It was a brave performance by the injury hit Cherries at the Prostar Stadium as they went down to an unlucky 1-0 defeat.

Both Jason Pearce and Liam Feeney sustained injuries in training on the Friday, so Bournemouth had Warren Cummings at centre half and Josh McQuoid came in to the side.  With Jeff Goulding the only pro on the bench, Eddie Howe sent off an SOS call to Bournemouth and Joe Roach brought schoolboy Jayden Stockley to Shrewsbury, not arriving until 3.20 and not even having his shirt at the ground.

Despite this, it was Bournemouth who started the stronger, creating the far better chances in a first half that although goalless, was very entertaining for both sets of supporters.  Brett Pitman was looking lively up front and came close to connecting with Lee Bradburys early cross.  On 25 minutes, he came even closer.  Bradbury was again involved and Pitman's curling strike went inches wide.  Pitman then put a header over David Button, but on to the roof of the net before having possibly the best chance of the half when he was found by a cross from McQuoid and elected to hit the ball first time, putting it high over the bar.

Marvin Bartley, who recieved an outrageous booking after a superb tackle, was then sent free, but his first touch let him down and his shot was smothered by Button.  Shrewsbury finally got a chance in the first half when Steve Leslie, who looked offside, had a glorious chance, but Shwan Jalal reacted superbly.

Shrewsbury came out of the traps quickly in the second half and that soon paid dividends,  The ball fell kindly for Terry Dunfield to fire home.  That goal was certainly against the run of play and Shrewsbury had something to hang on to.  The Cherries looked to get themselves back on level terms and Connell went close and then Pitman saw a free kick go agonisingly wide.  With Bournemouth pushing forward, chances came at the other end with Jalal pulling off a brilliant save and the home side also hitting the woodwork twice.

It was a heartbreaking defeat after such a committed performance by Bournemouth in what was an excellent game of football.