Will Crawley be a stern FA Cup test for the Cherries?

The FA Cup fourth round sees the Cherries take on Leeds United's conquerers Crawley Town on Tuesday night. The West Sussex side are in good form having knocked out a Premier League team 3-0, even if it was mainly Leeds Utd's youth players, and they sit 12 in League Two where they have won their last two league games.

How far can AFCB go in the FA Cup this season?

Suddenly, playing a League Two team that is in form doesn't look like a pushover for AFCB. The Cherries could well be pushed all the way in this fixture. Crawley's main striker has been Max Watters, who was free-scoring, having netted 15 times in 18 games this season and he has been well supported by Tom Nichols who has scored 10 times from 24 games. Luckily for Bournemouth, Cardiff City came in for Max Watters on 16 January and he is no longer a Crawley player. Ashley Nadesan could fill his place or Crawley could turn to  Sam Ashford. Less likely are forwards Ricardo German or Brian Galach. But Crawley have goalscorers in their defenders too - just watch back the goal that defender Nick Tsaroulla scored as the opener against Leeds in the last round of the cup. Defender, Jordan Tunnicliffe also scored against Leeds following a free kick.

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How Crawley do in front of goal without their leading League Two striker decide their fate in this game. Crawley have also signed Mark Wright in this window, a defender who is best known for his TV role on The Only Way is Essex. Crawley have also signed James Tilley from Grimsby Town during January, another forward. Winger Jordan Maguire-Drew has also joined Crawley on loan until the end of the season. Several of them may well be cup tied.

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It may well also help Bournemouth that Crawley haven't played since 10 January when they knocked out Leeds Utd. They have had to postpone fixtures against Bradford and Stevenage Borough as well as rearrange this FA Cup match because of the COVID-19 outbreak at their club. Their away record is not too shoddy though. They beat Bolton Wanderers in their last away match 0-1 as well as Forest Green 1-2 and Leyton Orient 1-2, the last two both held in December. 

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The winners of the tie will play Burnley after they beat Fulham yesterday.

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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Could Bournemouth o for Burnley swap deal?

 

King's brace helps Bournemouth ease past Oldham in FA Cup 4-1

Match Report

FA Cup third round

11 January 2021

AFCB 4 v 1 Oldham Athletic

Josh King nets twice n Bournemouth's 4-1 win.

The Cherries won their way through to the fourth round of the FA Cup after quite a struggle early on against Oldham. The visitors tested the debut keeper Will Dennis in the first half and it wasn't until David Brooks scored two minutes before the break that Burnemouthlooked like they had control of the game. But a foul on David Keillor-Dunn, by keeper Will Dennis, saw Oldham awarded a penalty that Dylan Bahamboula scored to make it 1-1 at the break. With Rico replacing Dan Gosling at half-time, Bournemouth looked to get back ahead, which they did from a Riquelme strike on 49 minutes. The Cherries then made teh score look more comfortable when Josh King headed the Cherries' third goal on 74 minutes from an Adam Smith cross. King smashed in the fourth goal in the 86th minute.

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Bournemouth made a whole host of changes as expected. The biggest surprise for me was to see Cameron Carter-Vickers finally made his AFCB debut, while it was a bit of a shock not to see Sam Surridge start. There was a fair amount of experience in the side with Josh King now cup-tied to Bournemouth which might be a sign that Tindall really does want to hold on to the striker. Finally, it was great to see Jack Stacey able to play again after his injury, and Will Dennis make his debut but Danjuma was again missing.

Oldham started well by having most of the early shots. Bahamboulla and Carl Piergianna had Oldham's first chances before Riquelme and Billing started to look more threatening for Bournemouth. Dennis made a great save from a Piergianna header on 10 minutes.

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Bahamboulla also forced a good save from Dennis just before the half-hour and Jordan Barnett had a shot that came off the post, while David Brooks and Riquelme looked the most likely to be the creative force for the Cherries. Indeed, Brooks scored the opener from outside the box having received a lay-off pass from Josh King.

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The lead was short-lived though when Will Dennis brought down David Keillor-Dunn and Dylan Bahamboula scored from the spot in the top left corner.

In the second half Dan Gosling was withdrawn and Diego Rico came on. Riquelme settled the nerves when he put Bournemouth 2-1 after a close-in finish on 49 minutes.

