Cherries: Support acts take leading roles in top show (From Bournemouth Echo)

Cherries: Support acts take leading roles in top show

7:00am Monday 8th March 2010 in

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IT has been a busy weekend for awards and the nominations have continued to flood in.

The short-list has been whittled down to the following – Anton Robinson (best goal), Josh McQuoid (best newcomer), Marvin Bartley (best display by an out-of-position player), Eddie Howe (best director) and the Dean Court faithful (best supporting act).

Also in the running are – Jim Bentley (most glaring miss), Sammy McIlroy (most questionable quote) and John ‘Willo’ Williams (wittiest quip of the day).

And the winners are… It remains to be seen whether the red carpet will get an airing at Dean Court this season, although Cherries must surely have impressed the judges with this latest offering.

In one of their best home Saturday displays of the campaign, Robinson’s well-executed first-half strike ensured momentum would be maintained in their promotion push.

But there was a lot more to this victory than the securing of the three precious points that kept Howe’s charges ahead of the chasing pack and on the coat tails of leaders Rochdale.

Any lingering thoughts that their threadbare squad would be strong enough to challenge for promotion and be able to last the distance were firmly dispelled.

With linchpin defender Jason Pearce and livewire winger Liam Feeney again absent through injury, Cherries’ resources were stretched to the limit.

Step forward Bartley and McQuoid.

A central midfielder by preference, Bartley took to his emergency defensive duties like the proverbial duck to water. In fact, he rolled back the years to the time when he used to play there regularly – for Caversham Boys under-11s.

He performed like a seasoned centre-back and, in tandem with Ryan ‘The Rock’ Garry, ensured Morecambe front two Phil Jevons and Paul Mullin hardly had a sniff.

Shackled throughout, Jevons never looked likely to add to his 17 goals, while Mullin escaped Cherries’ clutches on just two occasions, firing wide at the start of the second half and clipping the outside of the post late on.

McQuoid, who has been forced to play second fiddle to Feeney for most of the season, quite simply came of age against the Shrimps. His was a man-of-the-match performance of which he could be proud and Howe encouraged.

Direct, forceful and full of energy, the 20-year-old Lymington lad gave Morecambe defender Andy Parrish a torrid afternoon and was pivotal as Cherries mounted wave after wave of attacks.

Sacrificed after 27 minutes as Cherries trailed 3-0 at Morecambe in December, McQuoid’s substitution at Christie Park would have been a far cry from the standing ovation he deservedly received when he was replaced in injury time.

On the evidence of this compellingly one-sided contest, Cherries’ all-star cast franked their automatic promotion credentials and 11 repeat perfor mances should see them avoid the jamboree of the play-offs.

By his own admission, Robinson’s 18th-minute goal – finished with aplomb after Morecambe had failed to clear Lee Bradbury’s long throw – was a no-contest for the best of his professional career.

“The other three all came about from goalmouth scrambles!” joked the 24-year-old, another leading contender for the man-of-the-match gong on his 50th league appearance for the club.

Had Alan Connell buried rather than sent wide a glancing header inside the opening three minutes, any nerves in the Cherries camp would have been settled earlier. As it was, an enthralled home crowd was in good voice as Howe’s charges turned on the style.

The North Stand was also treated to a comical cameo from Shrimps’ chunky defender Bentley who blazed over with the goal at his mercy from barely six yards five minutes before the break.

“He strode forward looking like Franz Beckenbauer,” Willo told Radio Solent listeners. “And finished like Franz Battenburg!”

While McIlroy could point to Bentley’s opportunity in claiming his side had deserved a share of the spoils, the Morecambe boss must have been viewing through the rose-tinted variety.

Cherries’ determination to continue turning the screw for long periods after Robinson had netted was indicative of a desire that will serve them well.

If the second half offered less conviction, the first had been dominated by the hosts. Even then though, the pick of the chances were Cherries’ with Roche’s top-drawer save denying McQuoid and a hasty linesman’s flag robbing Brett Pitman of a second in injury-time.

“The players always give 100 per cent and I think that’s the key thing,” said Howe. “They have got the mentality that, no matter what is thrown at them, they can respond and they did that again. I can’t speak highly enough of their attitude and commitment to the cause.”

Howe added: “It’s beyond me how anyone can criticise these lads, which they have this season, and we have used it as a motivation. Time and time again, they have come up against adversity but they keep producing performances and deserve a huge amount of credit.

“They are a professional group and care deeply about what they do. I think that shows through because you can see from how they play that the spirit is fantastic.”