By Sam Rourke

AFC Bournemouth recorded their second win of 2014 after thrashing Doncaster Rovers 5-0 at the Goldsands Stadium.

Yann Kermogant was the star of the show for the Cherries as he scored an impressive hat-trick on his first home start, which capped off an outstanding performance from the Frenchman. Irishman Harry Arter added a brace from midfield to complete the drubbing of Paul Dickov's side. Eddie Howe heaped praise on the Cherries clinical attacking display, and was pleased with the cutting edge that his side showed.

Howe said: "We had some really good opportunities and I think its credit to our attacking play and some of our passing moves in and around the box, I've been critical this season of lacking that cutting edge and the final decision but today we got all aspects of our game right, it was a good goal scoring performance but also a good defensive performance"

The Cherries dictated play from the first-whistle and nearly went 1-0 up after three minutes, after great work from Ryan Fraser down the left wing, who crossed to an unmarked Kermogant, who had his header comfortably saved by Doncaster goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

The Cherries had plentiful chances and controlled the early proceedings and finally broke the deadlock after 26 minutes, when Yann Kermogant gave his marker the slip and slotted the ball between the legs of Johnstone after latching on to an Ian Harte cross.

Seconds later, the Cherries were denied a penalty after what looked to be a clear foul on Andrew Surman by Abdoulaye Meite, but the referee dismissed the penalty shout.

Doncaster struggled to maintain possession and get the ball from a flowing Bournemouth side and were made to pay in the 43rd minute, when Kermogant scored his second of the game. The Frenchman placed a  powerful header past the Rovers goalkeeper Johnstone after getting on the end of a pinpoint Simon Francis cross.

The Cherries deservedly led 2-0 at half-time in what was a completely one-sided affair, with Paul Dickov's side not testing Cherries goalkeeper Lee Camp once throughout the whole first-half.
The Cherries didn't wait long after half-time to extend their lead, as Harry Arter fired a fierce low shot from the edge of the box, which fizzled past the outstretched Sam Johnstone. The Cherries were in cruise control.

The impressive Kermogant sealed his hat-trick after 72 minutes, by meeting another Simon Francis cross and excellently heading past the Rovers goalkeeper from 15-yards-out.

Sarcastic cheers were heard from the 398 travelling Doncaster supporters after Theo Robinson managed to muster Rover's first shot on target of the match, after 75 minutes.

Harry Arter completed the rout in the 82nd minute, after an Ian Harte corner was fumbled by the Rovers goalkeeper, leaving Arter with a simple finish to top off a commanding display from Eddie Howe's side.

Howe commended Kermogant's hattrick after the game and admits the Frenchman will add a different dimension to the Cherries game, "Yann took his goals very well and I think you can see the technique of his first goal, he did a few of them in training yesterday and he's outstanding with his feet for a big man and then the really important thing from my perspective was his aerial presence from crosses, I think that's something we've lacked this season, his two headed goals were high quality"

The win moves the Cherries 12 points clear of the relegation zone and Howe sees this as a vital win to help maintain his side's Championship status, "It's important, we don't want to get sucked into a relegation scrap so its important we get the points and results as early as we can and results like this against the teams in and around us are very important, so hopefully that gives us more confidence going forward into what is going to be a very important run of games for us"

The Cherries manager believes this win needs to be built on for it to have a significant effect on their season, "We've got to build on it, that's the important thing, this is one result in isolation, its one three points and we've got to make sure we build on that now, we've got some tough away games to come and we're really enjoying it."

AFC Bournemouth travel to a fellow seaside town Blackpool next Saturday, to face Barry Ferguson's Tangerines, in what will be another important game for the Cherries.