Riquelme also saw another shot saved following a corner but with Brooks and Zemura also missing chances it took until the 74th minute for Bournemouth to extend the lead to 3-1 with a Josh King header.

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The match was pretty much over as a contest when King scored his second and Bournemouths fourth from a Diego Rico's pass which was dummied beautifully by Jaidon Anthony for King to score with four minutes to go.

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Summary

It was good to see Carter-Vickers finally get a game and for Will Dennis to experience the first team game. Oldham were certainly no pushovers and it was a good test for the likes of Kilkenny and Zemura. It was the old hands that made teh difference though. Josh King sharpened up his finishing and David Brooks will again get admiring glances, while Riquelme will be given a boost by his second goal for teh Cherries.

AFCB

40 Dennis, 17 Stacey (A Smith 67), 18 Carter-Vickers, 25 Simpson, 33 Zemura (Lerma 79), 26 Kilkenny, 4 Gosling (Rico 45), 29 Billing (Surridge 77), 7 Brooks (Anthony 67), 27 King, 20 Riquelme

AFCB Substitutes
1 Begovic, 3 S Cook, 8 Lerma, 14 Surridge, 15 A Smith, 16 L Cook, 21 Rico, 32 Anthony
 
Oldham Athletic
1 Lawlor, 2 Clarke, 5 Piergianni, 22 Diarra (Dearnley 71), 17 Barnett, 25 McCalmont, 16 Ntambwe ( McAleny 67), 34 Hamer, 10 Keillor-Dunn, 6 Garrity (Whelan 67), 24 Bahamboula

Oldham Substitutes
4 Coelho Jombati, 8 Whelan, 14 Fage, 15 Jameson, 18 McAleny, 19 Dearnley, 20 Badan, 29 Luamba,
33 Bilboe

Oldham have cup pedigree

Bournemouth will look to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup by beating Oldham Athletic this weekend. The team is likely to be much depleted from the regular starters, but I feel supporters want a good cup run after the early exit in the league cup this season.

AFCB are back in FA cup action this weekend

Oldham Athletic beat Bradford City away 1-2 in the second round of the FA Cup and they beat Hampton and Richmond 2-3 away in the first round. But in this round, Oldham are at home and they have lost their last two home matches in the league. 

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Their top goalscorer is Conor McAleny who has 11 goals in 20 matches, while Danny Rowe and Zachery Dearnley have six apiece having both played 16 games. McAlney and Rowe got the two goals against Bradford City in the last round and Ben Garrity, Bobby Grant and Danny Rowe scored in the -2-3 win over Hampton and Richmond.

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Oldham have been more in the news over their last league match which was abandoned due to fog against Forst Green Rovers with the score at 1-1 after 59 minutes. Of course, the fog cleared up as soon as the ref had called the game off.

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Harry Kewell will be lining up against Jason Tindall in the dugout, so Oldham have a young manager who is looking to get a big score against a former Premier League team. It won't bother Kewell if Bournemouth rest a few players, and Bournemouth will have to try and avoid falling at this first hurdle. Just to whet the appetite of Oldham supporters there is even a BetVictor survey that puts them as the top team for causing a cup upset over the last two and a half decades. 

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Bournemouth you have been warned - Oldham have cup pedigree. Remember the 3-3 draw in the semi-final against Man Utd in 1990? Bournemouth will themselves be hoping that this is the season that could see them make their first FA Cup semi-final or go even further.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Travers to join Swindon on loan

News update: This morning the Bournemouth Daily Echo has stated that the match with Oldham Athletic may be switched to Dean Court because the pitch at Oldham may well be unplayable.

How important is the FA Cup this season for Bournemouth?

The FA Cup is something that Bournemouth can look at differently this season. They haven't done well in the competition for a long time and the prospect of facing Arsenal might have put fear into the players in past seasons, but not now. Bournemouth are searching to find consistent form and playing a top team might just be the test that Edie Howe's team need to really find their stride.

Will Eddie Howe rest a few big players for AFCB?

Bournemouth can look on this tie positively as it is not going to cost them any league points if they lose. The game is likely to be open and could just be about which team takes their chances. The league match at Dean Court was close with Bournemouth giving Arsenal as good as they got, and if Bournemouth could land a punch on Arteta's team to get through to the next round, what a big shot of confidence that would bring going into the match with Aston Villa next weekend.

