Monday 30 November 2015

Despair to jubilation for Cherries

Saturday was a lesson in never giving up and never leave the ground before the final whistle is blown. Such late drama is what makes football a special game. AFC Bournemouth v Everton is one match which will long live in the memory, not only for Junior Stanislas and Ryan Allsop, but also many AFCB fan who are still rubbing their eyes after the last few minutes of that game.

When five minutes of extra time were held up on the board I don't believe that anyone in the ground really thought that there would be such a crazy finish. Some spectators were even leaving the stadium to ensure they got to their cars quickly - what a mistake that was. With Stanislas also scoring in the 88th minute it appeared that if anyone would win the game it might be the Cherries as Everton had been pegged back. The Toffees must have been deflated with the 2-2 equaliser and for them to go on, and put themselves back in front, with Ross Barkley's turn and scooped shot that went under Ryan Allsop, I just felt that the Cherries aren't going to get any luck this season. Kris Temple said it all when he said the Cherries were sunk! Amazingly though he was wrong.
AFCB players came back strongly to draw with Everton.
How wrong I was. I suppose the Everton fans pitch invasion and a further sub by Martinez gave the referee Kevin Friend enough justification for adding a bit of time to the five minutes he was supposed to play in extra time. The huge impact that the Cherries will get for their tremendous last attack will carry them along way now. Adam Smith again showed that he can upset sides with his powerful dribbling and the move with Charlie Daniels and Stanislas' finish was outstanding for its quality, which everyone has neglected to say. Everton might have been out on their feet and thought the game was won, but AFCB's spirit was immense to come back again.

It might not have been three points, but it felt like a win following the point against Swansea when the Cherries had been two up and been pegged back. Sadly it has not pulled AFCB out of the bottom three, but the jubilation of the fans and players was great to see and if that enthusiasm can carry on through to training this week the games against Chelsea and Man Utd may not seem so daunting now.

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