AFC Bournemouth
Aaron Ramsdale celebrates his 22nd birthday this week, so with that in mind we look back at the week he made his professional debut three-and-a-half years ago.
Back in November 2016, Blades ‘keeper Simon Moore was rested with a slight knock, opening the path for the 18-year-old Ramsdale to step in between the sticks for the FA Cup second round visit of Leyton Orient.
With the game goalless, the debutant made a good save to keep Ollie Palmer out though a busy start soon turned into a quiet afternoon as United would go on to dominate, Harry Chapman’s hat-trick part of a 6-0 win as the hosts confidently took up their place in the third round draw.
Cherries news and matches
Saturday 29th October – Middlesbrough 2-0 AFC Bournemouth
“Not a great performance from our perspective, the goals we conceded were really disappointing,” said Eddie Howe after a long away trip not necessarily to remember.
Gaston Ramirez’s solo goal put Boro on their way, Stewart Downing doubling the lead after the break, the Cherries finishing the final minutes with ten men after Andrew Surman left the field injured after all three substitutions had been made.
Saturday 5th November – AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Sunderland
An agonising afternoon for the Cherries who dominated the match – having 22 shots with 70% of possession – but were unable to make the stats count, despite take the lead through Dan Gosling and playing the final half an hour against ten men after Steven Pienaar was dismissed.
Victor Anichebe had levelled before the break, and after soaking up waves of pressure, Jermain Defoe won the game with a penalty 15 minutes from time. The result left Howe’s side in mid-table, with 12 points from 11 games.
Saturday 19th November – Stoke City 0-1 AFC Bournemouth
Bournemouth bounced back into form following the international break as Nathan Ake crowned his first Premier League start for the club with his first Cherries goal as the side notched their first away win of the season and moved up into the top half.
After falling behind, the Potters had the chance to level only for Bojan Krkic to hit the bar with his penalty kick, the visiting defence defiant to end in retaining their clean sheet and claiming the win.
Going forwards…
Wins over Liverpool, Leicester City and Swansea City kept the points tally ticking for the Cherries in December with an unbeaten final five games claiming a ninth-placed finish which remains the club’s high watermark.
In the final month of 2016, Ramsdale was again given the nod as the Blades took in a trip to Bolton in the third round of the FA Cup in early December, his second and final appearance for the club.
The ‘keeper pulled off a top-drawer save to thwart Gary Madine early on, though the Blades would fall to a 3-2 loss and exit the competition.
The week in football…
In the following international break England would beat Scotland 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley, Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill on target, but the 90 minutes was only a small part of the news cycle around the match.
All the talk pre-match had centred on the sides wearing poppies, the fixture falling on Armistice Day, with FIFA standing firm in their ban on what they deemed ‘political and religious’ symbols. The FA were later fined around £35,000 after wearing armbands displaying the poppies.
The week in news…
Two days before Ramsdale’s debut, the Paris Agreement on climate change became effective, while two days after the match Donald Trump, who would later pull the USA out of the Paris Agreements, was elected President after defeating Hilary Clinton at the polls.
The was mixed sporting news for the UK that month, Andy Murray winning the ATP World Tour Finals after beating Novak Djokovic in London, while the following weekend Lewis Hamilton was pipped to the Formula 1 world title by Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