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The first factor that will have a bearing on the match is what team Eddie will pick. He has not gone strong in the FA Cup for many years, and there are players that are struggling for fitness. Others perhaps need a rest and yet Eddie doesn't have a big squad to make it easy for him. I suppose it is about time that we saw Sam Surridge get 90 minutes, while Lloyd Kelly and Alex Dobre are not going to get a better chance to start. The chance could come too late for Jack Simpson, who is said to be being tracked by Stoke City and Middlesbrough for a loan move.

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But it's which players that will also have to play against Aston Villa that Howe will be most worried about playing. Perhaps Adam Smith will have to play and it is suggested Steve Cook will make a return, but Howe could rest the likes of Callum Wilson, Dominic Solanke, Harry Wilson, Phillip Billing, Ryan Fraser and Jefferson Lerma. How many of the latter players make a start is perhaps how we will get an indication of the importance of the cup to AFCB.

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The position I'll be keen to see is the goal keeper. It is another chance for Mark Travers to show how close he is to Ramsdale in terms of performance, and he needs games to catch up with the experience that Aaron is quickly gaining. So the game is important for several reasons. Bournemouth would like to progress, they don't want injuries and there are players that need the game. But the biggest positive would be to keep the momentum of winning at home going, Bournemouth haven't done that enough in the last 12 months and a win over Arsenal would be a big shift in the outlook of Bournemouth's season.

Possible AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Rico, Lerma, Billing, H Wilson, Fraser, C Wilson

Previous post on Cherry Chimes: Can Bournemouth find their way out of trouble?

Can FA Cup win get the Cherries back in the winning groove?

While a win in the FA Cup may make fans feel better about the club, it is the league that will pay the bills. Staying in the Premier League will take a big effort now, but will an FA Cup run really help the players to win more games in the Premier League?

backing up wins has been a problem all season.
Can the Cherries do it this time after the win against Luton?

Eddie Howe always talks about momentum and how winning can become a habit. That is what we now need at AFCB and beating Luton may seem a long way short of having a team ready to beat Watford, but this week there will be a smile on players' faces and training will be a lot less stressful than it has been of late. The boys know that if they can get a win against Watford then their situation will improve massively. They can't afford any time for negativity. It has to be now that the focus on wins begins and the climb out of the relegation places begins, because it will only get harder if they can't get out at the first attempt.

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Of course, it wasn't all of the first team that played against Luton and there are a number of players still nursing knocks. But there is a few days before the next game and if one or two players can get back to fitness, it will be a great help. While the attacking nature of the team may be in a better place with Callum Wilson and Dominic Solanke having scored, it is the defenders that Howe perhaps needs back more than most for the game against Watford. If Nathan Aké or Adam Smith could return, the team will be looking a lot stronger.

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It needs a few things to build a really positive momentum. The FA Cup win is a good start, but it has to be a good week of training and some news of players coming back for it to be a really great week that will hopefully culminate with three points.

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Bournemouth back among the goals

It was all about the goals in the FA Cup for AFCB. Yes, it was important to win but Eddie Howe needed the team to win in style with plenty of goals, and they achieved that with a 4-0 pounding of Luton. A feel good factor was needed for the players and the fans as preparation for the most important games to come yet in AFCB's Premier League survival.

Billing needs to prove he is not a one game goal scorer.

Kris Temple at BBC Radio Solent said that not many Bournemouth fans would have picked the players to score who did manage to get on the score sheet against Luton. The biggest surprise was probably to see Dominic Solanke net his first competitive goal. While he was unlucky not to score in the first few minutes of the game, he kept plugging away and got himself into the box, where I have said he need to be to get his goal. Solanke might not have broken the net with a thunderbolt, but his shot crossed the line which is all he will have needed. The reaction of his team-mates said it all. He has been under tremendous criticism and it was great to see that he just might have turned the corner.

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Just as miraculous was the scoring ability of Philip Billing. He had also not scored for the Cherries, but scored twice with some calm opportunism to time his runs well. The first goal was well kept down by hitting the volley into the ground and his second was almost passed in the right direction and the deflection gave the keeper no chance to stop the shot.

