THERE was naturally a sense of disappointment and frustration following Saturday’s loss at Newcastle.

Seeking back-to-back Premier League victories which would have lifted them up to fifth in the table, Cherries made a blistering start at St James’ Park.

Ryan Fraser sent a rising effort just over the crossbar before then being denied from point-blank range by goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

And they duly took the lead on 14 minutes as Harry Wilson smartly rounded off an expertly executed set-piece routine.

But, from there, Cherries allowed the game to drift. Aside from a tricky chance for Fraser which was cleared off the line, the visitors “stopped playing”, as defender Adam Smith admitted after the contest.

As sloppy passes began to creep in, a mistake from Steve Cook allowed lively forward Allan Saint-Maximin through on goal five minutes before the break with the Frenchman rattling the crossbar.

From there, more than 40,000 home fans found their voices and were rewarded with an equaliser when DeAndre Yedlin flew through the air to head in.

And the comeback was complete seven minutes after the restart as Ciaran Clark turned in after ghosting into space following a corner.

Despite changes off the bench, there was little in the way of reaction from the visitors with Newcastle looking the more likely scorers until Joshua King missed a golden chance to snatch a 2-2 draw at the death, heading wide from a yard out.

But it is not the first time this season Cherries have lived life on the edge having gone in front.

Stemming right back to the first game of the season, Chris Mepham put Cherries ahead against Sheffield United just past the hour mark. But the Blades built momentum and grabbed a share of the spoils when Billy Sharp popped up with a minute to play.

It was not a dissimilar tale the following week. Having gone 2-0 up inside 12 minutes at Aston Villa, a buoyant home crowd roared their side on.

Douglas Luiz fired in a stunning strike in the second half to give Cherries a nervy final 20 minutes, but they saw out an impressive victory.

And even in the historic win at Southampton in September, Cherries again made hard work of the task. Trailing 2-0 after a one-sided first half, Saints pulled a goal back from the penalty spot and suddenly fancied their chances.

Cherries again held firm under late pressure before Callum Wilson sealed a 3-1 win in stoppage time.

It is understandable to see a side retreat late in a game having taken a lead, but Saturday’s clash against Newcastle saw that trend arrive far too early in the contest.

The goals from the hosts seemed inevitable, despite Cherries going into the contest on a run of three straight clean sheets.

And striker Dominic Solanke, who was substituted on at St James’ Park with the score at 2-1, agreed the way the pattern of games are panning out is something the side needs to work on.

He told the Daily Echo: “I think we started really well (at Newcastle), managed to get the lead and then we invited pressure a bit I felt.

“We spoke after the game, we need to try and get out of that habit of getting a goal and then getting too comfortable and making sure that we go on and get more goals and try and finish the game off.

“Especially away from home, when the home team does get momentum, sometimes it’s hard to get back on top, which we maybe saw on Saturday. We need to try and make sure in future that when we do get that lead, we capitalise on it and try and get some more goals.”

He added: “There were some times in the game where we weren’t quite on it and we maybe allowed them to get on top and we got punished by that.”

The ability to grind out wins is something to be admired. But, as Solanke mentioned, if points are being lost due to retreating too deep, too early, it could become an issue which needs addressing.