Burnley beaten by Cherries' late winner 2-1

13 May 2017

AFCB 2 v 1 Burnley

Attendance: 11,388

Josh King walked off with Man of the Match
and Junior Cherries' player of the season. 

As the last home match of the season AFCB wanted to get another three points and record a record points total in the top division. They did it with a fairly dominant amount of possession, but found it difficult to build on their first goal that Junior Stanislas stuck after 25 minutes. Burnley hung in the game and did all they could to make it a difficult afternoon for Eddie Howe's men, which turned on 83 minutes when former AFCB striker Sam Vokes guided in his 10th goal of the season. It was a shock and the question was asked could AFCB respond? They did so with a fast paced move by Ryan Fraser that left Josh King to hold off Burnley's last defender before directing the ball under Heaton for the winner just five minutes from time.

AFCB and Burnley greet each other.

AFCB team photo.

Burnley await kick off.

Lewis Cook kept his place in the side as he was not yet off to play for the England U20 side and Junior Stanislas recovered well enough during the week to start so it was an unchanged side. Meanwhile, Dan Gosling returned to the bench.

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Here we go.

The start made by Burnley was lively enough. George Boyd found himself at the end of a move on the right side of the box but fired wide. Bournemouth replied with a couple of quick corners, the second of which saw Simon Francis try and shoot from just outside the box, but he elevated the strike into the stands. 

AFCB kept pressing forward and Adam Smith had a low shot easily gathered by Heaton on nine minutes. Possession was being turned over quickly and Sam Vokes was drawing fouls. 

Bournemouth's play became a bit hesitant with Francis asking for options for a forward pass, but he couldn't fix his eyes on one. Josh King looked to have broken through when James Tarkowski took him down, but the flag had already gone up for offside.

AFCB were taking the initiative and Junior Stanislas tried to put in a measured cross for King, but it was just a metre in front of him. Steve Cook was next fouled by Sam Vokes and from the free kick Lewis picked out Junior Stanislas who moved in from the right wing, collected the pass and sorted his stride to guide a shot past Heaton and into the bottom left corner of the net - 1-0. It was a beautifully long drifting , diagonal pass that Lewis Cook had made to find Stanislas and the winger took the pass comfortably on his chest before, manoeuvring past Stephen Ward to find the back of the net.

Adam Smith was always looking to get his foot in early to start off AFCB attacks, while Francis was busy getting blocks in. Harry Arter went down holding his left knee but managed to continue.

Burnley were playing better and Ashley Barnes played a ball back to Scott Arfield who fired a shot inches wide from 25 yards.

The Cherries were moving the ball well with Stanislas and Pugh. When Mousset picked the ball up and fed it to Pugh, he shot straight at Heaton much to his annoyance.

A foul by Lewis Cook led to Sam Vokes heading over from the free kick thanks to the defending from Mousset.

When King was taken down by Tarkowski and did not get a free kick, something snapped in Harry Arter who went chasing after the ball. He finally caught up with Tarkowski but gave a free kick away. It was a dangerous period for AFCB as the free kick had to be defended. Mousset got a clearance away before Arter lost possession to Barnes who sent Scott Arfield through against Boruc. Boruc was out quick though and smothered the shot - great save! That kept the score 1-0 at half time, but the 44th minute was well observed with a minute of clapping for popular AFCB fan Paul Gethen Willis who sadly passed away last week.

The Cherries go in ahead.

AFCB U18's show off their cup.

Second half

Burnley subbed Ashley Barnes for Andre Gray at the start of the half. Daniels was first to stretch his legs and managed to stop a Burnley goal kick by getting to the ball in time to make it into a throw. Daniels did even better moments later with a cross he put in from the left across the six yard box.

Bournemouth were upping the tempo with Stanislas and King seeing their shots blocked. Steve Cook then had a crack from distance which Heaton saved well.

Burnley started to get back into their groove with Ashley Westwood and George Boyd finding space for Arfield who shot just wide. 

George Boyd was subbed for Robbie Brady on 55 minutes, before Vokes hit a weak shot at Boruc. 

AFCB's best moves were coming through Pugh. King was trying to profit but hit his shot too high from the left wing. King's runs were causing problems but Burnley were keeping him out.

Eddie Howe brought on Ryan Fraser on 66 minutes ad subbed Mousset.  Fraser played in the number 10 role behind King. King was doing his best to build on the lead having a deflected shot that went out for a corner. Lewis Cook took a resulting shot but Heaton got behind it.

Burnley made their last sub on 75 minutes with Arfield going off and Gudmundsson coming on. The game seemed fairly settled with Vokes the main threat for Burnley heading over from a corner.

Bournemouth took Arter off and brought on Dan Gosling for the last 10 minutes. It was an eventful end to the game. Burnley worked a cross from  Gudmundsson on the right wing that Sam Vokes got up well for, ahead of Steve Cook, and headed into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1 on 84 minutes. Burnley's fans sang "We are staying up!"

It was disappointing for AFCB having been so much in control. The mood would soon change again though when Bournemouth won a free kick. Gosling played Fraser forward and his pass to Josh King left the forward with some work to do but he checked inside Tarkowski well and beat Heaton for power to restore a lead for the Cherries on 86 minutes 2-1. 

AFCB subbed Stanislas for Ibe. A big play came just a couple of minutes before the 90 minutes were up. Robbie Brady drove through the heart of AFCB's defence but went over rather spectacularly. Infact referee, Lee Probert felt it was simulation and Brady was given a yellow card. The Cherries had to play out five minutes of added time, but they did so without any real alarms.

Burnley thank their fans.

Full time - another home win..

Summary

It was a sunny end to the home games and AFCB did enough to pick up all the points even if they did not quite hit top form. Burnley had come to stay in the match and put up good resistance for much of the game. It was the energy and power of Josh King that had the final say on the day and thoughts will turn quickly to whether AFCB can keep hold of their top marksman this summer.

The Cherries notch up another victory.

AFCB

Boruc, A Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Stanislas (Ibe), Arter (Gosling), L Cook, Pugh,
Mousset (Fraser), King

AFCB Subs
Allsop, Mings, B Smith,Gosling, Gradel, Fraser, Ibe

AFCB Ratings

Boruc 8, A Smith 7, Francis 7, Cook 7, Daniels 7, Stanislas 8, Arter 8, L Cook 8, Pugh 8,
Mousset 6, King 10

Burnley
Heaton, Lowton, Long, Tarkowski, Ward, Boyd (Brady), Westwood, Hendrick, Arfield (Berg Gudmundsson), Barnes (Gray), Vokes

Burnley Subs
Flanagan, Gray, Brady, Defour, Berg Gudmundsson, Darikwa, Pope

Referee Watch: Lee Probert 5/10 we thought he had left his cards at home!