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It wasn't a perfect performance by Billing. He made some mistakes to let Harry Cornick in on goal in the first half and he gave the penalty away that Luton didn't manage to take, so it was a mixed bag for Billing, even if he was the most influential player on the pitch for me.

Finally, Callum Wilson hardly waited to put his first few steps on the pitch before scoring his first goal since September. Callum is essential for AFCB to improve their league position and his goal led to the salute that has not been seen for a long time. It felt natural for Callum to stick his chance away, it was a quick move from Harry Wilson and he finished with no hesitation.

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Now the players have to take this scoring panache into their next few games and start believing that they are a team that has just had some bad luck, but is on the way back to form.

Is it possible for AFCB to win a cup?

Bournemouth will begin another season in August with every reason to have high hopes of a good season. The Premier League will take precedence and the Cherries will want to ensure they make it a fifth season after 2018-19 in the top tier, but is the possibility of silverware in one of the cups getting anywhere nearer?

Wigan Athletic ended AFCB's hopes last season in the FA Cup.

Much of what AFCB can do in the cups will depend on Eddie Howe's decisions of whether to rotate the team in some of these games or not. What is also apparent in the scenario is that AFCB have to build a stronger second team with players that can rival the regular starters. It may seem improbable that Eddie Howe could be faced with a selection dilemma when this last season he has only used 21 players all season. When AFCB just have 29 first team players listed on their books, it has been fair to give some of the U21 players an opportunity to learn their game with the first team. Getting the balance right is tricky but when I have seen Jack Simpson play, for example, he has shown that he is ready and we may find Conner Mahoney and Kyle Taylor will yearn for similar opportunities in early cup games for AFCB.

We have seen that the Cherries have found it easier to progress in the Carabao Cup reaching the Quarter-Finals last season. Getting further in the competition has to be something that Howe now looks at and should ask what is stopping AFCB from going further. The teams at this stage are big Premier League clubs, but on AFCB have beaten such teams in one off game, but coming up against them in a cup match has been an anti-climax. Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea have all knocked the Cherries out of cups in recent years. More irritatingly, AFCB have also lost to Millwall and Wigan in the FA Cup in the past few years and that puts into question how seriously the club really takes these games now.

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However disappointing the lack of silverware in AFCB's cabinet may be when comparing it to other Premier League clubs, AFCB are at the beginning of their top flight years. Now is the time when they can get a free hand to the third round of competitions and with only 11 sides deemed to be stronger than the Cherries, there is every chance of at least more Quarter-Finals. Odds would suggest that a win in one of these matches is likely sooner or later and perhaps 2018-19 will be the break through season for that.

In other news Josh King scored in the fourth minute for Norway to beat Panama in an international friendly. Ex-AFCB player Sam Matthews has also joined Bristol Rovers. Lewis Cook also led the England U21 to the final of the Toulon tournament after coming from behind to beat Scotland 3-1.

Wigan romp to 3-0 win over Bournemouth in the FA Cup

Match Report

Wigan Athletic 1 v AFC Bournemouth

FA Cup Third round replay

Attendance: 4709 (491 away fans)

League One Wigan - far to good for AFCB's out of form squad members.

Bournemouth travelled to Wigan with high expectations in the FA Cup, but this was as poor a performance as the Cherries made last season in the FA Cup at this stage. It should have been a strong enough line up, but those players who currently find themselves out of the first 11 couldn't get it together and were unable to show any decent finishing in front of goal. The unbeaten run has been ripped up and it will be how about how Bournemouth recover from this. It's clear that one or two just aren't up to much at this level and for those fans who travelled up it was a night to forget.

Fraser Cook and Daniels are the only players that kept their places from the game against Arsenal. It was a pity not to see King and Stanislas not yet in contention, but perhaps they are being saved for the weekend. How much does the FA Cup matter to AFCB? We were about to find out.

Match description- listening to BBC Radio Solent
Surman over hits the ball before a long goal kick from Wigan ends up with a free kick to Bournemouth. Wigan give the ball away to Arter and Max Power puts the ball out for a corner. Arter could have had a shot, but looked for Lys Mousset instead.

Daniels runs into trouble and it's a goal kick. Mousset runs into Colclough. Bruce takes the free kick but it's out of play for a Bournemouth goal kick. Surman makes a mistake but gets away with it beating Will Grigg.

