Knockout blow at the wrong end (From Bournemouth Echo)

Knockout blow at the wrong end

7:00am Monday 13th April 2009

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IF this had been a boxing match, it would never have been allowed to go the distance.

Like the confident pugilist – on the back of a comfortable victory last time out – Cherries were on their toes from the first bell, jabbing away with conviction.

They picked apart the Barnet defence with ease and seemed likely to land some meaningful blows from the very outset.

But despite leaving their hosts wounded and lurching against the ropes for long periods of this contest, Cherries’ inability to land a knockout shot always left them vulnerable.

And with Barnet possessing that puncher’s chance, the tables were turned when they pierced a Cherries guard which had been rarely troubled throughout.

As in boxing, football is a sport where there are very few substitutes for experience and, in Paul Furlong, the Bees always had someone with the potential to catch Cherries with a stinging strike.

That sucker punch came in the 51st minute and Eddie Howe’s men were left reeling, never fully regaining the composure which had seen them in the ascendancy for almost the entire match up to that point.

Spurred on by a tremendous travelling support of 1,268 vocal fans, the Dorset side almost made a dream start in North London.

Playing down the Underhill slope in the first half, Cherries immediately made it clear |they were keen to use Lee Bradbury’s aerial prowess from wide areas.

This tactic very nearly paid off on 11 minutes when the versatile former Manchester City star leapt above his marker to meet one of many cross-field passes from Rhoys Wiggins, only for the woodwork to deny him a fine goal.

Cherries continued to hold the centre of the ring throughout the opening exchanges as Danny Hollands prompted proceedings with an air of authority, while the excellent Ryan Garry and Jason Pearce once again backed up the widely-held belief that they are two young defenders of great promise.

Barnet keeper Jake Cole produced an excellent save to deny Brett Pitman as Cherries looked to make their dominance tell, before Pearce saw a goalbound header cleared off the line by Neal Bishop.

Rather predictably, the men from Dean Court were made to pay for their wastefulness when Furlong escaped the attentions of the otherwise faultless Garry to get between the visiting centre-halves and direct Kenny Gillet’s cross past Shwan Jalal.

The goal – the 200th of Furlong’s career – confirmed manager Howe’s worst fears.

“I had a feeling the more chances we got and the more we didn’t score that they might nick one at the other end,” he said afterwards.

“I think that was the only chance I remember them having. Furlong has been in good form lately and he took his goal very well.

“Football’s a strange game because everything had worked a treat. Everything we’d planned all week worked and we still did n’t win the game.

“It’s a strange feeling because I’m pleased in a lot of senses. I thought we dictated the play.

“To come to an away game and be as dominant as we were and create so many chances, I was delighted. But we came away with a 1-0 defeat, so that’s a big disappointment.”

Heading home without anything to show for the creditable efforts wasn’t for the want of trying, however.

After Furlong had netted his landmark goal, Cherries still had plenty of chances to pull themselves level.

Jeff Goulding saw a scrambled effort hacked off the line as the visitors’ frustrations began to grow.

Captain Shaun Cooper and Goulding both had their names taken by Clive Penton, whose pernickety refereeing style did little to help the game as a spectacle, or to endear himself to the supporters who’d made the journey from the south coast.

Howe, who threw Steve Fletcher into the fray in the second half having rested the powerful forward from his starting line-up, even put defender Scott Guyett on as a makeshift striker, such was his desperation to get a positive result.

And his side almost managed to gain a deserved point when Bradbury latched on to a defensive error, but the excellent Cole was brave to deny the 33-year-old.

For all their dominance, Cherries had only a performance – rather than points – to reflect on.

And as Howe rightly pointed out, that situation is far from ideal given their current predicament.

He said: “In our position, like I said afterwards to the boys, I’d rather come away with the points than the positives.”

But, elsewhere in League Two, things went Cherries’ way.

Despite the result at Underhill leaving the Dean Court outfit in trouble, their Football League survival prospects remain positive, with Chester City and Grimsby Town the more likely sides to face the big KO as the season reaches its conclusion.

A win today against leaders Brentford would give Cherries much more than a fighting chance.

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