Bournemouth 2 Whitchurch Utd 5

Whitchurch came back from two goals down to record an eventually convincing victory over Bournemouth on Saturday and climb to third place in the table, but this was not a game in which the quality matched the scoreline. Too many players had too much to say throughout and Bournemouth largely contributed to their own downfall in the second half.

The home side suffered a pre match blow when the influential Fawzi Saadi limped out of the warm-up but were a goal up inside two minutes. Diane Bassiriki found space on right and his low cross was turned past visiting keeper Brad Snelling by Sam Pekun. The goal was simple but the somersault celebrations of goalscorer and provider were not !

A Ryan Lambert cross was well held by skipper Kenny Vaughan and from his  quick clearance the home side again made ground down the right, Marc Fairbrother’s shot came back off the post and Chia Khider somehow turned the ball wide of the open goal though his blushes were subsequently saved by an offside flag. Neat work by Lambert and Danny Phillips won a corner from which Adam Pearson’s header was cleared off the line but it was Bournemouth that were looking far more threatening with the visiting defence often in disarray. Zouaoui Lammali was stopped by weight of numbers and Pekun pulled a shot across goal before the Poppies increased their lead on the 20 minute mark. Again the goal was simple, a long clearance headed on and Pekun having the skill and composure to beat the advancing Snelling. Four minutes later came the third goal of the game as the visitors halved the deficit with a quick throw finding Jamie Mansell and his through ball setting Phillips up for a calm finish.

Lammali was booked for dissent, having ignored previous warnings from the referee, but in truth he was not the only offender. Whitchurch were forcing themselves back into the game with Lambert too high and a free-kick from a promising position wasted. Khyder gave way to Bradley Large and Connor Doe was cautioned for a challenge before Whitchurch levelled the scores almost on half-time. Jack McCarthy was foiled by Vaughan and a Mitch Fear header came back off the bar before the unmarked McCarthy headed home a free-kick.

As in the first half the home side were quicker into their stride on the restart with Pekun a constant danger until just past the hour when the visitors went in front for the first time. A free-kick was fired in at the near post and the referee’s whistle signalled a penalty for handball which produced another verbal outburst from Lammali , who received his second yellow card, before Josh Green confidently converted the spot-kick. Phillips lobbed the oncoming Vaughan but the ball drifted the wrong side of the post whilst at the other end Bassiriki rounded Snelling only to see Fear block his shot on the line before Pearson cleared another effort from a similar position.

With the game moving into its final 15 minutes two goals in three minutes sealed the result. The referee played a good advantage to allow Phillips to make ground down the right and his cross was superbly volleyed home by Jamie Mansell before another cross from the right found Adam  Pearson in acres of space at the far post to fire past the beleagured Vaughan. The home side’s final blow saw the dismissal of Bassikiri after tangling with Fear following a challenge.

 

Whitchurch will be delighted to maintain the only unbeaten record in the division while Bournemouth may rue their lack of discipline which saw them end the game with nine men.