Surman again has a heavy touch but Boruc saves from Massey. Will Grigg needs attention. The rain is coming down. Wigan have possession with Perkins and Elder on the left. Colcough puts a ball in it goes out for a goal kick after 8 minutes.

Colcough low ball in Grigg shots and Boruc saves and it bounces back to Sam Morsy who scores! Fraser did not stop the cross and the ball was a good one across the box and while Boruc made a good first save he could not hold onto the ball and the Cherries are behind after nine minutes. The goal went in bottom right.

Arter went crashing into Morsy and it was lucky Arter did not connect. Lys Mousset might have twisted his knee here. He is okay.

Simpson at the back, Pugh up to Mahoney on the right. Surman has given the ball away again! Simpson defends well.

Afobe against Dunkley and Bournemouth have a throw.  Mousset wins a free kick. Fraser or Surman to take. Fraser puts it over the wall and the bar.

"It's an open and expansive games," says John Williams. He expects more goals - let's hope so. 17 minutes gone.

Pugh is fouled by Morsy. Surman and Simpson to Arter up to Mousset on the left tries a flick and it's a free kick to Wigan after Dunkley is fouled.

Bournemouth on the break but Mousset he runs into trouble. He's not started well. Perkins picks up a yellow after flying into Fraser.

Ryan Colclough now fouls Fraser and he receives a yellow card. Eddie Howe has a word with the fourth official. Two yellows in two minutes. Paul Cook and Eddie Howe exchange words.

Pugh to Daniels and Mousset has a blocked shot and Perkins puts the ball out for a corner. Deep in-swinger goes off Dunkley for another corner.

Pugh now drives it in and it's cleared by Elder and Dunkley. Afobe wins a throw. Pugh has a heavy touch on Morsy.

Wigan have a corner now. Arter gives the ball away Roberts and Massey pulls it back and Steve Cook puts it our for another Wigan corner. Surman meets it then Mahoney to Elder and Grigg is offside.

Fraser and Mousset and Afobe has a deflected shot, but it's cleared. Simpson fouls Grigg in the air. Wigan free kick on 28 minutes.

Alex Bruce puts in a cross and Mahoney chases the clearance and wins a free kick. Surman inside the Wigan half. Pugh and Daniels on the byline is tackled by Dunkley, goal kick.

Fraser loses the ball to Colclough. Elder and Colclough again to Grigg and Simpson wins the ball. Pugh is caught by Massey. Free kick to Bournemouth. Afobe heads and Jones saves to his right had side. Big chance that for Afobe, he should have done better.

Colclough puts a shot 15 yards wide at the other end. Wigan have a free kick. Arter applauds the referee rather sarcastically.

Surman and Simpson with the ball. Pugh can't keep it in play. Afobe against Dunkley and it's a Bournemouth throw. Afobe wins a corner, 8 minutes of the half left. Fraser delivers and Simpson was in there but Dunkley wins it.

Colclough and Perkins but it's too hard a pass for Elder.

Afobe into Fraser. Surman and Mousset's shot takes a deflection off Bruce, it's a corner. It might have hit a hand there! Pugh is bundled over but no penalty.

Arter dives in on Colclough and it's a yellow card for Harry is it? yes, he's in the book. Cook lofts the ball out to Daniels. Simpson beats Grigg and Surman back to Arter. Mousset to Afobe and Mousset he's tripped, Afobe – no Pugh is offside.

Pugh and Mousset loses it. Roberst tries a pass but it doesn't get to Grigg. Grigg has it again and Boruc makes a save even though Grigg was offside.

"It's been tacky at times says," John Williams. Elder and Mahoney battle. Pugh down the left Afobe and Arter to Daniels out to Pugh. Afobe and Mousset in the box and Wigan clear.

Mahoney's delivery Afobe's header is caught by Jones. A disappointing first half from the Cherries 1-0 down.

Stats
AFCB Shots 6, On target 2, Corners 5, Fouls 7
Wigan Shots 4, On target 3, Corners 2, Fouls 7

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Second half
Mousset wins a corner at the start of the half. Elder heads it out for another corner. Bruce heads out and Pugh knocks it back in before it's cleared again.

