AFCB are magnificent to watch - true grit

The words of Eddie Howe in summarising his admiration for the players at AFCB, after the win at Chelsea, really highlight how close the club is and how much it wants to win for the fans. The difficult period is perhaps behind the Cherries in that they have faced their fears and conquered them with a historic win at Stamford Bridge. If they can win a game of that magnitude against top class players, they have the ability to stay in the Premier League and now the attempt to push on is here.

Eddie Howe said the players showed 'true grit' in the second half against the Champions and they had to be fired up to keep hurling themselves in front of the Chelsea attackers who bombarded the Cherries' penalty box in that final half. It is something that I felt other teams battling to survive had shown, but was a missing ingredient in the Cherries' make up that they have now found. They have in short - toughened up. The soft under belly is starting to be reinforced with some real fight not to concede and it is that attribute that brought AFCB through against Chelsea.

The Cherries are toughing it out to get points.

We all liked to see the scintillating ball control in midfield and AFCB keeping the ball as best as they could against a powerful Chelsea side, it was the desire for all the players to do a shift when needed to repel the blue shirts that grew in strength as the game progressed. The more Chelsea tried to build attacks, the more the Bournemouth players held firm and tried to break. It was endeavour in the first half and a chess game in the second period. It was a difficult game plan to carry out as the side could have succumb to the pressure they were put under and sat back. But they also found openings to come forward themselves and that was what I found most encouraging about the way the Cherries held out for the win.

Now that they have done it against a very talented side, there should be immense confidence going into the Christmas period of games. A target of 19 points after the next two games would be a magnificent achievement for the first half of the season and I am confident that the lads will go for victories in these fixtures with a good deal of zeal and style. If Eddie Howe was delighted with the players' ability to dig in, the fans were purring with the passing and flowing movement of the team which has now reached new levels. 

You can relive the excitement of the great win at Chelsea again by listening into All Departments that has a review of the game. Just visit the All Departments' website or scroll down the panel on Cherry Chimes to the All Departments' sound bar and listen in.

Congratulations to @AdamSmith912 who won MOD's Goal of the Month for November with his goal against Everton.