Boscombe KO'd to the South stand. Pitman won a corner - headed over. Fletcher fed Hollands nicely; the latter miscued his snapshot horribly with Feeney available. The Spireites right-winger was a handful; tricks, fed, cross, big scramble away. Garry had to go off briefly after that. Jalal then had to be sharp; Spireites proving mobile & threatening. Garry was late, & yellowed. The resultant free, at inside-left, was parried by Jalal but Fletcher's clearance ricocheted off a forward into the net. 0-1, 15. Unfortunate. In response, Pitman tried a long left-footer from the right, saved easily. Feeney was hardly in the game at this point.
Edgar was not quite there - position, reading the bounce, passing, sometimes overenthusiastic in the tackle. Bartley was sitting, but not close enough to his oppos (or moving enough) to break up attacks. Pitman hit over, & Edgar was lucky to win a free at inside-left just outside the area. Pitman curled that one into the side netting. It needed someone's foot on the ball; Hollands was a little forward of Bartley but not driving or controlling. Pearce was decisive more than once, & Feeney was held back to produce a free. Fletcher headed it down; the keeper had to scramble to hold it. Edgar did some good work & released Hollands on the left; Feeney scuffed his shot from the cross. But Edgar & Cummings were beaten too easily too often; the winger crossed & Jalal had to scramble to hold it. By now I'd've swapped Robinson & Bartley, to give some midfield control. Spireites showed superiority; a chip from the edge of the area landed on the roof of the home net, & away forwards were twice offside.
Feeney had a few runs, & crossed to the keeper. Too often the ball was lumped up to Fletcher; once he controlled on his thigh & thumped it wide on the volley. Pitman chased, fouled, & was yellowed. All these cards will be reckoned all too soon. Then yet again Spireites sliced through the centre, releasing the 25 who hit it first time just inside Jalal's left-hand post to double the advantage at 45. The lead they deserved, but 0-2 was possibly a little harsh. HT: 0-2.
At the restart, Bradbury replaced Edgar, & went to right-back. Robinson went into central midfield, & proceeded to display a near-master class in that position. The first-half display looked like a Quinn team; now this looked like a Howe team, with spirit & movement, mobility & support. Bartley ran the channels, winning a corner; Fletcher headed it back & over. Bartley's cross won a corner. Then 2 successive corners led to a line clearance for another corner. But the little 27, a pain all afternoon, robbed Cummings & sped downfield, winning a free & a corner. A long ball caused panic in the Boscombe defence for another away corner. Connell replaced Bartley on 62 & promptly mis-kicked. Both sides now lost much of their shape & composure. Garry tackled superbly deep in his area. Feeney made a great run, crossing at 90 degrees on the run; Fletcher's looping header dropped onto the bar, leading to 2 more corners. The ball came out to Bradbury who calmly chipped from wide onto the roof of the unguarded net.
The Spireites centre-halves were ancient but too canny for the home forwards. Connell was enthusiastic, but was a little short of pace & instinctive confidence - understandable in the circumstances. The Bradbury released Feeney who crossed on the ground; it came out to Hollands who put an intelligent low shot right-footed into the keeper's left-hand corner of the net. 1-2, 75. Feeney won a corner, then Pearce did some great shepherding at the back. Pitman hit in low from the left, but too much ball-watching wasted the opportunity. All good stuff this half had come from the Robinson platform - until he over-hit a through ball meant for Connell. A neat chip, a Fletcher flick, a Connell flick, & a scramble, was followed very soon by Connell being pulled down but no pen.
Last throw of the dice: Stockley replaced Garry on 89, producing harum-scarum in the top third. Pitman put it back in but the header was wide. Stockley so nearly produced a telling ball in the area. A final corner was caught. FT: 1-2.
This had to happen eventually. In the eyes of most Boscombe supporters, the Football League is the Anti-Christ, seemingly vindictive; an alternative view is that it's applying tough love. Whichever, the consequences are in plain view: a young management team still on the learning curve, several players not yet match-fit (& perhaps one or 2 that should be rested), and one or 2 not of top-of-the-table quality. I hope Edgar is able to learn from this experience. Even so, a more favourable run of the ball could have seen the scores reversed.
If there's one lesson to be drawn from this game, it's that Robinson should be first on the team sheet, in central midfield. That would allow Hollands &/or Bartley to drive forward; neither is as good in the holding role. Feeney - in spite of that thigh niggle - is improving at crossing on the run, but forwards will have to arrive quicker at the business end to capitalise. Having said that, results elsewhere means that Cherries still top the division!
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AFCB: Jalal, Robinson, Garry, Pearce, Cummings, Feeney, Hollands, Bartley, Edgar, Fletcher, Pitman
Subs: Thomas, McQuoid, Bradbury (for Edgar, HT), Connell (for Bartley, 62 mins), Stockley (for Garry, 69 mins)
Peter Wicks, Bulford