Simpson comes forward to Mousset. Simpson again and Pugh is tackled by Massey. Fraser has a shot and the keeper has to make a save for the corner.

A bright start this half by Bournemouth. Simpson to Mousset but Jone sis there first. Daniels now and Pugh to Surman and Mahoney shoots but it's blocked.

Wigan and Morsy to Roberts. Morsy to Power and Morsy before Cook clears. Power delivers and Cook again clears and Bournemouth win a free kick for a shove on Mahoney.

Sub for Wigan Noel Hunt comes on and off goes Grigg on 51 minutes. Boruc clears straight to Morsy 45 yards out!

Roberts wins a free kick. Steve Cook wins the header. Bournemouth win the free kick. Morsy is getting treatment. Hunt and Roberts shoots, but it's wide.

Simoson loses the ball to Massey against Daniels and Power to the byline but Cook gets a clearance in.

Musset is away to Afobe and he gets his feet tangled up and the ball runs through to the keeper! Pugh in the box, Arter and Surman and Fraser wins a corner.

Pugh takes and aims for Afobe. Fraser back in and Surman doesn't get to it." Bournemouth have had opportunities in the last few minutes and they haven't taken them," says John Williams.

Shot from Wigan goes just wide from Colclough. Boruc has thrown the ball out to Morsy!

Bournemouth sub, Jordan Ibe comes on for Mahoney on 64 minutes. Ibe gets his first touches, back heel to Fraser and Afobe tries an attempted overhead but doesn't make good contact.

Daniels and Pugh attack with 21 minutes left. Afobe and Surman now Arter delivers to Mousset but the header drops wide! Lots of chances for Bournemouth but they haven't taken any of them.

Mousset is down after Elder's challenge. Ibe through ball for Afobe and the number nine fires wide! "This is fast becoming the Benik Afobe game isn't it? With the chances he's had. three good chances," says John Williams. "He could have had a hat-trick tonight."

Daniels gives a corner to Wigan. A good chance for Gary Roberts with Boruc slow to come out, but the ball ends up in Brouc's hands.

Wigan make a change. On comes Dan Byrne and off goes Ryan Colclough. Surman to Fraser and Mousset and Afobe loses out to Jones.

Arter and Pugh loses out to Byrne. Massey deflected shot side of the post. Surman had just got back to do enough. Wigan corner is out by Afobe.

Power ball in and, off the crossbar, and in by Byrne, 2-0 to Wigan. Bournemouth have 17 minutes to save themselves. The cup shock is on for Wigan.

Max Power crosses and Elder's low header makes it 3-0 to Wigan! A bullet header and Bournemouth trail by three! This is turning into a rout on 76 minutes.

Bournemouth make a sub. Hyndman replaces Fraser on 78 minutes. Long ball for Hunt and Cook gets it back to the keeper.

Mousset to Daniels ball in and the ball comes off two Bournemouth players for a goal kick! Ibe and Hyndman finds Mousset but he runs the ball out. Ibe gets to the ball first and crosses to Mousset, eight yards out and he misses! Wasteful.

Wigan have a corner now. Boruc gets the ball. Ibe holds the ball up for Arter and Hyndman, but his chip goes out of play.

Wigan sub Roberts for Michael Jacobs. Bournemouth sub Surman for Kyle Taylor to make his debut for Bournemouth. Pugh to Ibe and Ibe is closed down by Perkins. Hunt goes to the corner flag.

Afobe now and Taylor. Arter puts the ball out to Pugh. Taylor is getting touches. Ibe against Byrne to Pugh and the keeper comes for that one.

Massey and Power shoots and Cook deflects it to take it out for a corner over the bar. Bournemouth free kick. A minute of added time to go.

That's it, we're out! No silverware this year.

Summary
Bournemouth didn't want to lose momentum after their last match but they found it hard to get going against Wigan and soon found themselves 1-0 down to the league one side again. Surman couldn't pick a pass and Arter was running round like a mad man. Afobe again put in a lacklustre performance. Wigan were putting themselves about but it was the senior Bournemouth players that were needing to show some metal in this game. Artur Boruc and Steve Cook apart it seemed that most of them went missing. The bench was of course packed with youngsters and it would have served some of the starting 11 well if Eddie had chucked a load of them on at half time. It got worse second half as Afobe continued to miss chances and Wigan finally started to take some of theirs. Bournemouth had lost their last three FA Cup replays and now they have a fourth. It's not a stat that Eddie Howe will be particularly proud of.


