HEAD coach Jonathan Woodgate said Cherries showed their “hardcore surface” as they battled to a gritty 1-0 victory over Watford.

The Dorset club sealed a 1-0 success thanks to Arnaut Danjuma’s second-half strike.

And Woodgate, whose side were involved in a melee of players as tensions boiled over late on, admitted he was proud of the unity shown by his troops.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the result,” said the 41-year-old. “We showed a hardcore surface instead of a soft underbelly.

“I think that was the most positive thing for me. Every single player was in it together.

“You could see at the end, okay there was a slight fracas but all your players are there sticking up for each other – it was a really good result.

“They are a good team but I thought we deserved the win. Okay they had a slight bit more possession than us but I thought we created the better chances in the game.”

Victory ended a run of two straight defeats for Cherries – and was Woodgate’s first win since taking over permanently as head coach.

“It’s a platform to build on in terms of climbing up the league – that’s one thing for sure – but you need to keep doing it week in, week out,” said Woodgate.

“You just can’t turn up on a Saturday and switch it on. It’s got to be constant.

“No matter what day you play, you have to turn up and I’ve said this in this league.

“It’s not all about passing the ball around, looking like the best team, if you’ve got no substance at the end of it there’s no point.

“It’s all about substance.”