Andrew Lloyd Williams provides updates from tonight's game at the Don Valley Stadium.
The game nearly got off to the worst possible start when Adam Le Fondre worked his way forward to shoot from close range. Fortunately for Bournemouth the effort cleared the crossbar to give Jalal a goal kick. After nearly being caught cold, Eddie Howe's charges hit the ground running with four corners in the first ten minutes. Steve Fletcher, who played an influential part in the victory at Crewe on Saturday, was making his presence felt in the opposition's penalty area.
Josh McQuoid, making only his third league start of the season, was keeping the Rotherham defence busy when he crossed into the box before shooting over the bar minutes later. The early dominance counted for nothing as the Millers opened the scoring when Tom Pope headed a cross home.
Bournemouth dusted themselves down and continued where they left off. Brett Pitman was unfortunate to see an effort parried away by the evergreen Andy Warrington in the Rotherham goal. As Lee Bradbury moved up the pitch and crossed, the Cherries won their seventh corner of the first half. There was still time for loan man Rhoys Wiggins to take an eighth fruitless corner before the half time whistle; Howe might as well spend the half time break concocting a new corner routine with his players.
Brett Pitman got Bournemouth the goal they surely deserved straight after the interval to level the scores. The marksman found the top left hand corner of the net for his 15th goal of the season. The home side, angered by this set-back, responded positively; Shwan Jalal had to be on his toes to keep out efforts from Cummins and Gunning.
Just before the hour mark the Cherries took the lead when a speculative Danny Hollands shot found the net. The midfielder beat Warrington from outside the box- the nestled in the bottom right hand corner of the net as he wheeled away in delight. Hollands netted again minutes later to give his side a two goal cushion and help them take control of the game. He scored from closer range this time after being set up unselfishly by big Steve Fletcher.
Fellow promotion chasers Rotherham never looked like giving up the ghost and nearly made it 3-2 when the dangerous Le Fondre was unlucky to see a shot come back off the upright. Nicky Law was next to worry Jalal as his shot stung the palms of the Cherries keeper. As Rotherham's hopes of gaining a point began to fade, Pablo Mills rushed a shot and wasted his opportunity. Cherries defended resoloutely to see out the game and claim maximum points for the second consecutive game on the road.
Tonight's attendance at the Don Valley Stadium: 3,180
Goals:
Rotherham United: (25 minutes) Pope
AFC Bournemouth: (46 minutes) Pitman, (58 minutes) Hollands, (66 minutes) Hollands
Yellow Cards:
Rotherham United: (84 minutes) Sharps
AFC Bournemouth: (60 minutes) Fletcher
Red Cards:
Rotherham United:
AFC Bournemouth:
Substitutions:
Rotherham United: (72 minutes) Tonge for Joseph, (77 minutes) Taylor for Law, (77 minutes) Marshall for Ellison
AFC Bournemouth: (90 minutes) Goulding for McQuoid, (90 minutes) Connell for Feeney
Eddie Howe goes into tonight's game with a severely depleted squad; The Football League have not granted the Cherries permission to sign Mustapha Dumbuya on loan as requested. It had been hoped that the 21-year-old Doncaster Rovers man would fill a gap left by the absence of Marvin Bartley, who could be missing for another week yet. After the best efforts of former Cherries boss Sean O'Driscoll to help his former side failed, assistant manager Jason Tindall has been named on the bench.
Cherries line up:
1) Shwan Jalal
23) Lee Bradbury
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3) Ryan Garry
5 Jason Pearce
16) Rhoys Wiggins
17) Josh McQuoid
11) Liam Feeney
8) Anton Robinson
14 Danny Hollands
33) Steve Fletcher
9) Brett Pitman
Substitutes: 19) Jeff Goulding, 30) Dan Thomas, 10) Alan Connell, 31) Jason Tindall
