Cherries reach the summit of League One with Pitman brace

Match Description

12 February 2013
Crewe Alexander 1 v 2 AFC Bournemouth

The Cherries have climbed up to top spot in League One following a night when they hung on for a hard fought victory against Crewe Alexander. It had all looked very different a few moments earlier when Progba had risen imperiously in the Cherries' box to put away an equalising header in the 79th minute, after Pitman had scored first for AFCB near the hour mark from the penalty spot. Indeed, it is Pitman that will grab all the headlines because his later winner off of Steve Cook's drilled cross in the 84th minute is what gave the Cherries all three points.

Brett Pitman running out against Portsmouth FC

Since his permanent move back to Dean Court from Bristol City Pitman has taken the responsibility of taking penalties for the Cherries. He has scored nine goals now this season and is starting to look to me that he is happy and finding his place in the team. He is not everyone's favourite among Bournemouth supporters, if the official AFCB match blog from last night is to be judged as a sample, but his keenness to take responsibility from dead ball situations makes him a valuable asset to this team. He has a habit of popping up and of doing the unusual to get his goals and he has that selfish streak which is so necessary in a top striker.

If both he and Lewis Grabban keep scoring a high ratio of goals then the gap between the Cherries and the following pack may start to grow. That's not to say that Eddie hasn't got some work to do. He will not be happy in the team not keeping a clean sheet last night even if Shwan Jalal made some great saves and for the rest of the game the defence had held the potent Crewe strike force at bay. Richard Hughes came into the team in Marc Pugh's absence and the Cherries set up with a solid and some might think not that ambitious 4-1-4-1 formation with Pitman leading the line and Grabban on the right wing.

There is still a long way to go but the table today looks good, doesn't it? My twitter account went bonkers just seconds after the game as Cherry fans tweeted their jubilation at the final score and the new look League One table. Dare we dream to think that we have Champions in our back yard all this time. Hold steady, we are in for a cracking climax to the season. And just in case you didn't hear, let me tell you –

"WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!" SAY, "WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!"