Feeney powerless to stop the Pugh chop

Feeney was given his big break in the professional ranks by Eddie Howe and played a leading role in the Cherries’ Greatest Escape of 2008/09 and promotion to League One 12 months later.

The winger, plucked from non-league Salisbury, made 121 appearances in all competitions and scored some crucial goals for the club before joining Millwall in August 2011.

He moved to Bolton in July 2014 and returned to Dean Court for the first time with the Lancashire outfit when they provided the opposition for the Cherries’ final home game of the season.

And Feeney was in the thick of the action when his former team-mate Pugh opened the scoring six minutes before half-time, paving the way for a 3-0 win which saw the Cherries all but promoted.

Now at Blackpool, Feeney, in an interview with afcb.co.uk, recounted his memories from the game which took place five years ago today.

He said: “I played with Pughie lots of times and knew what he was going to do. But knowing is one thing and stopping him is another!

“The cross came in and I was marking him at the back post. Someone else was free in the middle and the ball went over both of our heads and dropped to him.

“He touched it on to his right foot and I knew he was going to chop me because I had seen him do it hundreds of times.

“But if I hadn’t tried to block the shot and he had stuck it in, I would have been in trouble so I had to try to block it.

“Instead, he chopped me back on his left foot, put it in the top corner and scored from a much tighter angle.

“If it had happened in any other game I had played against Pughie, it wouldn’t have been so bad. It just had to be that night and that scenario.

“Fair play to him, as much as I give stick to anyone, I have to take it as well!”

Feeney, who scored the Cherries’ equaliser in the win against Grimsby which completed the Greatest Escape in 2009, admitted returning to Dean Court had been an “awkward experience”.

He said: “It was strange to be honest. I’d played against Bournemouth for Blackburn the previous season but this was the first time I’d been back to Dean Court.

“Even being in the hotel and being back in the town felt weird. When we arrived at the ground, it felt to me like the promotion party had already started and we were just a support act. It felt like the club was going up, no matter what happened in that game.

“When I walked out of the tunnel, I remember seeing all the changes around the place and thinking what a transformation it had been from when I left.

“The pitch felt familiar but the club had a completely different feel to it and it had kicked on massively.

“I always look first for the results of the teams I’ve played for, especially Bournemouth. I’ve still got some friends around the club and it wasn’t an enjoyable feeling for me playing in that game.

“I have so much love for the club and have always wanted it see it do well after what we went through when I was there and now I was playing in a team which was trying to stop them.

“If the game had taken place at any other time, it wouldn’t have bothered me at all. It would have been nice to be back but it would have been like any other game.

“It was a strange scenario. I didn’t know how I was going to be received and it was weird. For me, it felt like it wasn’t real.

“If I hadn’t been part of the game, I would have been watching on television, cheering and hoping they could do it.

“It was one of those days in your career that you don’t look back on fondly because it was an awkward experience and I felt torn.

“I am just happy to see them where they are now and the past few years have been incredible. It’s a shame not to be a part of it but that’s how football is.”

Click here for details of how to watch a re-run of the Cherries' memorable win over Bolton.