There's no unsettling team that Ed built (From Bournemouth Echo)

There's no unsettling team that Ed built

7:00am Monday 20th April 2009 in

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DESPITE being a lifelong Chester fan, Paul Baker probably did the right thing by staying well away from the Deva Stadium for this clash.

Not only would Cherries’ ‘owner’ have had to watch the worst team in League Two by a stretch for 90 minutes, but he would have had to stare into the eyes of the very men who have probably ended his beloved Blues’ days in the Football League.

The same men who continue to inspire all who come into contact with them with their dedication to a cause that Sport-6, or Baker and Alastair Saverimutto if you prefer, have very nearly brought to its already grazed, battle scarred knees.

Both Jason Tindall and Eddie Howe made their feelings on the timing of Baker’s statement to the press on Thursday night quite clear following this straightforward victory.

“There was a huge amount of pressure on the players today and there have been a few things said in the press from certain people which probably inspired us to get the result as well,” said Tindall.

“I think everybody knows who I am talking about. Whether it was intended to try and unsettle the lads, I don’t know, but it didn’t quite work and, if anything, it made us more determined to come back to Bournemouth with three points.”

As per the script of recent times, if this weren’t AFC Bournemouth, it could be Walford E20.

But if, as Howe and Tindall hinted, Baker’s comments were intended to destabilise their charges in favour of Mark Wright’s woeful side, it did quite the opposite – as Tindall quite rightly said.

Cherries wanted this victory even before Baker put pen to paper on Thursday. You could see it as they tore around Matchams Karting on Wednesday afternoon, Brett Pitman playfully trying to strangle Warren Cummings with his crash helmet strap and virtually the whole squad mocking Alan Connell for driving his kart “like he drives his own car”.

Underneath the banter, though, the team spirit and steely determination to win is plain to see from a group of players whose confidence and belief in playing the game the ‘Cherries way’ had all but disappeared under previous boss Jimmy Quinn.

Howe, installed as boss at the beginning of January, parted company with the likes of misfiring Matt Tubbs and Craig Lindfield, while both Michael Rankine and Michael Symes also packed their bags just ahead of the new era.

But Howe’s eye for a player ensured he kept the likes of Mark Molesley, surely the find of the season, and Jeff Goulding, a rough diamond from the Blue Square who will only get better, and braver, under the tutelage of Steve Fletcher and Lee Bradbury.

In terms of this encounter, spoiled by the home side’s inability to turn possession into opportunity, it was Molesley’s hard work and invention in the engine room that again paved the way for almost all of Cherries’ best attacking moments in the second half.

By this point, of course, Pitman’s third-minute free kick from the left-hand touchline that bounced over everyone, including Blues keeper Jamie Spencer, had been consigned to memory as the nerves began to jangle.

The natives will argue that Shwan Jalal should not have been on the pitch to deny Richie Partridge just before Anton Robinson sealed the points.

Robinson, another Conference gem, bundled home Spencer’s parry following Liam Feeney’s snapshot with 11 minutes remaining.

Jalal, though, had been lucky to escape with just a booking when a rush of blood to the head saw the Cherries keeper handle outside the 18-yard box midway through the first half.

Molesley had two second-half efforts saved by Spencer, while the former Grays man also forced the Blues’ on-loan stopper into action following a spectacular first-half piledriver from around 25 yards.

And as Wright’s men gave up the ghost following Cherries’ second, dozens of home supporters rose to their feet and simply walked out – probably already thinking about a ‘glamour’ trip up the road to Wrexham next season.

For Howe, meanwhile, the manner of this victory following an Easter weekend to forget should not be underestimated.

Chester fan Baker, however, like many of the Deva Stadium faithful, may have underestimated Howe.