COME what may, 2014 will forever be considered a watershed year in Cherries' history.

Records have tumbled during a 12-month spell which has seen Eddie Howe’s current crop indelibly etch their names into Cherries folklore, while a couple of visits from globally-renowned giants Liverpool attracted the nation’s attention like never before.

With a best league finish, two longest winning runs, the club’s longest sequence without defeat, a biggest league victory and club-record League Cup run, Cherries supporters have never had it so good.

But in the midst of current form, it would be easy to forget the team’s significant achievements towards the end of last season and the fact that 2014 got off to a less than earth-shattering start.

Having ended 2013 with a 1-1 draw at home to Ipswich, Cherries sat 16th in the Championship when we last belted out Auld Lang Syne and January presented its fair share of challenges.

The FA Cup sprinkled its magic over Dorset when the fourth-round draw paired the winners of Cherries’ home tie against Burton Albion with Liverpool, although the excitement was tempered by Brighton triggering a release clause in top scorer Lewis Grabban’s contract.

Cherries beat Burton 4-1 without their free-scoring talisman to set up a mouth-watering tie with the Anfield giants but the situation was soon resolved as Grabban penned a new deal and celebrated in style with his 11th goal of the season in a 1-1 draw with Watford.

Liverpool burst the bubble with a 2-0 win at Dean Court courtesy of Victor Moses and Danny Sturridge but January did end on a high note as Tokelo Rantie netted the winner in a 2-1 success against Huddersfield – Cherries’ first league success of 2014.

The transfer window slammed shut without the loss of any big-name players, Cherries successfully fending off interest in Steve Cook and Matt Ritchie while snapping up loan keeper Lee Camp on a permanent deal anlong with the signings of Adam Smith and Yann Kermorgrant.

A winless February, which featured tests against eventual top three Leicester, Burnley and Derby, yielded only two points.

But March saw Cherries begin their assault on the record books, a 5-0 thumping of Doncaster Rovers proving the catalyst behind a run of eight wins in 10 matches and unlikely late push for the play-offs.

Five consecutive wins and six unbeaten matches in March and April set new standards on the way to a club-best 10th-placed finish, while Grabban surpassed Luther Blissett’s 19 second-tier goals in 1988-89 en route to a final tally of 22.

Albeit significantly raised, Grabban’s release clause remained in place and after a flurry of interest in his services he completed a big-money move to Norwich City.

But with the rest of the squad tied down on longer-term deals, there were no further departures with ex-Everton midfielder Dan Gosling and Burnley winger Junior Stanislas arriving on free transfers.

The coup de grace, however, was still to come as Cherries won the race to sign Coventry’s emerging talent Callum Wilson, fresh from a prolific season which saw him score 22 goals in League One.

And what a signing it has proved to be. 13 goals have banished any worries over Wilson’s readiness for Championship football with Cherries blazing a trail at the top of the table.

Cherries endured a mixed start to the new campaign – an eye-catching 4-0 win at Huddersfield was followed by frustration with eight points dropped from winning positions at home to Nottingham Forest, Rotherham and Leeds.

A stop-start September ended with a 2-0 reverse at leaders Derby, a result which left Cherries 15th in the Championship prior to their recent odds-defying sequence.

As well as continuing a club-best League Cup run with a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the last 16, Cherries have extended to 14 matches and counting their longest run without defeat in the second flight, scoring 40 goals in the process.

That includes an 8-0 annihilation of Birmingham City – the biggest victory in the club’s 91-year Football League history and new post-war record for the biggest away win in English football’s second tier.

Five wins in a row and a three-point cushion over the automatic promotion places has heightened expectation ahead of 2015 and the bigger picture from the past year suggests it is no flash in the pan.

Cherries won more than half (24) of their league fixtures (47) during 2014, netting 91 goals and conceding 51.

Their record from March is even more impressive with 78 points and 84 goals from 39 matches, an average of two points per game that would have been enough to win the Championship in six of the past eight seasons.