some of the home players reacted similarly.
Pugh hit a 25+-yard free just wide; Rovers were bemused – rabbits in headlights. Robinson hit a long shot wide. Fletcher took out 2 defenders simultaneously without fouling. Smith crossed with his left but Pugh headed at the keeper. But Rovers responded with a dash at inside right, cut in, and a left footer just outside Jalal’s left-hand post. Fletcher & Hollands suffered consecutive goal-line clearances, resulting in a corner. Oh for such goals at Hillsborough, Griffin Park… Sure enough, Rovers had a 25-yard free at inside right. The left-foot shot saw Jalal down comfortably – but the ball went between thighs & legs, & his head went down in acute embarrassment. 3-1, 27. Away fans, inevitably, sang “We’re gonna win 4-3”.
Boscombe seemed lackadaisical, as if it was a training match. McQuoid turned and hit a 20-yard left-footer just wide. An away forward went between Pearce & Bartley but the header was soft to Jalal. Smith gave a lovely nick on to Feeney who put a superb low cross just too much in front of 3 late on-rushers. Then Smith went to the by-line & put the cross on the net roof. Pity his defensive positional play was not as good as his attacking. McQuoid & Bartley showed dominance, with Hollands pulling most of the strings and Pugh picking up pieces in midfield. McQuoid was offside, & yellowed for kicking the ball away – stupid. Hollands went in strong – little if any contact with the 18 who made a lot of it, but intent so a yellow. Then a Rovers cross from the right, (Phil H. – Bartley hasn’t yet learned to head away while running backwards) so the (nearly as old as Fletcher) Goodison had an easy header at the back stick. 3-2, 42. Then one of his colleagues was yellowed for mouth after a free against him. HT: 3-2 & a chance to catch our breath.
From the restart, McQuoid put a long one over. Pugh put a long free (30+ yards?) just over. Evidently Eddie Howe had managed to inculcate the squad with an attitude of “shoot early, shoot often”. But Rovers were now a match for the home side. Pugh’s cross was just too high for Feeney, then Wiggins replaced Bartley on 51 with Cummings moving into right-central defence. Smoke drifted in from behind the North stand – presumably a bonfire in Thistlebarrow Road.
Robinson seemed to pull at an opponent; from the 30+-yard free, Jalal didn’t hold & the onrushing forward tapped it in. 3-3, 53. Not Jalal’s finest hour, but he regained some confidence later with a few decent catches. At that point, Cherries seemed to say, OK, line in the sand, now we’ll do this properly. A long ball put 2 defenders in a quandary; McQuoid collected at inside-right, moved left towards the spot & in acres of space slotted it left-footed with aplomb. 4-3, 57, and his first senior hat-trick. Then the best of all: Fletcher fed McQuoid, on to Feeney, twist & turn in the area, dummies, shimmies, & as he did more than once last season curled a lovely left-footer inside the far post. Ooohhh! 5-3, 61. Hitherto he’d seemed to have a footballer’s version of the golfer’s yips, but evidently had the confidence to try that one. He then burst through from the centre circle, feeding McQuoid who shot at the keeper.
Arter replaced Fletcher on 72, but seemed not to contribute anything of significance. The home team was recovering confidence, and began strutting its stuff. Cummings did not appear out of place in his new position – indeed, had a decent game overall. Hollands put one in on the keeper, who fumbled with no-one near. Then Boscombe seemed to attempt an Arsenal, trying to walk it in.
McQuoid went off to a massive ovation; Purches came on for him on 90. He went wide right with Feeney up front. Since the final goal, Rovers seemed to have accepted reality, & both teams played out the game. Consensus seemed to be that the ref. was nearly as bad as at Brentford last Tuesday – but Div.1 officials have committed howlers in recent weeks. FT: 5-3.
A game of 3 halves… Over 20 years ago, I was standing on that then excellent side, the West Bank at Sincil Bank. Imps 0-0 Darlo at half-time. The home manager moved Tony James into central defence, swapping him with the human tank known as ex-non-league Graham Bressington who went central midfield. Within 20 minutes, Lincoln had scored from a penalty, in due course from a free, & added another to go 3-0 up. They relaxed, Darlo scored 2, so 3-2 at the final whistle. Today was the nearest I’ve seen to that. All credit to Rovers for the come-back, but with such an inept defence they’ll find it hard to escape the drop zone. Similarly Boscombe who can demolish a poor side but must learn how to control the whole game, not lose concentration. League-wise, 23 from 15 seems about right after this display; some tightening might lead to a play-off place.
So – Magpies away in round 2, the reverse of last season’s draw. Wonder who’ll be their manager that week?
Very nearly Hollands, who largely ran the match, but the away comeback was partly down to Boscombe taking the foot off the accelerator, i.e. midfield slackening off. So let’s agree with the match sponsors & give it to McQuoid for always looking for opportunities and especially that consummate hat-trick.
AFCB: Jalal, Smith, Bartley, Pearce, Cummings, Feeney, Robinson, Hollands, Pugh, Fletcher, McQuoid
Subs: Stewart, Stockley, Wiggins (for Bartley, 51 mins), Ater (for Fletcher, 72 mins), Purches (for McQuoid, 89 mins)
Peter Wicks, Bulford