Ben Deacon reports from Dean Court

On a sunny February afternoon Bournemouth lined up against Cheltenham hoping to continue their current run of good results. Warren Cummings serves the final game of his three match ban and hopes to return to action on Tuesday against Notts County.

The opening few minutes saw Cheltenham keep most of the possession but Bournemouth looked the more dangerous of the two sides, Josh McQuoid causing the Gloucestershire outfit the most distress down the left flank.

Cheltenham had a strong ten minutes midway through the first half, culminating in a great save from Cherries keeper Shwan Jalal, who used his legs deny the away side.

Bournemouth very nearly grabbed the lead when Cheltenham keeper Scott Brown fumbled a corner into the path of Brett Pitman before bravely diving into a scrum of players to claim it back.

Josh McQuoid unleashed a powerful shot that was deflected just wide on the 35 minute mark. The move seemed to wake the home side and crowd up as Bournemouth started to pile pressure on the visitors.

Liam Feeney came close with a shot from 30 yards after the Robins defence failed to close him down.

The second half started with chances at both ends. Shwan Jalal had to pay attention as a Cheltenham free kick looped away from him. At the other end Danny Holland blazed over from the edge of the box after waiting an age for the ball to drop.

Pitman very nearly gave Bournemouth the lead when he turned quickly on the edge of the box and flashed a shot just over the Cheltenham goal. Moments later veteran Steve Fletcher rose above the visiting centre backs to meet a Liam Feeney cross, heading just wide.

Bournemouth had Lee Bradbury to thank for keeping the scores level. The defender stretched to turn away a dangerous low cross from the right.

Late in the game Pitman had yet another chance to give Bournemouth the lead, side-footing his shot wide when found unmarked on the edge of the 6-yard box.

Substitute Jeff Goulding almost scored what would of have been the goal of the season when he flicked the ball between his legs with his heel towards the Cheltenham goal, missing by inches.

Deep into injury time the Cherries had a brace of chances. Pitman forced a superb save from his curling free kick and Goulding put a bicycle kick just over.

Those chances turned out to be the last action of the game, the away side glad to hear the referee's whistle.