AFC Bournemouth 0-0 Town - Half-Time
Sunday, 29th Dec 2013 15:55

Town and Bournemouth remain locked at 0-0 at the break, although the Cherries had had the better of the chances with Blues keeper Dean Gerken making an impressive save from Cherries striker Lewis Grabban.

Mick McCarthy named the same side for the fifth successive game, lining up in their now familiar Â¬4-3-3 formation, while the Cherries replaced suspended midfielder Harry Arter, a Town trialist back in 2009, with Josh McQuoid.

The Blues started brightly and in the third minute Charlie Daniels did well to turn an Aaron Cresswell freekick from the left behind from the corner, from which the ball flicked off Christophe Berra’s head and away from goal.

The early stages of the game were played almost entirely in the Bournemouth half with Town winning a succession of corners.

After the Cherries had failed to clear one of those flagkicks, former Bournemouth loanee David McGoldrick hit a looping half-volley which gave Cherries’ keeper Lee Camp little trouble.

The Blues continued to dominate with the home side unable to string two passes together. On 13 Frank Nouble hit a 25-yard strike which Camp claimed at the second at the second attempt.

Despite Town’s dominance at that stage, the Cherries almost went in front in the 15th minute when McQuoid fed Lewis Grabban on the right and the former Millwall man cut the ball back to Ryan Fraser, whose shot was deflected wide.

The Cherries were gaining the upper hand and on 21 Berra was forced to head Simon Francis’s cross from the right behind.

A minute later, Cresswell almost gifted the home side a goal when his wayward pass across his own area to keeper Dean Gerken played in Fraser, who should have done better than his shot over the bar.

The Blues were by now the ones under pressure and on 24 Gerken tipped wide Eunan O’Kane’s 30-yard attempt at catching him off his line, then saved low from Francis after Town had only half-cleared the corner.

Bournemouth went close to going ahead again in the 36th minute when on-loan Norwich midfielder Andrew Surman played Grabban in on goal with a backheel, but Gerken came off his line quickly to block superbly.

Three minutes later Smith got in the way of a Grabban strike at the far post with the home side as dominant as Town had been in the opening stages.

Daryl Murphy curled a rare Town shot over two minutes before the break, then Hyam struck a deflected effort wide.

As the third official’s board went up signalling a further minute, Cole Skuse crossed from the right but Nouble couldn’t find a Town team-mate with a header.

After the Blues had dominated the opening minutes, the Cherries had taken over and only an excellent Gerken save and some poor finishing had prevented the home side going in ahead at the break.

AFC Bournemouth: Camp, Francis, Ward, Elphick (c), Daniels, Ritchie, O'Kane, Surman, Fraser, Grabban, McQuoid. Unused: Allsop, Addison, Harte, Hughes, Pugh, Pitman, Thomas.

Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Hyam, Skuse, Tunnicliffe, Nouble, McGoldrick, Murphy. Unused: Loach, Mings, Tabb, Edwards, Anderson, Graham, Taylor. Referee: Phil Gibbs (West Midlands). Att:

Photo: Action Images

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