Stuttle spot on twice but Bristol City overcome Cherries

The Cherries were reduced to 10 men in the first half after Jack Holman was sent off at Canford Park Arena.

Jonny Stuttle had netted from the penalty spot to level up the contest at 1-1 for the hosts, following Ephraim Yeboah’s opener.

Brandon Bak made it 2-1 to the Robins before the break and Jed Meerholz’s deflected strike gave them a two-goal advantage four minutes into the second period.

But despite being a man light, the Cherries kept pushing forward. Stuttle netted a second penalty of the afternoon after Remy Rees-Dottin was again fouled in the area.

Despite not being able to find an equaliser, manager Lowy was pleased by the way his group stuck to the task.

Lowy told afcb.co.uk: “When we conceded the first goal it set us back a little bit but it was a good response from the boys, which was pleasing.

“Obviously when we went down to 10 men, we had to shuffle a few things round a little bit. What was pleasing off the back of it is we were still creating chances.

“In the second half, what we were pleased to see from the group as a whole was the mentality that they showed to not give up, to still be on the front foot and press to win the ball back and be aggressive.

“I think they did that, towards the end you could see the momentum was swinging our way when we got our second goal. I was pleased to see we probably finished the stronger team.

“It was good to see the mentality of the group was strong right up until the end, they should take a lot of confidence from that.”

Next up for the Cherries is a home clash against Charlton Athletic on Tuesday (midday kick-off).

They then end their league campaign with an away clash at Burnley on Saturday, May 11.

AFC Bournemouth: Allan, Holman, Parkes, Carroll (Whitehead, 87), William, Williams, Day (Stevens, 87), Gregory, Stuttle (Kasukumya, 87), Clarke (Oguleye, 60), Rees-Dottin (Merritt, 81).