RIGHT-back Simon Francis felt Cherries' wing wizardry had held “the key” to the 2-0 defeat of 10-man Watford on Friday.

The Hornets, who had Gabriele Angella dismissed just 30 seconds into the Sky-televised clash, were often exposed down the flanks as Marc Pugh and Matt Ritchie found plenty of room for manoeuvre.

Cherries' wide men played crucial roles in the Championship leaders' second goal, with Pugh's cross dropping to Ritchie via Yann Kermorgant, allowing the ex-Swindon winger to strike firmly into the opposite corner.

And Francis, who regularly dove-tailed with Ritchie to good effect, said the hosts' wing play had aided their charge to victory.

He told the Daily Echo: “Watford left two men up front when they were down to 10 and that opened up spaces at the back.

“Me and Matty were two against one a lot of the time and it was the same with Charlie Daniels and Pughy. I thought the wide play made a lot of difference and was key to our game.

“Overlaps were on a lot of the time as I didn't have anyone chasing me. I've been in that position before where you have a full-back and a wide man running at you and you just don't know where to defend.

"Inevitably, you are going to get beaten most of the time if the ball is right. With Matty's quality, I knew that either I was going to get played in or Matty was going to check inside and deliver a good cross.

“It's something we work on every day in training and it's key to our success down the right and the left as well.”

Francis admitted that three points had come as a perfect tonic off the back of league defeats to Leeds and Norwich.

He added: “It was a big game for us and we knew we had to react in the right way.

“It was all about starting well and the red card changed the game. Against 10 men you would like to think we would have the lion's share of possession, which we did, and we made it count with the goals.

"It would have been a tougher game with 11 men, there's no doubt about that, especially with the confidence they had after the Blackpool win.

“With the teams being the two highest-scoring in the league, I think a lot of people would have betted on overs or both teams to score. Thankfully for us, we kept a clean sheet, which was important.”