Nevertheless, with Darlington only having one point and Cherries sweeping (almost) all before them, anything less than three points was going to be a disappointment - all in all a game with "banana-skin" written all over it.
With Sammy Igoe out injured Danny Hollands came in for his first start of the season, and while it's nice to have replacements of that quality available the downside was Mark Molesley having to move to a wide position, which seemed to deprive the midfield of its usual drive and fluency - Hollands looks likes he's a few games short of match fit . A very small crowd in a rather large stadium didn't help to generate much urgency, and too often in the first half we were guilty of giving the ball away needlessly, a classic case of being dragged down to the same level as your opponents.
Nevetheless, after fifteen fairly uneventful minutes Bournemouth took the league when a long throw from Feeney found it's way to Pitman. He had his back to goal and the bounce was awkwardly high, but such details don't seem to matter much to him in his current form, and he hooked the ball over his shoulder and inside the post. Less than a year ago after his monumentally irresponsible red card at Blyth most of us wouldn't have cared if he never kicked a ball for us again - both the coaching staff and the player deserve a lot of credit for the turnaround.
Darlington had brought in some loan players in response to their poor start to the season, and it was one of these, Hull's Jamie Devitt, who caught the eye in the first half, giving Warren Cummings an uncomfortable time with pace and skill down the right. Fortunately most of his good work came to nothing once he had to pass to his less able team-mates. Darlington's best moment came when he decided to go it alone, launching a powerful shot which dipped awkwardly late in its flight, forcing Jalal to parry and fall on the rebound.
The play in the first half certainly didn't reflect the gap in league position. After the interval things improved somewhat with Bournemouth getting forward more and having a lot more shots, mostly from Pitman, who clearly believes he can score from pretty much anywhere at the moment, and its hard to disagree. Despite the improvement we were still giving the ball away far too often, and Darlington were still in the game sufficiently to leave us anxious for a second goal to wrap things up. It was a frustratingly long time coming, but with eight minutes remaining Robinson broke away leaving defenders trailing in his wake. When he reached the penalty area he seemed to get the ball under his feet and it appeared that the chance would go to waste, but Kane misjudged a sliding tackle and in desperation used his hand to sweep the ball away. Pitman took the penalty and sent Hoult the wrong way - it's hard to think of a Bournemouth player taker who has inspired more confidence from the spot.
With the points secure it was time for the obligatory time-wasting substitutions, Connell, McQuoid and Webb getting on for the win bonus.
A satisfactory outcome, although the predictability of the result combined with the less than fluent performance meant that there was little of the usual elation from an away win - but if winning without playing well is the mark of a good side then the signs for this season are certainly positive.
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AFCB: Jalal, Bradbury , Garry, Pearce, Cummings, Robinson, Feeney, Hollands, Molesley, Fletcher, Pitman
Subs: Thomas, Guyett, Partington, Connell (on for Fletcher, 84 mins), McQuoid (for Feeney, 92 mins), Webb (for Molesley, 93 mins)