AFCB 3-4-2-1
Boruc, S Cook, Simpson, Daniels, Fraser, Arter, Surman, Pugh, Mousset, Mahoney, Afobe

AFCB subs
Federici, Hobson, Butcher, Hyndman, Taylor, Ibe, Ndjouli

Wigan
Jones, Power, Dunkley, Bruce, Elder, Perkins, Morsy, Colclough, Roberts, Massey, Grigg

Wigan subs
Walton, Byrne, Jacobs, Hunt, Powell, James, Burn

Steve Cook has developed a taste for late goals

I suppose we should be getting used to seeing Steve Cook come up with late winners. He almost scored against Liverpool late on and he did of course get a headed winner against Newcastle, so when he popped up again to get the equaliser against Wigan in the third round of the FA Cup, I'm starting to think that he has become Bournemouth's most dangerous player in the last five minutes of games.

Cook will soon have a new nickname if he keeps the late goals coming - last minute man.

Steve Cook is one of those players that might not have a lot of fan shirts with his name on the back of them, but he epitomises the never say die attitude of the Cherries. He really enjoys getting the chance to get forward for corners and any pressure situations in the final minutes of games he seems to look forward to. He always has jumped well at set-pieces and while he may not have the fineness of the best finishers at the club, he is becoming a safe house to call upon when AFCB are really up against it.

The goal he got against Wigan was far from easy. He had the tall Dan Burn jumping in front of him as well as Nathan Aké trying to get the goal. Still, Cook gambled to perfection in expecting Pugh's cross to reach him and he did not flinch when needing to direct the ball past Christian Walton, knowing it was probably the last chance AFCB would get.

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If Eddie Howe could bottle that kind of courage and determination I am sure he would. When these things happen regularly for a team in a season there is a kind of belief that the goals will keep coming late and it's a great feeling to have for the players. Steve Cook will have been back to training this week and will be saying, I told you I'd score with the right cross. You can't deny that he is one of the best headers of the ball in an AFCB shirt and I just hope he inspires others to also believe they can get goals in this team, as we head into the most difficult second half of a season that AFCB have had for a while.

Can Lys Mousset turn into a star player?

I like a trier and Lys Mousset is certainly one of them. He never stops trying and while Eddie Howe says Mousset's fitness has been something that has held him back, Mousset has the electric burst over the first five to 10 metres that make him a difficult player to defend against.

Lys Mousset is on the edge of the team but can he force
his way in more regularly by this time next season?

Lys took his goal well against Wigan Athletic and it's hard to know yet how much that goal really means to him. If he can take some encouragement from knowing he was the catalyst for AFCB getting back into the game then we may have a different Lys Mousset now amongst AFCB's ranks. I hope so, as Lys has an excellent chance to be part of an AFCB team that not only survives but could thrive in the Premier League.

This season he has played a few more minutes in important games but he has not been the striker that Eddie Howe has turned to first on the sub's bench and that has to be his next aim. He does offer something out of the ordinary compared to Bournemouth's other strikers. I wonder if he himself knows what he is about t do at times in a game and so it is no wonder that opponents often get bamboozled by his turns and pace.

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What Lys needs to do is to make more of his strikes count. It sounds easy but the truly valued strikers don't get frustrated when they miss, but they just get up and do better next time. I was impressed that Lys goes for the difficult if not impossible though at times. like his early effort to bicycle volley an Adam Smith cross in the first half against Wigan. If it had gone in it would have been a goal often season contender. Lys thumped the ground in annoyance that he didn't do better. Perhaps he made the wrong choice but he has shown he is prepared to gamble and perhaps he has not gambled enough in a Bournemouth shirt. If he can try to guess where he needs to get to in order to get more shots off then perhaps his goal ratio will start climbing.

Whether Lys can become a star player is still very much in the balance. Eddie seemed delighted that the Frenchman made it through 90 minutes. It seemed more important than the goal to Howe. But if Lys can keep pleasing Eddie then he will get more minutes to impress and he has to make the most of any games like the replay against Wigan to make his case for more Premier League appearances.