Report from Tom Crocker:-
Goals from Robinson and Pitman helped move AFC Bournemouth to within touching distance of promotion, after a routine win against already relegated Darlington at Dean Court.
The Quakers were looking to stretch their impressive run of victories away from home to four and in the process redeem themselves for their 2-0 home defeat to Bournemouth earlier in the campaign. The Cherries were still on the promotion trail after victory at home to Hereford on Tuesday night but had to do it without Ryan Garry after he continued to be ruled out through injury. The home side did however recall Shaun Cooper to the centre of defence with Marvin Bartley moving further forwards. Liam Feeney started on the right wing with Anton Robinson operating from the left hand side of midfield.
It was near domination from start to finish for the hosts, with the visitors only threatening Jalal's goal on two occasions in comparison to twenty efforts from the Cherries in the entire match. However the opening exchanges were scrappy with neither side looking to have the cutting edge in the final third. Darlington made their physical intentions known inside the first ten minutes with Gary Smith receiving a yellow card for a cynical trip on Marvin Bartley and Brett Pitman also receiving treatment for a blow to the head.
The first real effort at goal did in fact come from the visitors. A Lee Bradbury back-header never looked like reaching Jalal so lone striker Tadgh Purcell intercepted and, after spotting the keeper off of his line, attempted the chip. Fortunately for the fans of the Steve Fletcher Stand, the ball bounced wide. The home side seemed to take encouragement from that and then pushed on to try and open the scoring themselves. After efforts from Hollands and Pitman didn't trouble Redmond in the Darlington goal, up stepped Steve Fletcher himself to try and open the scoring with a half volley on the edge of the area. The travelling keeper was again not required as the ball deflected out for a corner before reaching the goal.
Fletcher had the next shot on 28 minutes after a cross from Bradbury was too high for top scorer Pitman. It fell to the veteran's feet but his volley lacked composure and the ball sailed harmlessly over the crossbar. Another Pitman shot was blocked before captain Jason Pearce could only direct his header straight at Redmond. This succession of missed chances seemed to be affecting the players' mentality. When half time approached, a fabulous cross from Liam Feeney was begging to be nodded in but Pitman, Bartley and even Fletcher were on the edge of the area looking for a cut back.
The crowd began to get restless after seeing so many promising positions amass to no direct efforts on goal and so it was up to the players on the pitch to rejuvenate their spirits. And they so very nearly did. Some fantastic build-up play from Feeney, Hollands and Pitman saw the latter duo combining for a one-two just inside the penalty area. It was looking as though Hollands was about to strike but the ball got caught under his feet so he had to prod it back to Fletcher, who had managed quite a few efforts at goal today, to have another crack. Just like the chance a few moments ago, the ball was deflected wide.
The Cherries had one last flurry before half time when Fletcher continued his domination in the air, with a flick-on to Liam Feeney on the half way line. The pacy winger found a way through for a left footed shot but it was well blocked. Headed efforts from Bradbury, Hollands and Fletcher all failed to find the target but Fletch's was a golden chance. After Nathan Mulligan was booked for a foul on Feeney, who had switched to the left wing, Brett Pitman swung in a free kick which picked out the big forward 6 yards from goal. However, to everyone's amazement the ball went wide and half time arrived goalless. Not what the Cherries were looking for.
The frustrations of the first half seemed to be carrying over to the second when Pearce was booked just 2 minutes after the restart for a poor, late challenge. The resulting free kick was floated in but headed clear by the towering Fletcher. Just moments later a pass from Fletch to Pitman was over hit and cleared for a throw in, which was subsequently easily dealt with. Darlington were threatening to damage another high flying side's promotion aspirations after victory at Rochdale on Tuesday, and now a fairly resilient defensive display this afternoon.
So it was a great relief to the fans, players and staff alike when, on 56 minutes, Liam Feeney's pin-point cross from the left picked out Anton Robinson on the far post to nod home and send the Steve Fletcher Stand wild. He later mentioned that the recent home success is helped by the crowd and that the "fans have been fantastic and major credit to them". Robinson also admitted that "he felt more comfortable on the right hand side", and the tactical switch from Eddie Howe clearly paid off with the two wide men combining for the opener. This goal meant that the visitors had to try and attack so they threw on striker Michael Smith to try and force an equaliser. In truth, it never looked like coming and it was in fact the home side who looked to wrap the game up as soon as possible.
After a couple of blunt attacks, the Cherries were awarded a penalty. Shots from Fletcher and then Pitman were blocked before the ball fell to Feeney on the left, who cut inside before seeing his effort handled, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Brett Pitman continued his own personal push for the League 2 golden boot after slotting the penalty into the bottom right hand corner of the net and taking his tally to 24 goals for this league campaign, 3 off of leader Lee Hughes of Notts County.
With twenty minutes remaining following that Pitman penalty, the visitors nearly pulled one back immediately when a cross from the left found Purcell in the box but his header bounced off of the top of the net. Bournemouth were clearly feeling confident as both full backs Bradbury and Wiggins had right footed efforts from the edge of the box. The loanee came closest but Redmond saved well down low to his right. This cut in and shot prompted chants from the crowd of "sign him up!", but their attentions quickly turned to combative midfielder Danny Hollands after he was named the man of the match.
There was about just time for one last attack to try and send the third highest home crowd of the season home even happier. A counter attack found Alan Connell 25 yards from goal and the substitute tried a dipping shot with the keeper slightly off of his line. Nevertheless, Redmond had the last word after tipping the shot onto the crossbar before casually catching it as it came back down. This victory means that the Cherries can clinch promotion with victory at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium next Saturday, a game in which Eddie Howe says that his side will "keep their foot down" and look to "finish it off".
